Pope Francis’ second document on the environment and “Climate Crisis” — Laudate Deum — was released 4# October, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
The confluence of Laudate Deum, the Synod on Synodality, the Dubia, and the Holy Father’s responses to the Dubia has brought a tangle of important scientific, societal and spiritual issues together, in quick succession.
Even the heading of Laudate Deum is a quandary.
“To all people of good will on the Climate Crisis.”
Sounds fair — till one looks at the deeper meaning. The Holy Father is careful with words, dates and historical references which have particular significance — such as the release date of Laudate Deum on the feast day of his name-sake, St. Francis of Assisi.
In this phrase he links ‘people of good will’ directly with the ‘climate crisis.’ He does not say that ‘climate deniers’ are ‘not of good will’ — but when he says that they have “scarcely reasonable opinions” it sure feels that way!
Pope Francis also released Laudate Deum on the first day of the Synod on Synodality in Rome. As reported by Jesuit magazine America, “The synod is not Vatican III. It’s Pope Francis’ implementation of Vatican II.” If he is implementing Vatican II then the phrase “To all people of good will on the Climate Crisis” is possibly an echo from Pope Paul VI, the driving force behind Vatican II, who used a similar phrase in Humanae Vitae:
Pope Paul VI specified the ‘faithful of the whole Catholic world and to all men of good will,’ possibly referencing other Christian denominations or all moral people. That said, Pope Francis’ use is clearly different.
Confluence of the Dubia, the Synod & Laudate Deum
The Holy Father states that there is indeed a climate crisis and that there is no doubt about the cause of that crisis:
“I feel obliged to make these clarifications, which may appear obvious, because of certain dismissive and scarcely reasonable opinions that I encounter, even within the Catholic Church. Yet we can no longer doubt that the reason for the unusual rapidity of these dangerous changes is a fact that cannot be concealed: the enormous novelties that have to do with unchecked human intervention on nature in the past two centuries. Events of natural origin that usually cause warming, such as volcanic eruptions and others, are insufficient to explain the proportion and speed of the changes of recent decades. [11] The change in average surface temperatures cannot be explained except as the result of the increase of greenhouse gases.”
Climate aside, there is a theological crisis in the Church.
“A Dubium” is a question on a matter of Theology or Canon Law which is put to the Holy Father / the Magisterium for clarification or explanation:
The recent Dubia came from 5 conservative Cardinals — Brandmüller, Burke, Íñiguez, Sarah, Ze-kiun and their far-ranging questions are tough. They challenged the Synodal assumption that “The Church of God is convoked in Synod”; the reinterpretation of Divine Revelation; the blessing of same-sex unions; the priestly ordination of women, and whether “forgiveness is a human right" in the confessional despite a lack of repentance on the part of the penitent. (I am surprised that they did not write a Dubium about the curtailment of the Traditional Latin Mass and how that is ostracizing some good Catholics.)
Remarkably the Holy Father gave the Cardinals a detailed, carefully worded (non-specific) response within 24 hours.
We are in the middle of a ~4 year Synod on Synodality which has the task of discerning how the Church will improve communication, dialogue, dialectic within the Church! It seems paradoxical that he would express an utterly dogmatic view on a scientific issue the day he opens a month-long Vatican meeting with 464 Synod delegates. That concurrence can only be by design.
(My review of the original 2015 document on the environment Laudato Si, can be found>>>HERE.
To read the the full document click on the link >>>Laudate Deum.)
People of Good Will
Catechist Jennifer Gregory Miller wrote the article “Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men” in CatholicCulture.org which examines the meaning of ‘people of good will.’ She quotes Father Jacques Philippe who wrote “Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart.”
“A necessary condition for interior peace, then, is what we might call goodwill. We could also call it purity of heart. It is the stable and constant disposition of a person who is determined more than anything to love God, who desires sincerely to prefer in all circumstances the will of God to his own; who does not wish to consciously refuse anything to God...Here, then, is what we mean by goodwill. It is not perfection, nor sainthood achieved, because it could well coexist with hesitations, imperfections and even faults. But it is the way, because it is just this habitual disposition of heart (whose foundation is found in the virtues of faith, hope and love), which permits the grace of God to carry us, little by little, toward perfection.
This goodwill, this habitual determination to always say “yes” to God, in the great things as in the small, is a sine qua non for interior peace. As long as we have not acquired this determination, a certain uneasiness and sadness will not cease to abide in us—the uneasiness of not loving God as much as He invites us to love Him, and the sadness of still not having given all things to God....”
Emotional Blackmail
Pope Francis clearly supports an enforced global system to achieve the (arbitrary) CO2 targets:
“It is a matter of establishing global and effective rules that can permit “providing for” this global safeguarding.”
“…the accords have been poorly implemented, due to lack of suitable mechanisms for oversight, periodic review and penalties in cases of noncompliance.”
“…to achieve the beginning of a new process marked by three requirements: that it be drastic, intense and count on the commitment of all.”
If Fr. Philippe is correct about “always saying yes to God” then my question is whether we — a priori — should always say ‘yes’ to God’s representative on Earth? Does that mean we must automatically agree with the Holy Father on scientific issues and his drastic solutions??
Problems include: the “Climate Crisis” is not “settled science”; climate is not the Holy Father’s area of expertise; and climate is definitely not his area of authority. My biggest concern is how Pope Francis has not communicated any message of hope and optimism for the future, which compounds the despair of the younger generation. (There will be a compete review of Laudate Deum in Catholic Arena soon.)
Many of us are choking on the dregs we being fed by Big Tech, Big Government, Big Business and Big Organizations, like the World Economic Forum. Through Laudato Si and Laudate Deum, the Holy Father is adding Big Religion.
Kevin Hay
(You can follow Kevin on 𝕏 — formerly Twitter — @ kevinhay77)