DiLeo, Daniel R.

English

epublications@Marquette

Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 49 Jesuit Higher Education in a GlobalContext Article 39September 2016Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor: "Laudato Si'" andJesuit Higher EducationDaniel R. DiLeoFollow this and additional works at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationDiLeo, Daniel R. (2016) "Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor: "Laudato Si'" and Jesuit Higher Education," Conversations on Jesuit HigherEducation: Vol. 49 , Article 39.Available at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol49/iss1/39In the spring of 2008, I was a junior sociology major atCornell discerning a vocation to the Jesuits. This processplaced my lifelong Catholic faith on the forefront of mymind more than ever before, and, while I ultimately feltcalled to marriage and family life, it prepared me to recog-nize climate change as a moral issue for Catholics.One day in development sociology, my professorpointed out that the poor are disproportionately harmedby climate change despite historically contributing least tothe problem. At that moment, I began to see that climatechange is as much about justice and human flourishing asit is non-human creation.In general, ecological degradation most harms the poor,vulnerable, and marginalized. This is because these personsand communities lack the economic, political, and social capi-tal needed to address the structural causes, immediate ef-fects, and future threats of ecological deprivation. Inparticular, the most severe geophysical and humanitarianconsequences of climate change (for example, drought,flooding, food and water stresses, population displacement)are being – and will continue to be – acutely experienced bythe poor, vulnerable, and marginalized in the United Statesand around the world.My professor’s reference to the disproportionate cli-mate-related suffering of the poor and vulnerable certainlycaught my attention. What he pointed out next, however,set the trajectory of my life and career path: the poor andvulnerable are least responsible for causing the climate                                                                                                                                                                                                               23CRY OF THE EARTH, CRY OF THE POOR“Laudato Si’” and Jesuit Higher EducationBy Daniel R. DiLeo1DiLeo: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor: "Laudato Si'" and Jesuit HighePublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 201624 CONVERSATIONS ON JESUIT HIGHER EDUCATION                                                                                                                                          change from which they suffer most. For example, accord-ing to the World Resources Institute and World Bank, theworld’s five wealthiest countries in 2007, as measured bytotal GDP, were responsible for more than half of all histori-cal global carbon emissions since 1870. At that time, theU.S. alone was responsible for 28.8 percent of historicalglobal carbon emissions. Given the obvious ethical dimensions of climatechange, and with a heightened awareness of my Catholicfaith, I began to wonder if the Catholic Church had saidanything about climate change. I started doing researchand quickly discovered the church by that time, 2008, hadrepeatedly identified climate change as a moral issue (forexample, Pope John Paul II’s 1990 and 1999 World Day ofPeace messages; the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’2001 Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudenceand the Common Good). Excited by these teachings, I beganworking on climate change from a Catholic perspective andhave never looked back.St. Francis, Pope Francis, and “Laudato Si’”Shortly after he was elected bishop of Rome, Pope Francisexplained that he chose his papal name to honor St. Francisof Assisi and his concurrent concern for the poor, peace,and creation. In view of the pope’s namesake, it is unsur-prising that “Laudato Si’” integrates care for creation withcare for the poor within the context of climate change. Indoing so, “Laudato Si’” gives the most authoritative and suc-cinct Catholic account to date of the dynamics I recognizedat Cornell.First, Francis recognizes that environmental degrada-tion disproportionately harms the poor. He quotes the Boli-vian Bishops’ Conference, which observes that “botheveryday experience and scientific research show that thegravest effects of all attacks on the environment are suf-fered by the poorest” (No. 48).In particular, Francis observes that climate changeharms the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized persons andcommunities more than all others (No. 25). Additionally, thepope points out that much global “warming is caused byhuge consumption on the part of rich countries” (No. 51).As such, Francis says that rich nations owe an ecologicaldebt to poor nations (No. 51). In order to redress the injustices of ecological debt, Fran-cis highlights the importance of the common good, solidarity,the preferential option for the poor, and the universal destina-tion of goods (No. 158, 93). Moreover, the pope insists that“there are differentiated responsibilities” between rich andpoor nations regarding climate change (No. 52). Specifically, he says, developed nations should “signifi-cantly limit their consumption of non-renewable energyand by assist poorer countries to support policies and pro-grams of sustainable development” (No. 52). Concomitantly,Francis says poor countries must address international dispar-ities and corruption (No. 172). Additionally, he says poor na-tions must employ “less polluting forms of energyproduction” with the help of rich nations (No. 172). In order to adequately address ecological degradationand climate change, Francis