Pope Francis has published an Apostolic Exhortation, Laudate Deum on 4th October 2023 as a continuation of his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si. Laudate Deum is comprehensive, practical study about the current ecological crisis and proposes ways and means to find urgent solutions to it. The Pope does not mince words in the document with those who deny Climate Change, saying that “the human origin of global warming is now beyond doubt”. 

As Pope Francis describes how Christian faith encourages us to do our bit for the care for our common home. All Catholic educators and their institutions are encouraged to reflect and act on Integral Ecology. The Global Compact on Education has already made it mandatory for all Catholic educators to make it a priority to work on Caring for our Common Home. “There is a relationship between our life and the life of mother earth, between the way we live and the gift we have received from God”. Therefore, it is apt for Catholic educators and their stakeholders to read, reflect, discern, and act upon the concerns raised in the new document.    

‘Praise God’ (Laudate Deum) is the title of this letter. The Document is in six chapters and 73 paragraphs. Each chapter is an in-depth study on the causes and our much-needed response to the burning ecological crises faced by our Common Home. 

Chapter one deals with The Global Climate Crisis
Chapter Two is titled as A Growing Technocratic Paradigm
Chapter Three deals with The Weakness of International Politics
Chapter Four examines Climate Conferences: Progress and Failures
Chapter Five is What to Expect from COP28 in Dubai?
Chapter Six deals with the Spiritual Motivations

The Pope invites us to look at the warning signs, and a call for co-responsibility, in the face of the climate emergency. He exhorts the world leaders, environmentalists, educators, citizens, and all people to come up with a better response in the forthcoming COP28, which will be held in Dubai between the end of November and beginning of December.

Raising the alarm bell, the Pope tells us: “With the passage of time, I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point. In addition to this possibility, it is indubitable that the impact of climate change will increasingly prejudice the lives and families of many persons” (2). The document reminds us that “the effects of climate change are borne by the most vulnerable people, whether at home or around the world”(3). 

Now, the Holy Father explains, if global temperature increases by more than two degrees, “the icecaps of Greenland and a large part of Antarctica will melt completely, with immensely grave consequences for everyone” (5). There is an unusual acceleration of warming, at such a speed that it will take only one generation – not centuries or millennia – to verify it.” So, it is a reality that we can tangibly experience in our own lifetime. “Probably in a few years many populations will have to move their homes because of these facts” (6).

It is significant to note that there is a widespread misconception that it is all because of the fault of the poor. This is a very unrealistic, over simplified notion spread by the developed nations. “As usual, everything is the fault of the poor.  Yet the reality is that a low, richer percentage of the planet contaminates more than the poorest 50% of the total world population, and that per capita emissions of the richer countries are much greater than those of the poorer ones….  How can we forget that Africa, home to more than half of the world’s poorest people, is responsible for a minimal portion of historic emissions?”(9).

Therefore, “a broader perspective is urgently needed …  What is being asked of us is nothing other than a certain responsibility for the legacy we will leave behind once we pass from this world” (18). Recalling the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pope Francis repeats that “Everything is connected, and no one is saved alone” (19).

In the second chapter, the Pope speaks of the technocratic paradigm which consists in thinking that “reality, goodness and truth automatically flow from technological and economic power as such” (20) and “monstrously feeds upon itself” (21). Unfortunately, “our immense technological development has not been accompanied by a development in human responsibility, values and conscience” (24).

“In an age of technology, and fake news, we have not realized that ….. we have turned into highly dangerous beings, capable of threatening the lives of many beings and our own survival” (28). “The mentality of maximum gain at minimal cost, disguised in terms of reasonableness, progress and illusory promises, makes impossible any sincere concern for our common home and any real preoccupation about assisting the poor and the needy discarded by our society … astounded and excited by the promises of any number of false prophets, the poor themselves at times fall prey to the illusion of a world that is not being built for them” (31).

Chapter three deals with the weak international politics. The Pope addresses the weakness of international politics, insisting on the need to foster “multilateral agreements between States” (34). He explains that “when we talk about the possibility of some form of world authority regulated by law, we need not necessarily think of a personal authority” but of “more effective world organizations, equipped with the power to provide for the global common good, the elimination of hunger and poverty and the sure defence of fundamental human rights”. According to Pope Francis,  “unless citizens control political power – national, regional and municipal – it will not be possible to control damage to the environment” (38).

“All this presupposes the development of a new procedure for decision-making”; what is required are “spaces for conversation, consultation, arbitration, conflict resolution and supervision, and, in the end, a sort of increased ‘democratization’ in the global context, so that the various situations can be expressed and included.  It is no longer helpful for us to support institutions in order to preserve the rights of the more powerful without caring for those of all” (43).

The Fourth Chapter describes the various climate conferences held to date. International negotiations, the Pope concludes, “cannot make significant progress due to positions taken by countries which place their national interests above the global common good.  

The Fifth Chapter puts forth the expectation of the forthcoming Dubai COP? Looking ahead to COP, Pope Francis writes that “to say that there is nothing to hope for would be suicidal, for it would mean exposing all humanity, especially the poorest, to the worst impacts of climate change” (53). We cannot search merely for a technological solution to our problems: “we risk remaining trapped in the mindset of pasting and papering over cracks, while beneath the surface there is a continuing deterioration to which we continue to contribute” (57). Pope Francis asks us to put an end to “the irresponsible derision that would present this issue as something purely ecological, “green”, romantic, frequently subject to ridicule by economic interests.” “Let us finally admit that it is a human and social problem on any number of levels.  For this reason, it calls for involvement on the part of all.”

The Sixth and final chapter is stemming from our Christian faith. The Pope reminds all human beings that the motivations for this commitment flow from the Christian faith, encouraging “my brothers and sisters of other religions to do the same” (61). “The Judaeo-Christian vision of the cosmos defends the unique and central value of the human being amid the marvellous concert of all God’s creatures,” but “as part of the universe, all of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family, a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble respect” (67). What is important, Pope Francis writes, is to remember that “there are no lasting changes without cultural changes, without a maturing of lifestyles and convictions within societies, and there are no cultural changes without personal changes” (70). “Efforts by households to reduce pollution and waste, and to consume with prudence, are creating a new culture.  The mere fact that personal, family and community habits are changing is … helping to bring about large processes of transformation rising from deep within society” (71). 
 
The document ends with a reminder that “emissions per individual in the United States are about two times greater than those of individuals living in China, and about seven times greater than the average of the poorest countries.” So, it is not at all justified the argument that the poorest countries are causing more emissions, on the contrary the truth is the other way. He goes on to affirm that “a broad change in the irresponsible lifestyle connected with the Western model would have a significant long-term impact. As a result, along with indispensable political decisions, we would be making progress along the way to genuine care for one another” (72).

It is undoubtedly a profound document for all humanity to reflect and act upon for the preservation of our Common Home for the future generations. The document is a great resource not only for Catholic Educators, pastors, religious, and faithful, but also of all people of good will to take a stand and work for a change of lifestyle, for a deeper ‘conversion’, for an attitudinal change in favour of the Mother Earth. Perhaps, Laudato Si and Laudate Deum together make the best researched document ever written on Integral Ecology. Together these form one integrated document for the entire humanity to take note of.

(Sunny Jacob SJ is the Assistant Secretary of Jesuit Global Network of schools, Rome)