Last month, Pope Francis is reported to have told a group of European lawyers that he was working on updating the Laudato Si encyclical that was published in 2015.
The meeting was reported on by the National Catholic Reporter’s Earthbeat team.
The Pope’s original encyclical has served as a launching pad for an ecumenical effort to care for creation.
There were a number of events at Catholic universities where students, professors and theologians gathered to discuss the contents of the letter fully. In fact, the Laudato Si Research Institute has been established at Oxford University and is led by Catholic theologian Celia Deane-Drummond.
The letter’s title “Laudato Si” is taken from a canticle from Saint Francis that is translated as “Praise be to you, my Lord.” The letter is clear of humanity’s role in climate change. Pope Francis writes: “We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.”
In his writing. he expressed a desire to begin a dialogue with all people about the future of our common home and that has been done in a variety of ways including at varies global meetings of politicians, scientists and theologians on the sidelines of various United Nations’ Climate Change Conferences such as COP26.
Susan is an author with a long-time interest in religion and science. She currently edits Covalence, the Lutheran Alliance for Faith, Science and Technology’s online magazine. She has written articles in The Lutheran and the Zygon Center for Religion and Science newsletter. Susan is a board member for the Center for Advanced Study of Religion and Science, the supporting organization for the Zygon Center and the Zygon Journal. She also co-wrote Our Bodies Are Selves with Dr. Philip Hefner and Dr. Ann Pederson.
