“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? 

War Like Struggle for Peace and Health

A review of encyclical and letters from the Vatican in the past decades to determine the position of the Church on war may show an approach that is in transition to abolition of war.

Navy in Harbour

David Carroll Cochran writes that  that Catholicism’s call to abolish war, like its call to abolish the death penalty, is far from foolish.

Those who study trends in warfare find that greater economic development, more participation in international trade, and deeper involvement in regional intergovernmental bodies all significantly reduce a country’s risk of war. So too does democracy, the rule of law, and effective governance. The research also shows that there is much that the international community can do to promote these economic and political trends in countries most at risk of war. The use of mediation and peace agreements to resolve disputes between and within countries has been increasingly effective. Meanwhile, international peacekeeping missions and peace-and-reconciliation initiatives have significantly reduced the risk of conflict breaking out again in places where it has recently ended. Those who study armed conflict have also shown the effectiveness of diplomacy and sanctions in influencing state behavior without resort to war. Finally, studies show that in the past century nonviolent civil resistance has been twice as effective as armed struggle against both domestic dictators and foreign oppressors—and this effectiveness gap has grown even greater in the past few decades. The church’s ideas about peacemaking turn out to be pretty realistic after all.1

 

Some critics dismiss the church’s peacemaking commitments as more unrealistic sentimentality. George Weigel, for example, has described faith in greater international governance and multilateral cooperation as “inexplicably stupid” and lamented that this “fantasy” continues to appear in papal encyclicals. It is remarkable how much social-scientific research on armed conflict supports the effectiveness of the very tools Catholic teaching emphasizes.

1	alleviate poverty, inequality, protect human rights, promote democracy and the rule of law
2	conflicts resolved through nonviolent negotiation and mediation
3	robust international peacekeeping commitments
4	rely on diplomacy, sanctions, and incentives to uphold international norms
5	methods of nonviolent direct action as effective alternatives to armed struggle
Ref	(2016, January 4). A World Without War | Commonweal Magazine. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/world-without-war

 

Douglas P. Fry, Chair of the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and  Geneviève Souillac, Associate Professor in the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, report that peaceful societies are not utopian fantasy. They exist. They comment that skeptics might respond that there is no need to eliminate war from the planet. But such thinking is flawed in many respects.

“Peace systems” are clusters of neighboring societies that do not make war with each other and sometimes not at all. That means some peace systems are completely non-warring, whereas others only engage in acts of war outside the boundaries of the system. A systematic study of peace systems may hold valuable lessons about how to promote transborder cooperation desperately needed to meet the threats of climate change, pandemics, ecological collapse, and ticking nuclear catastrophe.2

 

Overblown military expenditures not only fail to deliver true security but also divert funding from sustainable development, education, healthcare, and other human necessities. Wars destroy the lives of combatants and civilians alike. The very presence of nuclear arsenals imperils the entire species, if not all forms of life on Earth. Wars distract attention, divert resources, and impede the concerted action required to successfully address plummeting biodiversity, soiling of the seas, displacement of peoples, ethnocide of indigenous peoples, pandemics, cataclysmic wildfires, and global warming itself. Waging of wars and oversized militarism hinder concerted “all hands on deck” responses to existential threats.

 

Charlie Smith, editor of the Georgia Straight Vancouver writes that author Seth Klein wants us all to wage A Good War to prevent a climate catastrophe.

The war effort made great use of posters, public radio, and the National Film Board to generate public support. Klein discovered in his research that the King government modified its message over time to woo more Canadians to fight fascism. Initially, government officials relied on traditional propaganda, with messages like ”Go get Hitler!” “Then they realized in ’41 that they actually had to shift gears,” Klein says. “If they were going to get the enlistment numbers that they needed, they had to engage people in a conversation about what kind of society they were going to come back to.” That led to economist Leonard Marsh’s 1943 Report on Social Security for Canada, which called for social insurance and public-welfare supports. It formed a blueprint for the creation of a welfare state after the war. Klein points out that the first income transfers occurred during the Second World War. And Tommy Douglas was elected premier of Saskatchewan in 1944, putting that province on the road toward creating the country’s first public health-insurance program.3

 

Some of the actions of a government at war have been experienced during the Covid epidemic.

Shift to Emergency Mode

War time like government involvement is likely to be required to implement the policy required to reduce the tremendous impact that the climate crisis will have on the world.

