Part 3
Note: We continue the reprint as a series of the Holy Father Pope Francis encyclical Laudato Si (On Our Care for Our Common Home).
My appeal
The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change.
The Creator does not abandon us; He never forsakes His loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home. Here, I want to recognize, encourage and thank all those striving in countless ways to guarantee the protection of the home that we share. Particular appreciation is owed to those who tirelessly seek to resolve the tragic effects of environmental degradation on the lives of the world’s poorest. Young people demand change. They wonder how anyone can claim to be building a better future without thinking of the environmental crisis and the sufferings of the excluded.
I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation, which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all. The worldwide ecological movement has already made considerable progress and led to the establishment of numerous organizations committed to raising awareness of these challenges. Regrettably, many efforts to seek concrete solutions to the environmental crisis have proved ineffective, not only because of powerful opposition, but also because of a more general lack of interest. Obstructionist attitudes, even on the part of believers, can range from denial of the problem to indifference, nonchalant resignation or blind confidence in technical solutions. We require a new and universal solidarity. As the bishops of Southern Africa have stated: “Everyone’s talents and involvement are needed to redress the damage caused by human abuse of God’s creation”. All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to his or her own culture, experience, involvements and talents.
It is my hope that this encyclical letter, which is now added to the body of the Church’s social teaching, can help us to acknowledge the appeal, immensity and urgency of the challenge we face. I will begin by briefly reviewing several aspects of the present ecological crisis, with the aim of drawing on the results of the best scientific research available today, letting them touch us deeply and provide a concrete foundation for the ethical and spiritual itinerary that follows. I will then consider some principles drawn from the Judaeo-Christian tradition which can render our commitment to the environment more coherent. I will then attempt to get to the roots of the present situation, so as to consider not only its symptoms but also its deepest causes. This will help to provide an approach to ecology, which respects our unique place as human beings in this world and our relationship to our surroundings. In light of this reflection, I will advance some broader proposals for dialogue and action, which would involve each of us as individuals, and also affect international policy. Finally, convinced as I am that change is impossible without motivation and a process of education, I will offer some inspired guidelines for human development to be found in the treasure of Christian spiritual experience.
Although each chapter will have its own subject and specific approach, it will also take up and reexamine important questions previously dealt with. This is particularly the case with a number of themes, which will reappear as the encyclical unfolds. As examples, I will point to the intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of the planet, the conviction that everything in the world is connected, the critique of new paradigms and forms of power derived from technology, the call to seek other ways of understanding the economy and progress, the value proper to each creature, the human meaning of ecology, the need for forthright and honest debate, the serious responsibility of international and local policy, the throwaway culture and the proposal of a new lifestyle. These questions will not be dealt with once and for all, but reframed and enriched again and again.
To be continued
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Caritas Manila recently opened its first Segunda Mana charity outlet outside Metro Manila when it inaugurated its 21st charity outlet at Basement Level, World Bazaar of Starmall, in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan.
Senators Cynthia and Manny Villar donated free mall space for the charity outlet in Starmall San Jose del Monte City, as well as those at Starmall Edsa, Alabang and Las Piñas.
Segunda Mana is the donations-in-kind program of Caritas Manila, which accepts preloved items, such as clothes, shoes, bags, toys, home and fashion accessories as gifts for charity. These, in turn, are distributed in 21 charity outlets at affordable prices.
Other charity outlets are in Caritas Manila’s main office at 2002 Jesus Street, Pandacan, Manila, and in our partner malls in Victory Mall—Caloocan, Alabang, Pasay, Las Piñas and Lacson-Quiapo; Sta. Lucia East; Greenfield District; Isetann Recto; Riverbanks Marikina; Farmer’s Plaza Cubao; Makati Square; Harrison Plaza; Metropoint Pasay; Comoda Ville Antipolo; San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan; and Sancti Josef Commercial Malabon.
Please support Segunda Mana by donating items you no longer need, have excess of, or your company’s old and slow-moving inventories. Proceeds from Segunda Mana charity outlets fund Caritas Manila’s flagship program, Youth Servant Leadership and Education Program.
To know more about Segunda Mana and other programs of Caritas Manila, visit www.caritasmanila.org.ph. For your donations, call our donor care lines 563-9311, 564-0205, 0999-7943455, 0905-4285001 and 0929-8343857. Make it a habit to listen to Radio Veritas 846 in the AM band, or through live streaming at www.veritas846.ph. For comments, e-mail veritas846pr@gmail.com.