calls for integrated socioeco-nomic responses (No.139). This is because “we are faced notwith two separate crises, one environmental and the othersocial, but rather with one complex crisis which is simulta-neously social and environmental (No. 139). In particular,we must “hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of thepoor” (No. 49, emphasis in original).Jesuit Higher Education“Laudato Si’” challenges all people of faith and goodwill tobetter care for creation and the poor. In response, Jesuitcolleges and universities might respond in several ways tothe call of the first Jesuit pope. Catholic theological ethics distinguishes between charityand justice. The former focuses on local action while the latterseeks systemic change in society. The U.S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops refers to these complementary dynamics asThe Two Feet of Love in Action and insists that adequate re-sponses to socioeconomic and environmental challenges re-quire both modes of social engagement.Animated by a spirit of charity, Jesuit colleges and uni-versities could affirm the importance of Francis’ “integralecology” through programs like the Interdisciplinary Minor inEnvironmental Ethics at Marquette University. Additionally,Catholic Relief Services’ I am Climate Change campaignhttp://www.iamclimatechange.org/2Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, Vol. 49, Iss. 1 [2016], Art. 39https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol49/iss1/39                                                                                                                                                                                                               25Hopkins and Francis onthe State of the World:A Poet’s ReflectionBy Paul MarianiIt was a Jesuit priest, Gerard Man-ley Hopkins, who wrote some ofthe great Franciscan poems of alltime, so that he and Pope Francis, aJesuit who took the name of Fran-cis, share that link in common. Itfollows, then, that Francis shouldbegin “Laudato Si’,” his letter tothe world, fittingly delivered onPentecost Sunday 2015, by quotingfrom St. Francis’ “Canticle of theCreatures”: Praise be to you, my Lord,through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us,and who produces various fruitwith colored flowers and herbs.And so he begins his encyclical,“On Care for Our CommonHome,” with Francis, reminding usthat “our common home is like asister with whom we share our lifeand a beautiful mother who opensher arms to embrace us.” And so,in the name of the church, in thename of our shared humanity, PopeFrancis reminds us that the veryearth “cries out to us because of theharm we have inflicted on her byour irresponsible use and abuse ofthe goods with which God has en-dowed her.”Hopkins, who loved God’s cre-ation much as St. Francis did, weptover what humans were doing tothe English and Welsh countrysideand – by extension – to the entireworld. Forgive them, Father, forthey know not what they do. Youhave showered them with love.You have given them this beautifulworld, both on the cosmic as wellas on the microcosmic level, if theyonly had ears to hear its music andthe eyes to see what is there beforethem, if they would only take thetime to look. But look at what? Hopkins’spoems tell us what is there beforeus, just as Fr. Francis did and PopeFrancis has been doing. “Look atthe stars!,” Hopkins urges us in“The Starlight Night,” Look, look up at the skies!O look at all the fire-folk sitting inthe air!The bright boroughs, the circle-citadels there!Down in dim woods the diamonddelves! the elves’-eyes!The grey lawns cold where gold,where quickgold lies!Wind-beat whitebeam! airyabeles set on a flare!Flake-doves sent floating forth ata farmyard scare!This is Van Gogh’s “StarryNight” in a language rinsed and re-freshed, words with a sense of deepwonder and awe behind them. Doinstitutions might devote resources toplaces like the Center for Sustainability at St.Louis University and encourage faculty toproduce scholarship that leads to action likeHealing the Earth, a free textbook on ecologypublished by the International Jesuit Ecol-ogy Project at Loyola University Chicago (seestory, p.10) Finally, schools might sign andpursue plans with in accord with the Ameri-can College & University Presidents ClimateCommitment. As of April 2016, 12 Jesuitschools had already done so.In conjunction with such local activities,Jesuit colleges and universities can also pur-sue ecological justice through faithful citi-zenship-based support for policies toaddress climate change. This step was takenby College of the Holy Cross, Fordham Uni-versity, Le Moyne College, Loyola Universityof Maryland, and University of San Franciscoin April 2016 when they signed onto an am-icus curiae brief submitted to the U.S. Courtof Appeals for the District of Columbia offer-ing faith-based support for the Environmen-tal Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan.Furthermore, schools might supportCatholic Relief Services’ climate change pol-icy work by founding CRS Ambassadorchapters like those at Boston College, Col-lege of the Holy Cross, Fairfield University,Loyola University Maryland, and Universityof Scranton.ConclusionThe world is charged with the grandeur ofGod, and “Laudato Si’” has the potential toinspire people of faith and goodwill tobetter conserve the grandeur of our com-mon home. As resourced institutions ofhigher education rooted in Catholic mis-sion, Jesuit colleges and universities havea particular opportunity – and responsibil-ity – to share and act on the first encyclicalon ecology from the first Jesuit pope.Daniel R. DiLeo is a Ph.D. candidate in theological ethics at Boston College andProject Manager of the Catholic ClimateCovenant.3DiLeo: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor: "Laudato Si'" and Jesuit HighePublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 2016

Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor:  Laudato Si\u27  and Jesuit Higher Education

Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 50 Article 13September 2016Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor: "Laudato Si'" andJesuit Higher EducationDaniel R. DiLeoFollow this and additional works at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationDiLeo, Daniel R. (2016) "Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor: "Laudato Si'" and Jesuit Higher Education," Conversations on Jesuit HigherEducation: Vol. 50 , Article 13.Available at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol50/iss1/13In the spring of 2008, I was a junior sociology major atCornell discerning a vocation to the Jesuits. This processplaced my lifelong Catholic faith on the forefront of mymind more than ever before, and, while I ultimately feltcalled to marriage and family life, it prepared me to recog-nize climate change as a moral issue for Catholics.One day in development sociology, my professorpointed out that the poor are disproportionately harmedby climate change despite historically contributing least tothe problem. At that moment, I began to see that climatechange is as much about justice and human flourishing asit is non-human creation.In general, ecological degradation most harms the poor,vulnerable, and marginalized. This is because these personsand communities lack the economic, political, and social capi-tal needed to address the structural causes, immediate ef-fects, and future threats of ecological deprivation. Inparticular, the most severe geophysical and humanitarianconsequences of climate change (for example, drought,flooding, food and water stresses, population displacement)are being – and will continue to be – acutely experienced bythe poor, vulnerable, and marginalized in the United Statesand around the world.My professor’s reference to the disproportionate cli-mate-related suffering of the poor and vulnerable certainlycaught my attention. What he pointed out next, however,set the trajectory of my life and career path: the poor andvulnerable are least responsible for causing the climate                                                                                                                                                                                                               23CRY OF THE EARTH, CRY OF THE POOR“Laudato Si’” and Jesuit Higher EducationBy Daniel R. DiLeo1DiLeo: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor: "Laudato Si'" and Jesuit HighePublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 201624 CONVERSATIONS ON JESUIT HIGHER EDUCATION                                                                                                                                          change from which they suffer most. For example, accord-ing to the World Resources Institute and World Bank, theworld’s five wealthiest countries in 2007, as measured bytotal GDP, were responsible for more than half of all histori-cal global carbon emissions since 1870. At that time, theU.S. alone was responsible for 28.8 percent of historicalglobal carbon emissions. Given the obvious ethical dimensions of climatechange, and with a heightened awareness of my Catholicfaith, I began to wonder if the Catholic Church had saidanything about climate change. I started doing researchand quickly discovered the church by that time, 2008, hadrepeatedly identified climate change as a moral issue (forexample, Pope John Paul II’s 1990 and 1999 World Day ofPeace messages; the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’2001 Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudenceand the Common Good). Excited by these teachings, I beganworking on climate change from a Catholic perspective andhave never looked back.St. Francis, Pope Francis, and “Laudato Si’”Shortly after he was elected bishop of Rome, Pope Francisexplained that he chose his papal name to honor St. Francisof Assisi and his concurrent concern for the poor, peace,and creation. In view of the pope’s namesake, it is unsur-prising that “Laudato Si’” integrates care for creation withcare for the poor within the context of climate change. Indoing so, “Laudato Si’” gives the most authoritative and suc-cinct Catholic account to date of the dynamics I recognizedat Cornell.First, Francis recognizes that environmental degrada-tion disproportionately harms the poor. He quotes the Boli-vian Bishops’ Conference, which observes that “botheveryday experience and scientific research show that thegravest effects of all attacks on the environment are suf-fered by the poorest” (No. 48).In particular, Francis observes that climate changeharms the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized persons andcommunities more than all others (No. 25). Additionally, thepope points out that much global “warming is caused byhuge consumption on the part of rich countries” (No. 51).As such, Francis says that rich nations owe an ecologicaldebt to poor nations (No. 51). In order to redress the injustices of ecological debt, Fran-cis highlights the importance of the common good, solidarity,the preferential option for the poor, and the universal destina-tion of goods (No. 158, 93). Moreover, the pope insists that“there are differentiated responsibilities” between rich andpoor nations regarding climate change (No. 52). Specifically, he says, developed nations should “signifi-cantly limit their consumption of non-renewable energyand by assist poorer countries to support policies and pro-grams of sustainable development” (No. 52). Concomitantly,Francis says poor countries must address international dispar-ities and corruption (No. 172). Additionally, he says poor na-tions must employ “less polluting forms of energyproduction” with the help of rich nations (No. 172). In order to adequately address ecological degradationand climate change, Francis calls for integrated socioeco-nomic responses (No.139). This is because “we are faced notwith two