 

References

 

1	(2016, January 4). A World Without War | Commonweal Magazine. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/world-without-war
2	(2021, March 22). Peaceful societies are not utopian fantasy. They exist.. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://thebulletin.org/2021/03/peaceful-societies-are-not-utopian-fantasy-they-exist/
3	(2020, September 9). Vancouver author Seth Klein wants us all to wage A Good War to .... Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.straight.com/living/vancouver-author-seth-klein-wants-us-all-to-wage-a-good-war-to-prevent-a-climate-catastrophe

 

Unity in Christianity

A recent reflection on the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary on January 19, 2022 inspired some thoughts of how we may find some hope for Christian Unity in the challenge to act in a different manner to address growing disunity and revisit traditions that we may be prompted by the Spirit to change.

A Community of friends

 

The reflection shared the views of several commentators on the defeat of Goliath by David from the First Book of Samuel and the healing of a man with a withered hand by Jesus on the Sabbath from the Gospel of Mark. Alex Hale, SJ, a Jesuit Scholastic from Metro-Detroit, studied in the "Philosophy, Politics, and the Public" Honors Program at Xavier University while simultaneously working in local politics for various elected officials in the Cincinnati area as a legislative aide and campaign manager. He writes there is evidence that American Catholics are just as influenced, if not more so, by partisan politics than their Catholic faith on a number of hot-button issues. According to Pew Research, 56% of Catholics are in favor of legal abortion in most cases and 53% of Catholics are in favor of the death penalty. This is despite years of emphasis by church leaders on the sanctity of life from conception until natural death. This dynamic has influenced not only people’s positions on given issues but the way they treat folks on the opposing side. Hale suggests that we can find a model in St. Peter Faber, one of the founders of the Jesuits and, according to St. Ignatius Loyola, the best person to give the Spiritual Exercises.

Faber spent a good deal of his ministry in places that were heavily Protestant…Faber realized that people fell away from the faith not necessarily because of good arguments (though those play a role for sure). Rather, he wrote “They are led astray not so much by the teaching and seeming good of the Lutherans as by the wickedness of those very ones who should be examples of zeal.”  Why would someone want to stay or become Catholic when they saw the hypocrisy of priests living in opulence in Faber’s time? Why would someone want to become Catholic when Catholics are publicly messaging each other that they are ‘jealous of the angel that will get to throw their opponent into hell’? This display of hatred is a major reason why people run away from the faith. Faber understood that the core of our faith is the love of Jesus.1

 

Thomas P. Rausch asks what will tomorrow’s church be like? Will it be a truly catholic (small “c”) church, a communion of local churches living in visible unity? Or will it be a multiplicity of churches and communities, even more divided in faith and life? The present estimate of the number of Christian denominations is roughly 43,000, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. In 1900, the number was 1,600. From a Roman Catholic perspective, Christian unity means a communion of churches sharing a common heritage and living in visible communion with each other. Recently the World Council of Churches published an important convergence (not consensus) text entitled The Church: Toward a Common Vision. The statement is structured in terms of four ecclesiological issues. Relatively brief, it treats successively the church’s essentially missionary origin, its nature as a communion, its growth toward the kingdom and its relation to the world. Rausch suggests we should ask, how might the Catholic Church and the confessional churches establish the bonds of communion that witness to a common ecclesial life?

First of all, it is important to keep in mind that ecumenism always begins in friendship. When people from different churches or traditions get to know one another, they no longer remain the “other” but become friends, associates, brothers or sisters in Christ. That holds also for relations between more traditional Western churches and these new churches. Second, the social mission of the church may offer common ground for addressing together many of the practical problems these new churches face. While there are often ethical differences between the churches, most of our churches face the same differences within our communions. Finally, we might ask, what if the Catholic Church, the Orthodox churches and the other liturgical churches were to relax somewhat their sacramental discipline to extend occasional eucharistic hospitality to those from these new churches who are able to recognize Christ’s presence in the Eucharist and are willing to live in communion? Might some experience of common worship lead to a new sense of the church as a eucharistic community? So what is the future of the church? Christian unity is God’s work, not ours, as recent popes have emphasized, but we are all called to work toward it, that the world may believe (Jn 17:21).2

The Synodal Process initiated by Pope Francis begins a two-year journey that will culminate in the Synod of Bishops in October 2023. The synod is expected to adopt a final document that will guide the continuing development of a synodal church going into the future. The anointed boy, David, defeats the giant Goliath by refusing traditional amour and Jesus challenges the traditional practice of the Pharisees and does not hesitate to bring freedom and new life to the marginalized. Perhaps our Prayer for Christian Unity is that we open our hearts to action that increases the “friends” in communion in our Church.

