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In his historic encyclical of 2015, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis firmly established ecological concerns as central to the agenda of Catholic Social Teaching. Along with a spiritual framework on care for creation, he outlined issues of climate change, biodiversity, the peril facing our oceans, access to fresh water, and sustainable food, and offered a comprehensive guide to integral ecology.
Eight years later comes a shorter but even more urgent call in the form of this new apostolic exhortation, Laudate Deum, which focuses specifically on the “climate crisis” of our time. Disappointed that not enough has been done in the intervening years, he addresses the irreversible effects of increasing global temperatures, the decrease in ice sheets, and other signs of the times. He critiques the “technocratic paradigm,” the ongoing addiction to a fossil-fuel economy, and the “weaknesses of international politics,” while leveling particular criticism at those who sow resistance and confusion. For all people of good will, it is a call to face the preeminent crisis of our times and to draw on all our spiritual wisdom, scientific knowledge, and political will to meet the challenge.
As Erin Lothes Biviano writes in her introduction, Pope Francis here writes as a prophet, priest, poet, and most of all “a pastor, deeply concerned for people throughout the world, and above all for the poor.” Selections from Laudato Si’ focusing on pastoral, theological, and spiritual themes are also included in this edition, enhancing its value for study and reflection.
