LAUDATO SI’
In the week that we noted the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta, I can’t say I ever imagined I would find myself combining the thoughts of Papa Francesco [the Catholic Pope] in his second encyclical letter [LAUDATO SI’] and the assessment of “Mordy Pressing” – Australian Immigration Policy Interpreter and his views on the new sliding scale of ethics.
Yet here I am!
LAUDATO SI’
I confess I have yet to complete reading the 183 page LAUDATO SI’ but have read enough to understand this is a significant contribution to not only the global climate debate and the stewardship of planet-earth, but also a potential recalibration of the nexus between public-policy, rational evidence-based planning and religious doctrine.
Andrew Hoffman, writing in The Conversation perhaps says it best:
If people hear the message to address climate change and protect the environment from the church, mosque, synagogue or temple, it will have far more power to motivate action than a regulatory or economic message ever will.
According to a New York Times summary, the document is “sweeping” in scope. Francis “describe[s] a relentless exploitation and destruction of the environment, for which he blamed apathy, the reckless pursuit of profits, excessive faith in technology and political shortsightedness”. It states that “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods. It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day” and warns of “unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequence for all of us” if prompt climate change mitigation efforts are not undertaken.
…and for general guidance and insight in to modern political public-policy, I defer to Mordy Pressing on defining reality.
Links:
- The Holy See
- Pope Francis – Jorge Mario Bergoglio
- Andrew Hoffman – Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise – University of Michigan
- Laudato Si’ – Wikipedia
- On miserando atque eligendo – Ablative gerunds and all that jazz…
- United Nations Declaration on Human Rights
- H.V. [Doc] Evatt
- Clarke and Dawe
