Talk on Laudato Si

In November I gave a talk at St John's in Bath on the relevance and importance of Laudato Si - the Pope's encyclical on the environment.  I was asked to give an overview of the text as the world's leaders gathered to discuss their response to climate change in Paris.

Laudato Si talk by Mary Colwell

New Encyclical

Short thoughts on the new social encyclical for ARC website...

Caritas in Veritate was released on 6th July 2009 and is an in depth look at human development and flourishing. It is this Pope's view of Catholic social teaching, often described as the Catholic Church's best kept secret! Catholic social teaching examines our relationships in all their complexities, social, political, sexual and crucially in this encyclical, it includes our relationship with the natural world.

Pope Benedict recognises the interconnectedness of our actions - if we mistreat the natural world we mistreat ourselves, because everything is bound to everything else. He links nature not only to the environment but to "human ecology"; all of our relationships speak of the moral tenor of society, we cannot distinguish one from the other. He stresses that our lifestyles speak of our mental and moral state and hedonism, consumerism and disregard for other life can - and does - have harmful consequences for all. He urges the Church to assert her responsibility in the public sphere and defend the natural world, linking environmental stewardship to protecting mankind from self-destruction.

This is an encyclical that firmly places care for the natural world at the heart of Catholic teaching and action. No longer is concern for the earth something that is only of interest to "greenies", if you are a Catholic then you care about the world around you because it is fundamentally related to justice, peace and human development. Development of the human person in charity and truth now includes a deep concern for the gift of creation.

Telling Tales

A Catholic priest friend of mine said something very interesting when we talked about how the message of Christianity has become diluted, changed, boxed in and irrelevant. He said its because we betray our heritage. We used to tell with passion the greatest stories on earth - the rights and wrongs, dos and don'ts, trials and tribulations of being a human in search of a God - now we just give out rules and statements. And that is it. Where are the stories that set the heart aflame with a desire to seek and to change? Where is the inspiration and comment on a broken world that gives hope? I go to Church most Sundays and never hear a story that sets me alight (sorry chaps!)

Telling stories is in our very genes, it is how we have always made sense of an unfathomable world. From our earliest times on earth we would have told each other great stories from simple tales to huge epics - but they all do the same job. Jesus was a master at telling tales. Listening to stories real or imagined, helps us relate and gets our inner emotions engaged, no encyclical on earth will do that for me. So - as we wait with bated breath for the Pope's new one due out on Monday, which is supposed to have environmental wisdom in it - I wonder if it will be magical interplay on words and imagination? Will it make us wonder about who and what we are and the quality of our relationships, that are often beyond the capacity of utilitarian language? Let's wait and see....