That’s the message behind today’s release of Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, his first since 2013, and one much anticipated across the world for the message it puts forth: that the Earth, God’s creation, is being ravaged by the very beings charged with its health and maintenance.
“The Church has said for years that the truth cannot be divided,” said Eileen Burke-Sullivan, STD, professor of theology and vice provost for mission and ministry at Creighton University. “If something is true and proven to be known in science, then it is true in theology, too. If scientists have come to the conclusion, after years and years of research, that what’s happening to God’s creation is truly happening, then it’s also a truth for theology.”
It’s an important point to make because an encyclical letter, Burke-Sullivan said, serves as the “premier vehicle for papal teaching” at a particular moment in time.With all available evidence considered, it is the theological position the Church takes and, with the empirical data climate scientists have collected for decades now, the encyclical arrives with the weight of overwhelming proof driving its message.
Climate change skeptics have gone so far as to admonish Pope Francis for blending science and theology, but as John O’Keefe, Ph.D., a Creighton professor of theology and a specialist in environmental theology, said, Catholic thought and teaching have long incorporated scientific proofs and truths into its work.
“This is not something new at all, it’s not something idiosyncratic,” said O’Keefe, who added that he wept tears of joy when he began reading the encyclical. “Catholic intellectual practice has reconciled science and theology for a long time. It doesn’t mean there’s not tension, occasionally, but they’re not at war. This is reality. This is how science and theology work together. And what the Church can do that science can’t always do is put a moral face to the issue. It can look at real people and call attention to how we live, how we act, and bring about change.”
In Pope Francis’ recognizably colloquial but elegant way, the 184-page encyclical titled “Laudato Si” (translated as “Blessed Be You”), makes clear climate change has reached the point of moral, theological and humanitarian crisis. The Pope has not been at all coy about his feelings on climate change, taking the position the manmade attacks on the planet, the sustainer of life, is an attack on God Himself.
“It is entirely consistent with who this pope is and with what he’s said,” O’Keefe said. “The Catholic world needs to take notice of this. It’s major. You might not agree with every single word, but it’s not something that can be ignored. We have to ask ourselves, at the very least, how it challenges us.”
Pope Francis’ Jesuit roots shine through in his framing of the discussion from a point of social justice as well, Burke-Sullivan said. The encyclical rails against the industrialized haves of the world whose rapaciousness is cited as a major contributing factor for the ecological calamity befalling so many of the have-nots.
“God as the source of all creation is the very first principle of Christian spirituality,” Burke-Sullivan said. “Failure to heed scientific data that the creation is in trouble is but one part of the problem. Much of the climate crisis has been brought about by human greed and violence and these must be addressed.”
To that end, and in the spirit of encyclicals from his predecessors, the pope addresses the document “to every person living on this planet,” perhaps with a voice much more forceful than those of encyclicals past, given the global weight of climate change. At base, the encyclical, both O’Keefe and Burke-Sullivan said, is a call to action broadcast to the entire world.
“All are called to sustain creation because creation sustains us,” Burke-Sullivan said. “All people of goodwill, from every faith tradition are addressed because it’s something for people who care about our world to read and to take as an invitation to thought and to action.”
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