 

References

 

1	(n.d.). Catholics Need to Learn how to Deal With Disagreements. St. Peter .... Retrieved January 19, 2022, from https://thejesuitpost.org/2021/03/catholics-need-to-learn-how-to-deal-with-disagreements-st-peter-faber-can-help/
2	(2016, January 7). From Churches to Church: Assessing the movement toward .... Retrieved January 18, 2022, from https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/churches-church

Cooperation and Culture Wars

 

The inauguration of the 46th President of the United States and the second Catholic to be elected to that position has also highlighted tension within the US Catholic Church between liberal and conservative bishops on how to advance a consistent ethic of life emphasis to shape political policy.

 

The road of the culture wars

 

  A recent editorial in the National Catholic Reporter expressed the opinion that it is time for the Vatican to investigate the US bishops' conference. It is time for Pope Francis to order an apostolic visitation to investigate what has gone wrong with an organization that began during World War I as a model of cooperation and national audacity and is now a symbol of division and national embarrassment.

On Jan. 20, when the nation inaugurated Joseph Biden as the 46th president, the same Archbishop Jose Gomez issued a 1,250-word statement. After dispensing with congratulatory remarks, it promised there will be areas of "strong opposition" from the bishops toward the Biden administration. It then identified at least six issues of disagreement, expounding on them at length. If the intention was to somehow shame the country's second Catholic president for his political positions, it is perhaps a consolation that the shaming didn't quite hit the intended target. Instead, thanks to an unprecedented public rebuke by Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, Gomez was outed as bypassing normal conference procedures and not having given other prelates time to review his message to Biden. "Ill-considered," Cupich called Gomez's statement. A fit summary for the entire misbegotten operation of the U.S. bishops' conference.1 

The Tyler Clementi Foundation has published a statement from some Catholic Bishops in the United States on protecting LGBT Youth. They place the statement in accord with the Gospels, that show Jesus Christ taught love, mercy and welcome for all people, especially for those who felt persecuted or marginalized in any way. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that LGBT people are to be treated with “respect, compassion and sensitivity.”

 

All people of goodwill should help, support, and defend LGBT youth; who attempt suicide at much higher rates than their straight counterparts; who are often homeless because of families who reject them; who are rejected, bullied and harassed; and who are the target of violent acts at alarming rates. The Catholic Church values the God-given dignity of all human life and we take this opportunity to say to our LGBT friends, especially young people, that we stand with you and oppose any form of violence, bullying or harassment directed at you. Most of all, know that God created you, God loves you and God is on your side.2

Madeleine Davison reports in the National Catholic Reporter that Catholic Bishops have signed dueling statements on LGBTQ people.

Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of the Catholic LGBTQ advocacy organization DignityUSA, was pleased that a group of Catholic bishops were willing to sign the statement. "Given that this statement asks for nothing more than human dignity, I would hope that more bishops would add their names," she said... In order to fully support LGBTQ youth, she said, church leaders must attend to the youth's "need not to hear themselves preached about in negative terms, need to not be excluded from Catholic education programs, [and the] need for parents to feel that they can love and support their kids just as they are." The other statement, released Jan. 22 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, expresses "concerns" with President Joe Biden's decision to extend existing federal protections against sex discrimination to include LGBTQ people.3 

Fran Ferder, a Franciscan sister and a clinical psychologist, and Fr. John Heagle, chair of the Gospel Nonviolence Working Group for AUSCP (the Association of United States Catholic Priests), offer a psychological analysis, in the National Catholic Reporter of the president and his supporters who conned Catholics to the extent that nearly 57% of white Catholics voted for Trump in this last election.

The Second Vatican Council ended more than 50 years ago, but the institutional church in the U.S. has failed to create a communication network to implement its vision and practice. Instead, the bishops have, by the failure of initiative and imagination, allowed EWTN to become the voice of Catholicism. The worldwide reach of EWTN evolved from pre-Vatican II traditional piety to advocating for right-wing partisan politics. EWTN anchor Raymond Arroyo is a frequent guest on Laura Ingram's Fox News program. Is this really how the church intends to evangelize our culture?… Despite their polite rhetoric, the U.S. bishops, as a group, have not affirmed the prophetic vision and pastoral practice of Francis. If anything, they have passively resisted it and, at times, actively rejected it. This, in turn, has given encouragement for right-wing Catholic movements to become more vocal in their opposition to Francis. Timothy Busch, the Napa Institute, the Knights of Columbus, William Barr, Steve Bannon and the Federalist Society now lead the lay resistance to Francis and the opposition to finishing the work of Vatican II.4 

In the National Catholic Reporter, Michael Sean Winters offers the opinion that on abortion, both Biden and the pro-life movement lack moral consistency. His view is that principles of all kinds, including those drawn from our religious beliefs, must be applied to concrete political and legal circumstances with prudence. We all choose some elements from our patrimony and not others. It is complicated, and different issues require greater or lesser degrees of morally acceptable policy alternatives.

