Francis's encyclical contains a fundamental lesson: We are not the source of meaning or value; if we believe we are, we exchange the real world for a virtual one.
'Laudate Deum' does not merely restate Pope Francis's commitment to the environment. It calls us with greater urgency to change the systems feeding climate change.
In an old-growth forest, everything is connected. No individual plant or animal, and indeed no species, is an island. As Pope Francis warns, we should pay attention.
'Laudato si’' develops a notion of solidarity within and between generations, not only with fellow human beings but with the whole earth and all its creatures.
For Francis, climate change is part of a larger ecological crisis—that itself is part of a larger ethical failure involving how we treat the poor and the unborn.
Any who claim Francis is ignoring the Catholic past and inventing radical new doctrines has to reckon with the care he takes in paying homage to his predecessors.