separate crises, one environmental and the othersocial, but rather with one complex crisis which is simulta-neously social and environmental (No. 139). In particular,we must “hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of thepoor” (No. 49, emphasis in original).Jesuit Higher Education“Laudato Si’” challenges all people of faith and goodwill tobetter care for creation and the poor. In response, Jesuitcolleges and universities might respond in several ways tothe call of the first Jesuit pope. Catholic theological ethics distinguishes between charityand justice. The former focuses on local action while the latterseeks systemic change in society. The U.S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops refers to these complementary dynamics asThe Two Feet of Love in Action and insists that adequate re-sponses to socioeconomic and environmental challenges re-quire both modes of social engagement.Animated by a spirit of charity, Jesuit colleges and uni-versities could affirm the importance of Francis’ “integralecology” through programs like the Interdisciplinary Minor inEnvironmental Ethics at Marquette University. Additionally,Catholic Relief Services’ I am Climate Change campaignhttp://www.iamclimatechange.org/2Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education, Vol. 50, Iss. 1 [2016], Art. 13https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol50/iss1/13                                                                                                                                                                                                               25Hopkins and Francis onthe State of the World:A Poet’s ReflectionBy Paul MarianiIt was a Jesuit priest, Gerard Man-ley Hopkins, who wrote some ofthe great Franciscan poems of alltime, so that he and Pope Francis, aJesuit who took the name of Fran-cis, share that link in common. Itfollows, then, that Francis shouldbegin “Laudato Si’,” his letter tothe world, fittingly delivered onPentecost Sunday 2015, by quotingfrom St. Francis’ “Canticle of theCreatures”: Praise be to you, my Lord,through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us,and who produces various fruitwith colored flowers and herbs.And so he begins his encyclical,“On Care for Our CommonHome,” with Francis, reminding usthat “our common home is like asister with whom we share our lifeand a beautiful mother who opensher arms to embrace us.” And so,in the name of the church, in thename of our shared humanity, PopeFrancis reminds us that the veryearth “cries out to us because of theharm we have inflicted on her byour irresponsible use and abuse ofthe goods with which God has en-dowed her.”Hopkins, who loved God’s cre-ation much as St. Francis did, weptover what humans were doing tothe English and Welsh countrysideand – by extension – to the entireworld. Forgive them, Father, forthey know not what they do. Youhave showered them with love.You have given them this beautifulworld, both on the cosmic as wellas on the microcosmic level, if theyonly had ears to hear its music andthe eyes to see what is there beforethem, if they would only take thetime to look. But look at what? Hopkins’spoems tell us what is there beforeus, just as Fr. Francis did and PopeFrancis has been doing. “Look atthe stars!,” Hopkins urges us in“The Starlight Night,” Look, look up at the skies!O look at all the fire-folk sitting inthe air!The bright boroughs, the circle-citadels there!Down in dim woods the diamonddelves! the elves’-eyes!The grey lawns cold where gold,where quickgold lies!Wind-beat whitebeam! airyabeles set on a flare!Flake-doves sent floating forth ata farmyard scare!This is Van Gogh’s “StarryNight” in a language rinsed and re-freshed, words with a sense of deepwonder and awe behind them. Doinstitutions might devote resources toplaces like the Center for Sustainability at St.Louis University and encourage faculty toproduce scholarship that leads to action likeHealing the Earth, a free textbook on ecologypublished by the International Jesuit Ecol-ogy Project at Loyola University Chicago (seestory, p.10) Finally, schools might sign andpursue plans with in accord with the Ameri-can College & University Presidents ClimateCommitment. As of April 2016, 12 Jesuitschools had already done so.In conjunction with such local activities,Jesuit colleges and universities can also pur-sue ecological justice through faithful citi-zenship-based support for policies toaddress climate change. This step was takenby College of the Holy Cross, Fordham Uni-versity, Le Moyne College, Loyola Universityof Maryland, and University of San Franciscoin April 2016 when they signed onto an am-icus curiae brief submitted to the U.S. Courtof Appeals for the District of Columbia offer-ing faith-based support for the Environmen-tal Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan.Furthermore, schools might supportCatholic Relief Services’ climate change pol-icy work by founding CRS Ambassadorchapters like those at Boston College, Col-lege of the Holy Cross, Fairfield University,Loyola University Maryland, and Universityof Scranton.ConclusionThe world is charged with the grandeur ofGod, and “Laudato Si’” has the potential toinspire people of faith and goodwill tobetter conserve the grandeur of our com-mon home. As resourced institutions ofhigher education rooted in Catholic mis-sion, Jesuit colleges and universities havea particular opportunity – and responsibil-ity – to share and act on the first encyclicalon ecology from the first Jesuit pope.Daniel R. DiLeo is a Ph.D. candidate in theological ethics at Boston College andProject Manager of the Catholic ClimateCovenant.3DiLeo: Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor: "Laudato Si'" and Jesuit HighePublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 2016

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Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor: Laudato Si\u27 and Jesuit Higher Education

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