If we ever needed a mandate to work for ecological justice the recently published papal encyclical Laudato Si— on care for our common home—surely ranks very highly. The first of its kind — an encyclical on the environment — Pope Francis is partly breaking new ground and partly building on what has gone before him. There are many angles from which one can reflect on this rich communication, here I wish to look at one—that ecological justice and justice towards the poorest of humanity go hand in hand.

This core aspect of the encyclical is grounded not so much in abstract theological or philosophical argument but in real life examples of a suffering earth and a suffering humanity. Such examples relate to water quality, to climate change, to loss of biodiversity, to the impact of the current economic model of development on the poor, among others.  Francis points out for instance when it comes to water, ‘one serious problem is the quality of water available to the poor’ indicating particularly the issue of water poverty in Africa, and at the same time ‘the growing tendency’ towards privatisation of water.

 ‘The earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor,’ he says. He is scathing of the ‘throwaway society’ reflected in our ‘harmful habits of consumption’ that at one level most adversely affects the poorest and at another reduces the planet to an ‘immense pile of filth.’ He gives very concrete examples here like the ‘increasing use and power of air-conditioning.’ He is particularly concerned with prevailing economic models that widen the gap between rich and poor and that have hastened environmental degradation. He draws on Francis of Assisi describing him as ‘the example par excellence’ of one who ‘cares for the vulnerable’ and who lives out of an ‘integral ecology.’

But in dealing with both the cry of the earth and that of the poor as one cry, the encyclical does not just take an issue-based approach. Pope Francis wishes to go to the heart of things. Implied in the document and stated clearly in places is the need for a change in how we perceive our environment. The world of nature is gift but this cannot be understood as simply meaning resource—it is much more than that. His reference to Francis of Assisi’s appeal that part of the monastery grounds be left for wildflowers is indicative of how Pope Francis values the world of nature—there is clear recognition that all things have intrinsic worth regardless of their value for human beings.

In spite of the serious nature of the situation ‘we still lack the culture needed to confront the crisis.’ ‘A new dialogue in how we are shaping the future of our planet’ is called for. Here we have intimations of the need for a new worldview—a new perspective—a move from the consumer mentality that currently dominates. Thus environment means something much broader than resource and the environmental crisis is much more than an issue. It is symptomatic of much that is ill in our society, of the disintegration and unrest that characterises our world.

This is something that many who are concerned with the impact of environmental devastation particularly on the poorest of humanity will welcome. It is something reflected in much of the environmental and ecospiritual writing of recent decades.  Many writers and activists see the crisis as having much deeper causes. The crisis—in the words of the American author and activist of many years in this area Thomas Berry — is more about culture than about nature. We are in need of cultural change, change of heart and mind, change of world view — in a word a change in cosmology.

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Margaret Twomey rsm
Congregational Ecojustice Co-Ordinator