Chapter II

V. A UNIVERSAL COMMUNION
“Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful
pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures…” –Pope Francis,
Laudato Si’
This passage has concluded chapter two perfectly. Pope Francis emphasizes the love that we
should give to our fellow human beings and to care for God's creation whom He entrusted us to
preserve and cultivate. In the five paragraphs that consisted this topic, Pope Francis gives ways
on how human beings can love both humans and nature in order to live as authentic Christians.

Universal Family
This certain paragraph explains the "unseen bonds" that all human beings around the world
possess. The pope elaborates that even though people are unable to meet all the people in the
world, there is this special bond that is occuring in each of us. He adds that this is "a kind of a
universal family" that God has bestowed upon us which requires us to live with sacred,
affectionate, and humble respect for each other.

Tolerance of Inequality
He continues then the paragraph by explaining how this reality created dignity that challenges
us. Pope Francis clarifies that dignity does not intend to make anyone superior over the others
nor deprive one of his unique worth, rather it is about having perspective on the importance of
human beings and preserving other species.
In the same paragraph, Pope Francis then gives examples of the inequalities and imbalances
happening in the world. He points out that others are tolerated because of their riches which
make them dominant over others, but others are stuck in desperate and degrading poverty
leaving a wake of waste that damages the earth.

VI. THE COMMON DESTINATION OF GOODS

Pope Francis states that whether believers or not, we are agreed today that the earth is
essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone. Hence, every
ecological approach needs to take into consideration the fundamental rights of the poor and the
underprivileged.

The pope adds that owning a private property is not absolute and inviolable and such should be
used for social purposes. He then quotes Saint John Paul II who forcefully reaffirmed this
teaching, stating that “God gave the earth to the whole human race for the sustenance of all its
members, without excluding or favoring anyone." Thus, it should be noted that a type of
development which do not respect and promote human rights may be it be personal and social,
economic and political, including the rights of nations and of peoples would not be really worthy
of man.

VII. THE GAZE OF JESUS

This topic reminds human beings on how Jesus treated the creation of his Father. Jesus in his
lifetime, gave so much significance in giving attention to the environment. When Jesus made his
way throughout the land, He stopped and contemplate to the beautiful creation of his Father and
invited his disciples to perceive a divine message in things: “Lift up your eyes, and see how the
fields are already white for harvest” (Jn4:35). “The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard
seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but once it has
grown, it is the greatest of plants” (Mt 13:31-32).

Jesus lived in full harmony with creation. He worked with his hands, in daily contact with the
matter created by God, to which he gave form by his craftsmanship. It is striking that most of his
life was dedicated to this task in a simple life which awakened no admiration at all. This topic
calls us to be like Jesus who sanctified human labour and endowed it with a special significance
for development.

Chapter III

THE HUMAN ROOTS OF ECOLOGICAL CRISIS

I. TECHNOLOGY, CREATIVITY AND POWER

Humanity has entered a new era in which our technical prowess has brought us to a
crossroads. Pope Francis states that we are the beneficiaries of two centuries of enormous
waves of change: steam engines, railways, the telegraph, electricity, automobiles, aeroplanes,
chemical industries, modern medicine, information technology and, more recently, the digital
revolution, robotics, biotechnologies and nanotechnologies. It is right to rejoice what these
technologies have brought and to be excited to the immense possibilities that these
advancements will unfold.

He then explains in the succeeding paragraphs the importance of technoscience and how
technologies have given humans power that gives the tendency for us to believe that these
advancements enables progress and advance the security, usefulness, welfare and vigor which
is an assimilation of new values into the stream of culture. But he concluded by explaining the
fact that contemporary man has not been trained to use power well, because our immense
technological development has not been accompanied by a development in human
responsibility, values and conscience. This is because each age tends to have only a meagre
awareness of its own limitations. It is possible that we do not grasp the gravity of the challenges
now before us.

II. THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE TECHNOCRATIC PARADIGM

Pope Francis expressly stipulates that the basic problem goes even deeper: it is the way that
humanity has taken up technology and its development according to an undifferentiated and
one-dimensional paradigm. This paradigm exalts the concept of a subject who, using logical and
rational procedures, progressively approaches and gains control over an external object. This
subject makes every effort to establish the scientific and experimental method, which in itself is
already a technique of possession, mastery and transformation. It is as if the subject where to
find itself in the presence of something formless, completely open to manipulation. This is for
human beings to connect to the reality where people have enslaved and dominated others
simply because they could. This darkness happens on the peripheries of culture but still exists
especially in the cases of women and children.

He then cited the previous era of harmony where men and women have constantly intervened in
nature, but for a long time this meant being in tune with and respecting the possibilities offered
by the things themselves. It was a matter of receiving what nature itself allowed, as if from its
own hand. And this highlights Pope Francis' point about the scarcity of friendship because of
technology. He explains that human beings and material objects no longer extend a friendly
hand to one another; the relationship has become confrontational. This has made it easy to
accept the idea of infinite or unlimited growth, which proves so attractive to economists,
financiers and experts in technology. It is based on the lie that there is an infinite supply of the
earth’s goods, and this leads to the planet being squeezed dry beyond every limit. It is the false
notion that an infinite quantity of energy and resources are available, that it is possible to renew
them quickly, and that the negative effects of the exploitation of the natural order can be easily
absorbed.