Laudato si: An Appeal to “Ecological Conversion”

Fr. Eduardo Emilio Aguero, (SCJ)

Both in Laudato si and in Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis links the issue of integrity of creation to that of justice and inclusion of the poor and marginalized, on the basis that our planet is a homeland and that humanity is one people living in a common home (LS 164). The earth is essentially a shared inheritance, and its fruits are meant to benefit all its inhabitants (LS 93; cf. QA 42).

Therefore, Pope Francis condemns the injustices perpetrated against our planet’s ecosystems, its “biodiverse lungs, which are the Amazon and the Congo basins, or the great aquifers and glaciers” (LS 38) damaged due to a selfish lack of concern in pursuit of shallow economic gains (cf. LS 36). This injustice to creation in the present condition of global society is injustice against future generations and the poor.

Any kind of injustice against any created being will turn into a violation of human dignity: “Our indifference or cruelty towards fellow creatures…sooner or later affects the treatment we mete out to other human beings” (LS 92). This also entails many species in danger of extinction, both visible and generally unseen, as they play a critical role in maintaining the equilibrium of a particular place (cf. LS 34).

The Pope offers some suggestions for an ecological spirituality to motivate and nourish our Christian response to living out our vocation of “protectors of God’s handiwork” (LS 217). First of all, we need “ecological conversion” (LS 217), that is, both personal and communitarian reconciliation with creation (cf. LS 219) and to respond with a “union of skills and a unity of achievement” (LS 219) needed to bring about lasting change in the world.

This ecological conversion entails three aspects:

  • First, it is necessary to have an economic conversion. It is a necessary conversion from short-term profit orientation to a common good orientation. It will consider human beings and nature over consumption and profit (cf. LS 184).
  • Second, it is necessary to have a technological conversion. Many times it is associated with technology and with progress, which is not true in all cases. Technology brings comfort and instrumental progress (cf. LS 102-103). However, the progress brought by technology often brings regression in human-life conditions, social problems and nature destruction. One example of this is the efficient technology used for destruction and killing during the Second World War (cf. LS 104).
  • The third conversion is a kind from consumerism and disposable culture to a simple lifestyle and conscious use of nature. Pope Benedict reminded us that “purchasing is always a moral – and not simply economic – act” (Caritas in veritate 66).

The central attitudes called for by this conversion are “gratitude and gratuitousness”, “generosity in self-sacrifice and good works”, “creativity and enthusiasm” (LS 220): “Human beings, endowed with intelligence and love, and drawn by the fullness of Christ, are called to lead all creatures back to their Creator” (LS 83).

In Laudato si, Pope Francis understands that the unity of all creation resides in the communion of the Holy Trinity, which has left its mark on all creation (cf. LS 239). We grow in spiritual and human maturity when we dare to go out from ourselves to live in communion with God, with others and with all creatures. “In this way, they make their own trinitarian dynamism, which God imprinted in them when they were created” (LS 240).

(Photo: Fr. Eduardo Emilio Aguero, SCJ)