*(note: the reference numbers refer to the numbered paragraphs, not page numbers)
What I found most exceptional, because it is so rare in most discussions, is the way Pope Francis speaks of non-human creatures and the natural world. When even environmentalists talk about the importance of preserving biodiversity, it is often couched in terms of the value to humans (“just imagine if some rainforest plant which may have held the cure for cancer was wiped out before we ever discovered it”). This anthropocentric view, presupposing that all other living beings are here just for their value to humans, is offensive to me — this human hubris is a huge part of how we arrived at this crisis to begin with. But this human-centric view is close to impossible to escape, as it seems nearly everyone thinks that way. So I was delighted to find Pope Francis stating that “the ultimate purpose of other creatures is not to be found in us.” (p. 83)
The encyclical goes so far beyond most environmental writers regarding our relation to non-human animals and the rest of the natural world... In the very opening, he invokes the canticle of Saint Francis of Assisi to remind us that “our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us.” (p. 1) He goes on to say that Saint Francis’ calling fellow creatures by the name of brother and sister “cannot be written off as naive romanticism, for it affects the choices which determine our behaviour. If we approach nature and the environment without this openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs. By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled.” (p. 11) Even more striking: “It is not enough... to think of different species merely as potential ‘resources’ to be exploited, while overlooking the fact that they have value in themselves. Each year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see, because they have been lost for ever. The great majority become extinct for reasons related to human activity. Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right.” (my emphasis) (p. 33) This reminds me of a statement from Daniel Wildcat (himself quoting Oren Lyons), “it makes a crucial difference whether humankind thinks of the natural world as consisting of resources or relatives.” (Red Alert) Unfortunately humankind has so lost our relation to the natural world that, in Francis’ words, “the harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted by our presuming to take the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations.” (p. 66)
This human arrogance can be called anthropocentrism — a word I have rarely heard spoken except by animal rights activists, yet Pope Francis mentions it twice, when he states that “modernity has been marked by an excessive anthropocentrism which... continues to stand in the way of shared understanding” (p. 116); and then that “a misguided anthropocentrism leads to a misguided lifestyle... when human beings place themselves at the centre, they give absolute priority to immediate convenience and all else becomes relative.” (p. 122) In connection with this anthropocentrism, the Pope speaks of the implications of how we treat non-human animals: “our indifference or cruelty towards fellow creatures of this world sooner or later affects the treatment we mete out to other human beings. We have only one heart, and the same wretchedness which leads us to mistreat an animal will not be long in showing itself in our relationships with other people. Every act of cruelty towards any creature is contrary to human dignity.” (p. 92)
This leads me to another exceptional aspect of Pope Francis’ writings, his recognition of “the intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of the planet, the conviction that everything in the world is connected.” (p. 16) There often seems to be a disconnect between the violence we do to the planet and the violence we do to our fellow humans — in fact, it is often assumed that if one cares about animals or the environment then one must care insufficiently about other people (the old trope that someone “cares more about animals than people”). The Pope puts the lie to this notion as he connects the environment and poverty in his 12-paragraph section on global inequality. He says that “the same mindset which stands in the way of making radical decisions to reverse the trend of global warming also stands in the way of achieving the goal of eliminating poverty“ (p. 175); and that “a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor..” (p. 49) He speaks of how the global South is exploited to create wealth for the capitalists in the global North: “developing countries, where the most important reserves of the biosphere are found, continue to fuel the development of richer countries at the cost of their own present and future” (p. 52); and he links this exploitation to the mindless greed of the rich: “some are mired in desperate and degrading poverty, with no way out, while others have not the faintest idea of what to do with their possessions, vainly showing off their supposed superiority and leaving behind them so much waste which, if it were the case everywhere, would destroy the planet.” (p. 90)
Upon reading the encyclical I was immediately impressed with the depth of research and knowledge brought to it — knowledge of the urgency of the crisis we are in, and the need for radical change in the way we live. Pope Francis speaks repeatedly of the dire emergency to which we have brought ourselves: “doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain. We may well be leaving to coming generations debris, desolation and filth” (p. 161); and “it is not enough to balance, in the medium term, the protection of nature with financial gain, or the preservation of the environment with progress. Halfway measures simply delay the inevitable disaster. Put simply, it is a matter of redefining our notion of progress.” (p. 194)
Perhaps because of his focus on poverty and inequality, the Pope far surpasses most writers in his elucidation of the only true solution to the crisis. I hear over and over, from “green” groups and environmental leaders, assurances that we already have the technology for “sustainable energy” and “green growth”... No one, it seems, wants to be the grown-up and tell us that we can’t have our cake and eat it too — that is, we can’t keep our profligate lifestyle and keep a habitable planet, no matter how many windmills and solar panels we put up. Almost no one, that is — Pope Francis is unafraid to talk about the folly of “sustainable growth”: “talk of sustainable growth usually becomes a way of distracting attention and offering excuses” (p. 194); and to go beyond into speaking of de-growth, especially in the first world: “we need to grow in the conviction that a decrease in the pace of production and consumption can at times give rise to another form of progress and development.” (p. 191) He relates our obsession with growth to our disconnect from the natural world, and forthrightly calls our notions of sustainable growth a lie: “human beings and material objects no longer extend a friendly hand to one another; the relationship has become confrontational. This has made it easy to accept the idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists, financiers and experts in technology. It is based on the lie that there is an infinite supply of the earth’s goods, and this leads to the planet being squeezed dry beyond every limit. “ (p. 106) And he urges us to relinquish our fixation with growth to heal our value systems as well as the planet: “nobody is suggesting a return to the Stone Age, but we do need to slow down and look at reality in a different way, to appropriate the positive and sustainable progress which has been made, but also to recover the values and the great goals swept away by our unrestrained delusions of grandeur.” (p. 114)
