Westminster Record
July 2015 | 20p
Ordinations to the Diaconate and Priesthood
Pages 10-11
CAFOD Lobbies MPs on Climate Change Page 15
Cardinal Visits Tilbury Port Ahead of Sea Sunday Page 16
Laudato Si’ Care of Our Common Home Pope Francis’ muchanticipated encyclical on the ‘Care of our Common Home’, Laudato Si’, was published on 18 June. To introduce the encyclical, Cardinal Vincent joined members of the press and pupils at Our Lady and St Joseph Primary School in Poplar. The morning began with an assembly in which the children sang the praises of God for His creative work. Cardinal Vincent explained to the pupils that the encyclical held a special message for them: 'Pope Francis wants you to remember to praise and thank God before you eat and again after you finish every meal.' Later, on the school roof, Cardinal Vincent explained that it was appropriate to introduce the encyclical in this particular setting because of ‘the children’s perception and sense of wonder about the world’ and that the encyclical was about ‘care for our common home: a home that is shared by current and future generations’. The school itself was built 'with great attention to the environment and is an example of what can be done for the future’. The backdrop of Canary Wharf was a reminder that 'enterprise and business structures of the world always need special scrutiny’. He sees the encyclical as 'a thoroughly Catholic document'
for many reasons: it is the latest in a long line of traditional teaching by previous Popes; its sweep is very wide and its vision is far-reaching; it is focused on the dignity of the person; it offers an ethical challenge as well as an invitation to dialogue; and, most of all, 'it is centred on the work of God and how that work comes into its fulfilment in the person of Jesus'. In the encyclical, the Holy Father ‘approaches the crisis in the world’s climate precisely because of its impact on people, and especially on the world’s poorest’. Its central concern is 'the dignity of the person' and our place in the created order. The document also looks at 'integral human development'. It 'welcomes the genius of enterprise’ but cautions that ‘profit alone is not a profound enough motive to drive ©Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk forward enterprise,’ noted the Cardinal. Laudato Si’ proposes an ethical framework that ‘challenges the notion that we live in a world in where perennial and almost infinite material progress is possible, a world in which we can expect more goods and more consumption’. This, says the Pope, ‘is a false ethical framework that creates a throwaway culture’ in both goods and people. Continued on page 3
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