The encyclical Laudato si ’, mi ’ Signore, Praise be to you, my Lord

“Children have the capacity to smile and to cry spontaneously, with freshness and love. It always depends on the heart (Angelus of Palm Sunday, April 13, 2014) © Osservatore Romano — “Children have the capacity to smile and to cry spontaneously, with freshness and love. It always depends on the heart” (Angelus of Palm Sunday, April 13, 2014) © Osservatore Romano

An encyclical addressed to the “ Lord,” as a praise of Glory… This is unprecedented!

THE house (our Sister, Mother Earth) is falling into ruin “ because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her” (no. 2). Nothing could be more Franciscan than this “ integral” ecology under the auspices of Saint Francis of Assisi (nos. 10-11,) in other words, a “ Catholic” ecology: encompassing the whole of creation and all creatures, “ especially those who have the greatest need of such a Catholic ecology. ”

The Blessed Virgin already saw, a hundred years ago on July 13, 1917: “ a large city half in ruins. ” Since 1917, the destruction has only worsened. Today, the Holy Father “ half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, is praying for the souls of the corpses he meets on his way. ”

Pope Francis stated it himself in his audience of Wednesday, June 17, in Peter’s Square: “ This ‘home’ of ours is deteriorating and this harms everyone, especially the poorest. Mine is therefore a call to responsibility, based on the task God gave to human beings in creation: ‘to till and keep the garden’ in which He placed him (cf. Gn 2:15).”

This cannot be achieved “ without turning to that attractive and compelling figure,” Saint Francis of Assisi. “ I took his name as my guide and inspiration when I was elected Bishop of Rome. I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically […]. He was particularly concerned for God’s creation and for the poor and outcast. He loved, and was deeply loved for his joy, his generous self-giving, his openheartedness. He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.” (no. 10)

Next month if it please God, we will begin a series of articles commenting on this encyclical “with openheartedness”, according to the wish of our Holy Father, Pope Francis.

Brother Bruno of Jesus-Mary