1. Laudato Si is Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the environment or more formally – On Care for Our Common Home. Laudato Si means “Praise be to you” which is the first line of a canticle by St. Francis that praises God and all of his creation. Read the FULL TEXT here:
http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2015/06/encyclical-of-pope-francis-laudato-si.html
2. Laudato Si is almost 42,000 words - -- Pope Francis states the goal of the document: “In this Encyclical, I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home” (#3). Papal documents are addressed to the bishops but Pope Francis address his message to all people. The goal of the dialogue: “I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation that includes everyone, since the environment challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all” (#14).
Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience” (#217)
3. Pope Francis has published two encyclicals: “Lumen Fidei” (“Light of Faith”), released in 2013, and now “Laudato Si’” (“Be Praised”). This is the only social encyclical with a vernacular title (Italian) rather than Latin
4 Table of Contents It consists of six chapters.
CHAPTER ONE – WHAT IS HAPPENING TO OUR COMMON HOMECHAPTER TWO – THE GOSPEL OF CREATION
CHAPTER THREE – THE HUMAN ROOTS OF THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS
CHAPTER FOUR – INTEGRAL ECOLOGY
CHAPTER FIVE – LINES OF APPROACH AND ACTION
CHAPTER SIX – ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION AND SPIRITUALITY
5. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about creation: "The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation. Animals, like plants and inanimate beings, are by nature destined for the common good of past, present, and future humanity. Use of the mineral, vegetable, and animal resources of the universe cannot be divorced from respect for moral imperatives. Man's dominion over inanimate and other living beings granted by the Creator is not absolute; it is limited by concern for the quality of life of his neighbor, including generations to come; it requires a religious respect for the integrity of creation." (CCC 2415) Pope Francis explicitly designates this encyclical as "now added to the body of the Church’s social teaching."
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