Download On Care for Our Common Home – Laudato Si’ Kindle Edition

On Care for Our Common Home – Laudato Si’ Kindle Edition
Author: Pope Francis ID: B012YLLUL0

Pope Francis’ landmark document on human ecology, On Care for Our Common Home (Laudato Si’), is the first encyclical completely devoted to the topic. It is addressed to “every living person on this planet” and aims to spark a “dialogue with all people about our common home.” It challenges each one of us to ask ourselves, our corporations, and our governments: “How can anyone claim they are building a better future without thinking of the environment?” Within this framework, Pope Francis powerfully draws our attention also to the poor, who share an intimate relationship with the fragility of the earth.
Aligned and united with the concerns of scientists, philosophers, theologians, and civic groups, Pope Francis calls each of us “to become painfully aware” so that we can “dare to turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering”; thus we will responsibly “discover what each of us can do about it.”
On Care for Our Common Home contextualizes the topic by first reviewing the present ecological crisis which is “unprecedented in the history of humanity.” The Holy Father then sketches out both ethical and spiritual principles from our Judaeo-Christian roots that come to bear on the conversation about human ecology. He stresses the need for a sound moral foundation and emphasizes that “human life is itself a gift which must be defended from various forms of debasement.” Of special note is the section on the deep causes that have brought about the present situation. Proposals for dialogue and action in the encyclical are broad, but are meant to affect international policy as well as individual lives. Lastly, helpful guidelines for human development are laid out based on the Christian wisdom tradition.
A must-read for everyone, On Care for Our Common Home is an invitation to look at all of creation with our eyes wide open, since the distressed state of “our Sister, Mother Earth” requires “a new and universal solidarity” in which all of us “work together in building our common home.”
Done.
File Size: 513 KBPrint Length: 240 pagesPublisher: Pauline Books and Media (July 28, 2015)Publication Date: July 28, 2015Language: EnglishID: B012YLLUL0Text-to-Speech: Enabled X-Ray: Not Enabled Word Wise: Not EnabledLending: Not Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled Best Sellers Rank: #28,048 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Environment > Ecology #29 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Ecology #35 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Religion & Spirituality > Christian Books & Bibles > Catholicism
The title Laudato Si’, means “Praise be unto you.” The title is taken from the writings of St. Francis of Assisi, the namesake of the author of this book, Pope Francis.

St. Francis of Assisi used this phrase to praise the earth and all its creatures and features as an expression of God. Just as St. Francis referred to all living creatures as our “brothers” and “sisters,” the Pope issued this Encyclical to apply these sentiments to the modern day to address the issue of environmental degradation. This present book, Laudato Si’, is that Encyclical, a clear, passionate, devotional explanation for the modern world to realize the consequences of the degradation of the planet and a plea to cherish and rediscover the lost reverence and respect for the earth’s natural environment.

This book is a book on the environment like no other. Rather than recommending short-term technological or political solutions, Pope Francis states that before cleaning the environment the human race must first clean its own inner house and change its own attitude to itself and others.

Disrespect for the environment is an act, and any act originates from a mental attitude. If polluting the environment is the result of a human mental attitude, it would be simple for Laudato Si’ to simply say, “Don’t pollute.” Pope Francis however goes further: What are the psychological impulses and motivations behind that attitude?

Here is where Laudato Si’ gets interesting. Pope Francis digs deep into the human psyche to identify the psychological drives which support an attitude and act to disrespect the environment.

What the Pope believes may surprise the reader.
In the latest addition to papal encyclicals, Pope Francis lays out a complex mix of science, politics, and theology that can typically only be found in one of these documents. As the Holy Father writes in Laudato Si’, “The Catholic Church is open to dialogue with philosophical thought; this has enabled her to produce various syntheses between faith and reason.” It is with this openness that Pope Francis tackles one of the most difficult topics today: the environment.

After quoting JPII, Benedict XVI, and Patriarch Bartholomew to make it clear that he’s in good company, the Pontifex sets up the discussion by painting a bleak picture. With increased technology, we have increased power: “We have the freedom needed to limit and direct technology; we can put it at the service of another type of progress, one which is healthier, more human, more social, more integral.” But more power isn’t always good—with it we also have an increased potential for harm. That harm has materialized in high levels of smoke from fuels, pollution caused by transport, industrial fumes, substances which contribute to the acidification of soil and water, fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and agrotoxins in general as well as “hundreds of millions of tons of waste are generated, much of it non-biodegradable, highly toxic and radioactive.”

Like some global tragedy of the commons, humans have used up, wasted, or otherwise annihilated the shared resources of the Earth.

We need dramatic action in order to save our planet from environmental catastrophe. But, Pope Francis acknowledges, extreme environmentalism has its priorities out of whack.
Download On Care for Our Common Home – Laudato Si’ Kindle Edition

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