Fratelli Tutti and the Environment
Fratelli Tutti and the Environment
Wrap-up to the series
Fratelli Tutti’s central themes are fraternity and social friendship. These are directed toward maintaining a just peace in society and creating a healthy culture in which we can solve the social problems that we face as a people. This culture is one of encounter, not division. We maintain it by constant dialogue, grounded in respect for everyone’s dignity and a sense of shared goals. We pay special attention to those we usually ignore: the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed. We act in solidarity and subsidiarity for the common good. We focus on finding the truth and remembering it, even if it is painful. We seek forgiveness and reconciliation, especially between former enemies.
This Substack has been focused on our environmental crises, and Fratelli Tutti builds on the themes of Laudato Si’ in providing tools for us to solve our environmental problems. This is why I have focused on a Fratelli Tutti series. The climate crisis and other problems are not going to be solved fully in the divisive culture we have now. We must change the way we operate if we want to make progress on the climate, or any other social issue of our time.
Pope Francis has several goals for his pontificate, and one of them is to bring the guidance of the Church fathers in the Vatican II Ecumenical Council to fruition in the life of the Catholic Church. Part of this mission is to call the faithful to take seriously the social doctrine of the Church. How we treat one another as human beings was a central concern of Jesus Christ in his earthly ministry. The social doctrine of the Church flows directly from Christ’s teaching; it s a logical, rational conclusion that has developed in the centuries since Jesus walked among us. Respect every person’s dignity. Work for the common good. Share power and wealth with the poor. Support democracy over autocracy because it respects personal dignity and freedom. Seek justice and peace and stop the scourge of war and violence for the purpose of domination.
Vatican II’s mission was to reboot the Church in the modern age. Not with a whole new operating system, but with an update. To fix bugs that have crept into the life of the Church since the Council of Trent in the 16th century. However, the Church is not a CPU, it is made up of flawed and broken people. Change is difficult for us. We have become used to worshiping in a certain way, to seeing our role in society in a certain way. These are fundamental beliefs for many people, and it can feel like an existential threat to have them challenged, even by a well-meaning Pope. But we need to listen to him, the Holy Spirit put him in charge and acts through him.
Calling him a leftist, Communist, heretic, or worse is a sign of our hard-heartedness, not of his failure. Pope Francis is saying the same things about social justice that every pope has said since Leo XIII in the 1890’s; he is simply being more insistent and focused about it. As if to say, we’ve been telling you this for 150 years, it’s time you started taking it seriously. My prayer is that more people will listen to him when he talks about caring for immigrants or ending wars or saving our environment from destruction. It’s not just Pope Francis that is calling us to this: it’s the Lord God Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, of all things visible and invisible. Are we going to listen to him, or not?