I also appreciate the Pope’s attention to personal responsibilities in this crisis. So much of the discourse among activists devolves into simply blaming corporate villains. Of course the fossil fuel corporations bear much responsibility, but this blaming ignores the fact that we are the ones keeping them in business by buying their products — and every step we take to decrease our dependence on their products both lessens their bottom lines and saves us from hypocrisy. Pope Francis urges us to look to our habits of consumerism, beginning with our “throwaway culture which affects the excluded just as it quickly reduces things to rubbish.” (p. 22) He maintains that this culture persists even while we profess environmental awareness: “people may well have a growing ecological sensitivity but it has not succeeded in changing their harmful habits of consumption which, rather than decreasing, appear to be growing all the more.” (p. 55) He ties this lifestyle to the inequalities in our economic systems: “obsession with a consumerist lifestyle, above all when few people are capable of maintaining it, can only lead to violence and mutual destruction.” (p. 204) He exposes the hollow core at the heart of the growth economy: “since the market tends to promote extreme consumerism in an effort to sell its products, people can easily get caught up in a whirlwind of needless buying and spending... people believe that they are free as long as they have the supposed freedom to consume.” (p. 203)
Contrary to many who argue that “my personal consumption won’t make a difference,” the pope calls out the importance of our own individual actions: “only by cultivating sound virtues will people be able to make a selfless ecological commitment... We must not think that these efforts are not going to change the world. They benefit society, often unbeknown to us, for they call forth a goodness which, albeit unseen, inevitably tends to spread.” (p. 211-212) He exhorts us to “take up an ancient lesson, found in different religious traditions and also in the Bible. It is the conviction that “less is more... It is a return to that simplicity which allows us to stop and appreciate the small things, to be grateful for the opportunities which life affords us, to be spiritually detached from what we possess, and not to succumb to sadness for what we lack.” (p. 222) And he eloquently challenges the notion that a simple life free of materialism and consumerism is deprivation: “such sobriety, when lived freely and consciously, is liberating. It is not a lesser life or one lived with less intensity. On the contrary, it is a way of living life to the full... Happiness means knowing how to limit some needs which only diminish us, and being open to the many different possibilities which life can offer." (p. 223)
This leads me to the value of such a revered and powerful religious figure speaking out so strongly — only someone with the moral authority of the Pope or the Dalai Lama could speak so authoritatively of this as the moral issue it is. Pope Francis rejects the solipsism so prevalent today: “disinterested concern for others, and the rejection of every form of self-centeredness and self-absorption, are essential if we truly wish to care for our brothers and sisters and for the natural environment” (p. 208); and “We must regain the conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being good and decent are worth it.” (p. 229) Invoking Mary, he mourns the ruins of the world that our profligate culture has brought: “Just as her pierced heart mourned the death of Jesus, so now she grieves for the sufferings of the crucified poor and for the creatures of this world laid waste by human power.” (p. 241) And he condemns the myriad evils our misguided culture has wrought, as he denounces the futility of political solutions within such a culture: “In the absence of objective truths or sound principles other than the satisfaction of our own desires and immediate needs, what limits can be placed on human trafficking, organized crime, the drug trade, commerce in blood diamonds and the fur of endangered species?... This same 'use and throw away' logic generates so much waste, because of the disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary. We should not think that political efforts or the force of law will be sufficient to prevent actions which affect the environment because, when the culture itself is corrupt and objective truth and universally valid principles are no longer upheld, then laws can only be seen as arbitrary impositions or obstacles to be avoided.’ (p. 123)
It is this spiritual poverty of our solipsistic culture which is the deep taproot of our current crisis, as we acquire more and more "things" — consumer goods, travel — to fill empty lives devoid of beauty: “the emptier a person’s heart is, the more he or she needs things to buy, own and consume.” (p. 204) The Pope expresses anger at the ruin that we have wrought: “the degree of human intervention... is actually making our earth less rich and beautiful, ever more limited and grey... We seem to think that we can substitute an irreplaceable and irretrievable beauty with something which we have created ourselves.” (p. 34); and “if someone has not learned to stop and admire something beautiful, we should not be surprised if he or she treats everything as an object to be used and abused without scruple.” (p. 215) It is through recognizing and appreciating the beauty of the world that the Pope urges us to find “a new way of thinking about human beings, life, society and our relationship with nature.” (p. 215)
Which brings us back to where we began, with the Franciscan values that Pope Francis espouses. He tells us that “in union with all creatures, we journey through this land seeking God” (p. 244), and invokes the prayer of Saint Francis:
Most high, all powerful, all good Lord! All praise is Yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing. To You, alone, Most High, do they belong. No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your name.
Praised be you, my Lord, with all your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day and through whom you give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour; and bears a likeness of you, Most High.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars, in heaven you formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather through whom you give sustenance to your creatures.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Sister Water, who is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be you, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you light the night, and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.
Praised be you, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of You; through those who endure sickness and trial.
Happy those who endure in peace, for by You, Most High, they will be crowned.
Praised be you, my Lord, through our sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living person can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Happy those she finds doing Your most holy will. The second death can do no harm to them.
Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks, and serve Him with great humility.
