“Laudate Deum,” after “Laudato Si’”

Vincent Miller, the Gudorf Chair in Catholic Theology and Culture at the University of Dayton, and the editor of The Theological and Ecological Vision of “Laudato Si’”: Everything is Connected, comments that in “Laudate Deum,” Pope Francis revisits the themes of “Laudato Si’” after eight years—a clear sign of urgency for a Catholic Church that thinks in centuries.

From Laudato Si to Laudato Deum

Eight years of inadequate progress later, as emissions continue to rise, and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have risen from 405 parts per million then to 423 .pm this summer. “Laudate Deum” is much more critical, devoting more than a third of its length to the weaknesses of international politics and the U.N. in addressing climate change. Although papal writing is usually known for diplomacy, Francis is shockingly direct: “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” (No. 43).

The pope calls to democratize international decision-making, which would require “spaces for conversation, consultation, arbitration, conflict resolution and supervision” (a call he can make with more legitimacy as the Synod on Synodality gets underway). He defends the actions of climate activist groups that are often negatively portrayed as “radicalized” as “filling in a space left empty by society as a whole,” which is failing to “pressure” decision makers as the future of its “children is at stake” (No. 43). (Miller, 2023)

Laudato Si 2015	Laudate Deum 2023
engage all who live on our planet about “our common home”	my brothers and sisters of our suffering planet
action amidst the hopeful lead up to the Paris climate meeting.	the weaknesses of international politics and the U.N. in addressing climate change
looked with hope to the COP 21 U.N. Climate Change meeting	speaks in apprehension about next month’s COP 28 meeting, which is being hosted by the United Arab Emirates,
spoke forcefully, but diplomatically, to a global governance system that seemed able to address the civilizational challenge of climate change.	Francis is shockingly direct: “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” (No. 43).
“Laudato Si’” spoke of climate change	Francis forcefully recounts its scientific evidence, referencing denial of its overwhelming evidence “even within the Catholic Church” (No. 14).
“Laudato Si’” calls us to listen to the “cry of the earth”	“Laudate Deum” chronicles in detail the already irreversible damage we have done.
what “Laudato Si’” termed the “technocratic paradigm,” which views “nonhuman reality as a mere resource at its disposal”	language is dire: “admiration at progress blinded us to the horror of its consequences” and the “homicidal pragmatism” of the belief that our problems can be solved solely by “technical interventions” (No. 57).
	“‘Praise God’ is the title of this letter. For when human beings claim to take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies” (No. 73).

(Miller, 2023)

An email from National Observer Climate correspondent Chris Hatch quotes Pope Francis update to his 2015 encyclical, this one titled Laudate Deum. “‘Praise God' is the title of this letter. For when human beings claim to take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies,”

Pope Francis “shamed and challenged” world leaders while openly confronting climate denial and delay. The Pope issued an update to his 2015 encyclical, this one titled Laudate Deum: “‘Praise God' is the title of this letter. For when human beings claim to take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies,” he wrote.

Francis endorsed African bishops’ description of climate change as “a tragic and striking example of structural sin,” called out the “irresponsible lifestyle” of the developed world and pointedly named the United States, where per capita emissions are twice as high as China and seven times the average in developing countries (Canada’s are higher still but escaped mention).(C. Hatch, personal communication, Sunday, October 8 2023)

More Urgency in Laudato Deum

 

Pope Francis raises our attention once again to the urgency of a change in our lifestyle and our attitude to the changes necessary to respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor as proclaimed in “Laudato Si’” and  intensified in “Laudate Deum.”

References

Miller, V. J. (2023, October 5). The Catholic Church thinks in centuries. But when it comes to climate change, Pope Francis doesn't. America Magazine. Retrieved October 9, 2023, from https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/10/05/laudate-deum-papal-document-pope-francis-246217?