The Laudate Deum in Pills

The Laudate Deum in Pills

After the Laudato Si’ of 2015 and the Fratelli Tutti of 2020, Pope Francis completes this “Trilogy”, with the Ludate Deum, so much so that it is considered an update of the encyclical Laudato si’.
In these three documents, amply accompanied by a careful scientific as well as theological bibliography, the Pope expresses all his concern for climate change, which goes, as he himself cites, “beyond a merely ecological approach, because «our concern for others and our care for the earth are intimately linked”, giving further impetus and meaning to the concept of “Integral Ecology” expressed in Laudato Si’.
From this apostolic exhortation it is clear (perfectly in line with the principles of ecological complexity) how the connection between the human system and the environment is as close as it is incidental, to the point that any of our actions in the direction of non-compliance has its most serious repercussions. precisely on the most defenseless, be they living organisms or human beings.
And so the effects of climate change (undeniably generated by human activities) “are suffered by the most vulnerable people, both at home and around the world”.
Even worse are not only the denials of this phenomenon but also the attempt to simplify reality, so “there is no shortage of those who blame the poor for having too many children and try to solve the problem by mutilating women from less developed countries. As usual, it would seem that the poor are to blame. But the reality is that a small, richer percentage of the world’s population pollutes more than the poorest 50% and that the per capita emissions of the richest countries are much higher than those of the poorest. In fact, Francis asks: “How can we forget that Africa, which is home to more than half of the poorest people in the world, is responsible for only a small part of historical emissions?” An obvious paradox.
All this happens because the race towards the solution has become an even more unbridled tendency to raise the level of technology, placing the rules and principles of nature as a mere “framework” in which to develop our lives and our projects; forgetting that “we are included in it, we are part of it and we are penetrated by it”, so “the world is not contemplated from the outside but from the inside”.
All this means that Politics, Science and Technology, as well as all our behavior, can never be extraneous to Nature, because in doing so we compromise it by undermining the foundations of our own life and civilization.
In this sense, the now rampant greenwashing that Francis calls “The ethical sting” has become even more serious.
To such an extent that we are witnessing a growing ethical decadence of real power, masked by marketing and false information, all mechanisms for manipulating the consciences and freedom of peoples, creating false illusions and positive consequences even in the presence of manifest contraindications to the realization of certain projects of exclusive interest to large local or international groups.
These “subjects” lack a real interest in the future of these people, “because they are not told clearly that as a result of this project they will be left with a devastated land, much more unfavorable conditions for living and thriving, a region
desolate, less habitable, without life and without the joy of coexistence and hope; in addition to the global damage that ends up harming many others.”
In this whole scenario there is a clear weakness of politics, both at an international, national and local level.
For this reason the Pope invites countries to resume and save the old multilateralism, reconfiguring it and researching it in light of the new global situation.
Fortunately, it emerges that initiatives and aggregations are flourishing in civil society that “help compensate for the weaknesses of the international community”; perhaps the seed of a new nascent civilization which however must race against time.
So much so that “if citizens do not control political power – national, regional and municipal – combating environmental damage is not even possible”. Clear and unequivocal message to the mobilization of consciences for the construction of the common good.

In this whole “glocal” scenario, Francis then makes a leap towards those great decisions which, up to now, have often failed in their task, namely the intergovernmental conferences on the climate, which were not followed by clear, politically correct and accidents.
Hope obviously lies in the COP28 in Dubai, stating that “this Conference can be a turning point, proving that everything that has been done since 1992 was serious and appropriate, otherwise it will be a great disappointment and will put at risk all the good things has been able to achieve this far.”
In practice, two warnings: one downwards, encouraging everyone’s sense of civic responsibility and responsibility (precisely because Fratelli Tutti) and the other upwards, with “a pull of the ears” to the rulers, calling them to make a final appeal, after which either hope or the abyss opens up.
In this sense, Pope Francis reiterates that “looking only for a technical remedy for every environmental problem that arises means isolating things that are actually connected, and hiding the true and deeper problems of the world system”.
In short, that each of us understands that, as I underlined in a previous article of mine, Without Integral Ecology there is no future, which is equivalent to saying that the solution lies in the set of human components and behaviours, relegating the technological solution to a secondary role.
In this regard, Francis’ exhortation also clarifies another aspect; that is, to finally put an end to the irresponsible mockery that presents the issue as only environmental, “green”, romantic, often ridiculed for economic interests.
There is much more at stake here; “It is a human and social problem in a broad sense and at various levels” which requires everyone’s involvement.
But to make this qualitative leap, the catalyst of the process is needed, that ingredient that a certain materialistic culture has sown and spread in recent times: the fact that in addition to the connection at the level of things in Nature, this involves a broader Connection, that Plan of human experiences that does not stop at the material alone, requiring a renewed spirituality, seasoned with new motivations.
In fact, the Bible, with its “ecologically integral” language, tells us that “God saw what he had done, and behold, it was very good” (Gen 1.31). His is “the earth and all that is in it” (Deut 10:14). Therefore He tells us: «The lands cannot be sold forever, because the land is mine and you are with me as strangers and guests» (Lev 25,23).
Which requires a renewed “responsibility before an earth that belongs to God”, that is, of the Whole, which is above all and in all.
Something that must urge our intelligence to respect the laws of Nature and the delicate balance between the beings of this world, whether we do it as simple citizens or as heads of government or presidents of multinationals.
Which implies the escape, once and for all, of market, technocratic and financial paradigms; reasoning patterns that divide and not unite; models of thought and action that replace the I with the we, reversing the logic of Nature which, instead, favors the we with the I.
It means thinking in terms of us and not of I, “walking in communion and with responsibility, since (even if we do not create in a God) we are all united in that Integral Ecology which the technocratic paradigm tends to ignore, isolating us, deceiving us, “making us forget that the whole world is a “contact zone” and where, therefore, our every action falls on the other and therefore on ourselves.
Thus, to quote one of the great issues “soil desertification is like a disease for everyone, and we can lament the extinction of a species as if it were a mutilation”.
In short, a mutilated and poorer society because “a human being who claims to replace God” (the All above all and in all) “becomes the worst danger to himself”.

Guido Bissanti