Why does Pope Francis call Us to an Ecological Conversion?
The foundation of Pope Francis' ecological philosophy
On the 24th of May, 2015, Pope Francis signed his encyclical Laudato si', which is one of the encyclicals that has caused more expectation and talk in all of the Catholic Church's history. Speculation about the Pope's new letter on Catholic doctrine started as early as 2013; with time, wonder became such that, 4 days before the encyclical's release, the Italian weekly L'Espresso posted a leaked draft, to the Vatican officials' anger.
The reason for such commotion was the belief that this was the first time in history that one of St. Peter's successors was calling all of the human family (not only Catholics) to accept what modern science has to say about climate change. Even Leonardo DiCaprio puts it this way in this documentary on global warming, Before the Flood (2016): "Never before in history, had a pope done something like this... There was definitely urgency in His [Holiness'] voice... He believes we must act immediately."
This is only partially true as St. Paul VI, St. John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI had already spoken on the matter quite emphatically in various of their speeches and audiences. None of them had published a complete book about this subject however.
The title of the encyclical derives from the Umbrian Medieval dialect "Praised be Thou", which is a repeated phrase in Francis of Assisi's poem Canticle of the Creatures (ca. 1224). In this famous poem (one of the first to be written in the Italian language), the saint thanks God for his Creation and expresses that all creatures are siblings to mankind. Such a thesis is retaken, almost 800 years later, by Pope Francis as a starting point to his letter calling us all to defend nature, animals, the poor, energy reforms, and to an ecological conversion.
Why is this topic so important to Pope Francis?
While, in this post, I won't dwell in explaining the social, scientific, theological, and legal base arguments of Laudato si', I will present the very practical reasons that make ecology and climate change so crucial to the papacy of the current vicar of Christ. We could think there are tons of international issues Pope Francis should write about: drug trafficking, human trafficking, systematic abuse on refugees and ilegal migrants, abortion and bioethics, mass famines, genocides... So why should all of humankind prioritize an ecological conversion?
Pope Francis explains "The human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together; we cannot adequately combat human and social degradation unless we attend to causes related to environmental degradation. In fact, the deterioration of the environment and of society affects the most vulnerable", those who do not have a voice in technocracy: the poor and our non-human siblings. "A true social approach always becomes an ecological approach so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. [...] To seek only a technical remedy to each environmental problem, or to each social problem is to separate what is in reality interconnected and to mask the true and deepest issues of the global system" (LS 48, 49 & 111).
The bottom line: forecast for our survival
Whatever our spiritual inclination might be, if we do not convert to an ecology-centered lifestyle, we will not be able to save our planet nor society as part of the planet. That is why we must prioritize combating climate change to first save the planet and, consequently, society as part of it. In other words, global warming lurks at the core of our current and future social problems (and viceversa).
This takes me to the following: we all know "the Earth's average temperature has increased about 1.5 °C during the 20th century" (NASA). 2 degrees might sound trifling, but if we continue emitting greenhouse gases at the speed and amount we're currently doing, by 2030 we'll reach a temperature rise of 3 °C. Maintaining the 1.5 °C rise we've already caused seems illusory; scientists more realistically hope for a rise of 2 °C instead of 3 °C. Below is a great infographic created by the WWF showing what would happen if we do reach a rise of (only) 2 °C by 2030:
Click on the image to zoom in.
As you can see, the damages caused by a 2 °C global warming by 2030 would be devastating for all life on Earth. Only for humankind, it would lead to at least 140 million refugees and migrants displaced from their homes (World Bank). So as to illustrate this cipher: the same amount of people equivalent to Russia's whole population would have to run away from extreme floods and heatwaves in search for food, water and survival at all costs! The consequences of a 3 °C global warming are simply unspeakable.
This is why Laudato Si' has become Pope Francis' "rallying cry" as Bono (U2 lead singer) puts it in his video in support to the Holy Father's call for an ecological conversion. "We must all unite in the effort to save our common home" working earnestly in all the different spheres that make up our lives: work, family, recreation, spirituality, art, culture, economics, science, engineering, politics...
Now, I've stressed the term "spirituality" because religions and personal spiritual awareness have to be the wisdom leaders of ecological awarenes. This is due to the fact that religions are the ones that can bring the sacred back to science. Technocracy and science should't be means of domination but of service to all creation, and that is why they need to be reminded of life's sacredness.
In the words of Pope Francis: "When we ask ourselves what kind of world we want to leave behind, we think in the first place of its [...] meaning and its values. Unless we struggle with these deeper issues, I do not believe that our concern for ecology will produce significant results. But if those issues are courageously faced, we are led inexorably to ask other pointed questions: What is the purpose of our life in this world? Why are we here? What need does the earth have of us?" (LS 160).
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