Pope Francis’ Laudate Deum climate change exhortation is a clarion call, says the Catholic Bishop of Auckland, Bishop Stephen Lowe.
“Laudate Deum is a clarion call to us all, as individuals, as industry and as nations, to examine whether our attitudes and actions towards care of mother Earth are consistent with the passing on of this taonga, this treasure, to our future generations,” said Bishop Lowe, who is also president of the NZ Catholic Bishops Conference.
Overnight, New Zealand time, Pope Francis published a document he called Laudate Deum (Latin for Praise God), addressed to “all people of goodwill on the climate crisis”. Laudate Deum is an “Apostolic Exhortation” building on his 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’ (Praise be to you) on the care of our common home, the earth. Its publication coincides with the start of a major synod of bishops, priests and lay people in Rome that is discussing the future direction of the Catholic Church.
“Already, within our islands, we have seen the unprecedented storms including the January storm event in Auckland and the massive destruction of Cyclone Gabrielle,” says Bishop Lowe. “In the South Island we have seen the rapid receding of our glaciers. Within our nation we have a growing number of people from Kiribati, and yet we forget they are here as climate refugees as their islands and many islands of the Pacific become subject to rising sea levels. To our south the melting of Antarctica is a growing concern.
“At Mass we often pray the Confiteor, the prayer where we confess not only ‘what I have done’, but also ‘what I have failed to do’. And yet so easily we can be oblivious to our ‘sin’, and, in the climate case, be dismissive of what is shaping up to be a massive global challenge,” said Bishop Lowe.
“The Holy Father exhorts us in Laudate Deum to be involved, in our homes and in our spheres of influence, because ‘every little bit helps’.”
Bishop Lowe adds that Pope Francis says in Laudate Deum: “Yet what is important is something less quantitative: the need to realise that there are no lasting changes without cultural changes, without a maturing of lifestyles and convictions within societies, and there are no cultural changes without personal changes (LD 70).”
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand stated that Laudate Deum “is a strong call for climate action in line with its predecessor”.
“Pope Francis lays out the stark realities of climate change, explaining the scientific and faith-based rationale for climate action, and discussing the importance of multilateralism and an integrated approach,” Caritas stated.
As an example of a paragraph especially relevant to New Zealand, Caritas cited paragraph 9 of the Pope’s apostolic exhortation: “In an attempt to simplify reality, there are those who would place responsibility on the poor, since they have many children, and even attempt to resolve the problem by mutilating women in less developed countries. As usual, it would seem that everything is the fault of the poor. Yet the reality is that a low, richer percentage of the planet contaminates more than the poorest 50 per cent of the total world population, and that per capita emissions of the richer countries are much greater than those of the poorer ones. How can we forget that Africa, home to more than half of the world’s poorest people, is responsible for a minimal portion of historic emissions?” (LD9)
New Zealand loves to talk about how we “punch above our weight”, be it on the sporting field, in science, or internationally, Caritas stated.
“However, we must acknowledge that we punch far above our weight in the wrong way when it comes to emissions – we rank the fifth-highest in emissions per capita of the most industrialised countries,” Caritas noted.
“People opposed to climate action love to argue that bigger countries in the developing need to pull their weight, but in 2019, the bottom 50 per cent of the world population were responsible for 12 per cent of global emissions while the top 10 per cent emitted 48 per cent of the global total according to the study Pope Francis is referring to. Climate action across the globe has been grossly inadequate, and it is utter hypocrisy of us to lay the blame at the feet of poorer countries while we have some of the highest emissions per person of any country.”
Caritas also referred to a paragraph (70) in the Pope’s document about causes for hope.
“Nonetheless, every little bit helps, and avoiding an increase of a tenth of a degree in the global temperature would already suffice to alleviate some suffering for many people. Yet what is important is something less quantitative: the need to realise that there are no lasting changes without cultural changes, without a maturing of lifestyles and convictions within societies, and there are no cultural changes without personal changes.” (LD70)
Caritas noted Pope Francis saying that, even if the amount by which we reduce global warming is small, this can have a tremendous impact on the lives of many people, sparing them future hardship and suffering. Even if we are not able to address the whole problem ourselves, and even if goals of under 1.5°C or 2°C prove unattainable, the difference between 2.0°C and 2.1°C remains significant, and is still something we can be proud to fight for.”
“Secondly, Pope Francis emphasises that the lasting policy changes we often seek through our submissions are only possible with changes in our societies and attitudes – this is a source of hope and inspiration, because we can already see the progress being made by our parishes and communities across the motu. Laudate Deum reminds us that personal changes are the first step to inspiring our communities to change, which is the step required for countries to change, which in turn will deliver the multilateral action needed to address the climate crisis.
How Laudate Deum relates to the work of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand can be found at “Praise God”: What does Laudate Deum mean for Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand? — Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand
Laudate Deum can be read at Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum of the Holy Father Francis to all people of good will on the climate crisis (vatican.va)
Photo: A climate activist wearing a protective mask protests June 8, 2023, while smoke and haze caused by wildfires in Canada pass through New York City(OSV News photo/Amr Alfiky, Reuters)
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