The leaders of the movement do not see this because they are too busy walking to the bank. As my colleague Tom Roberts recently noted: Tens of millions of dollars, in some cases hundreds of millions, annually pour into organizations, extreme left and extreme right, intent on maintaining their pro-abortion and pro-life positions without compromise. What exists is the equivalent of a far-flung and deeply funded industry — the lobbying organizations themselves and the attendant universe of lobbyists for hire, consultants, advertising specialists, pollsters and digital specialists that make up the infrastructure for the endless war. Something in the culture will need to change before attitudes change, and attitudes need to change before the politics will change. I have no idea what that cultural change will be. As I noted in June, I used to think American society would rediscover its need for solidarity if we faced a horrible and indiscriminate threat, "something like a pandemic." Well, here we are… There needs to be some consistency about the invocation of religious sources. It is fine to have a liberal political expression of Catholic faith as it is fine to have a conservative political expression, but surely the presence of the faith element should cause a person to occasionally challenge their party, and it seems they only challenge their church...I tremble for our country when I think of how God and history will judge us for getting the abortion issue so wrong, for failing to craft and support a feminism that cherishes each and every human life. I tremble, too, when I contemplate the backlash that awaits on the morrow of the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe or Casey.5 

Rebecca Bratten Weiss, writing in the National Catholic Reporter, advocates that Pro-life and pro-choice Catholics should work together with President Biden to reduce abortion demand. Catholics who uphold magisterial teachings on morality ought to find common cause with pro-choice advocates because of our many shared goals of eliminating poverty, fighting structural racism, working for peace and protecting the environment.

the policies promoted by the Democratic Party are demonstrated to work to reduce abortion — as 48 years of culture war and misguided legislation from the right have not. And it is a mistake for pro-life Catholics to treat pro-choice concerns about personal privacy and bodily autonomy as irrelevant. Yes, we want a culture in which women choose life. Do we want one in which they are coerced into doing so? What kind of moral landscape would that be? I think Biden should articulate a consistent life ethic acknowledging the seriousness of the church's teaching on abortion — which he personally accepts — while also acknowledging the concerns of pro-choice leaders, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, who are motivated by genuine moral seriousness as well. He should pursue policies that are demonstrated, historically and globally, to reduce abortion, and call upon citizens to support these policies that will safeguard both the sanctity of life and the dignity of human choice. Rather than threatening women with punishment or placing them in impossible positions, we need to work collectively for a truly just society in which women are not driven to abortion because of fear, poverty or abuse.6 

The Catholic News Agency reports that Denver Archbishop Aquila challenges 'pro-choice' Catholics to test their conscience. The archbishop further added that some consciences are erroneous or even dead to the truth. He said, when one believes to be following their conscience, they should put it to the test and question whether it is consistent with Church teachings.

“Our consciences must be formed according to the Gospel and according to the teachings of the Church. We must listen to that, and then our works will become good, and they will bring light,” he said. The archbishop said Catholics should preach the Gospel of Life with clarity, mercy, and love but they should not be apathetic to or supportive of the evils of abortion. He encouraged Catholics to show kindness to abortion advocates, especially women who have terminated a pregnancy, and to pray for a greater conversion to life. “Let us first pray for the conversion of our country and for the conversion especially of Catholics who take a so-called pro-choice position,” he said.7

 

Pope Francis has commented on the indifference and “throw-away” attitude in our society. Efforts by bishops, conservative and liberal, in the Church to transform these morally and spiritually harmful trends, in accord with Jesus' teaching, will foster cooperation in addressing all of the anti-life action in our world.

 

References

1	(2021, January 28). Editorial: It's time for the Vatican to investigate the US bishops .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/editorial-its-time-vatican-investigate-us-bishops-conference
2	(n.d.). God Is On Your Side: A Statement from Catholic Bishops on .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://tylerclementi.org/catholicbishopsstatement/
3	(2021, January 25). Bishops sign dueling statements on LGBTQ people | National .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/bishops-sign-dueling-statements-lgbtq-people
4	(2021, January 14). How Catholics got conned by Donald Trump | National Catholic .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/how-catholics-got-conned-donald-trump
5	(n.d.). On abortion, both Biden and the pro-life movement lack moral .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/abortion-both-biden-and-pro-life-movement-lack-moral-consistency
6	(n.d.). Pro-life and pro-choice Catholics should work together — with .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/pro-life-and-pro-choice-catholics-should-work-together-president-biden-reduce-abortion
7	(2021, January 28). Denver archbishop challenges 'pro-choice' Catholics to test their .... Retrieved January 29, 2021, from http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/denver-archbishop-challenges-pro-choice-catholics-to-test-their-conscience-70430