Jean-Hérick JASMIN, OMI (JPIC Director)
Yesterday, October 4th, 2023, we received and welcomed Pope Francis’ new apostolic exhortation, Laudate Deum (Praise God), released on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Italy’s patron saint.
Laudate Deum is a follow-up to Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’. The message is crystal clear: In recent years, we have done little to respond to global warming. Attempts to deny or downplay this reality have only made things worse by discouraging those courageous enough to protect our Common Home. Pope Francis emphasizes that “despite all attempts to deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue, the signs of climate change are here and increasingly evident.” (cf. LD 5).
Pope Francis points out, “No one can ignore the fact that in recent years, we have witnessed extreme weather phenomena, frequent periods of unusual heat, drought, and other cries of protest on the part of the earth that are only a few palpable expressions of a silent disease that affects everyone.” (cf. LD 5.10.13.17). Pope Francis reiterates and reaffirms the call of Laudato Si’ in which the Church embraced the principles of integral ecology, sustainability, and call-to-action. In Laudate Deum, he urges everyone to wake up, take responsibility, and address the climate crisis facing our world while there is still time. (cf. LD 58)
Laudate Deum is a call to act now! Pope Francis warns us that “to seek only a technical remedy to each environmental problem which comes up is to separate what is in reality interconnected and to mask the true and deepest problems of the global system.” (cf. LD.57). If we stay idle and do nothing, Laudate Deum reminds us of the grim consequences of our actions (cf. LD, 6).
Dear Oblates, with the whole Church, let us act now!
(pics@ Zenit)
