Category: encyclical
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Maybe what’s wrong with us is we watch the wrong scoreboard.
You probably wouldn’t think that the answer to the challenge of Pope Francis’ encyclical would be found in Bhutan. (In part because, you, like me, couldn’t find Bhutan without Google.) One of the reflections I’ve had on reading Laudato Si’ is that maybe our problem as a society is that we focus on the wrong stuff.…
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How broke is it? If the world is conquering absolute poverty, is Laudato Si too harsh?
I haven’t seen a thoughtful conservative response to Laudato Si’. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been any; in fact, I’d welcome the chance to read any you’ve seen. Here’s one worth trying on, though. Pope Francis focuses heavily, and rightly, on the plight of the poor; this isn’t new — it’s in keeping with the history…
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Little things matter.
In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis outlines several daunting challenges of modern life: pollution, climate change, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, decline of human life, breakdown of society, global inequality. That’s a lot. Dig a little on just one of these, like this one, is enough to leave you thinking we are, well, in bad shape.…
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What progressives may not like about Pope Francis
If anyone’s interested, I can outline the argument that I think American economic conservatives can and perhaps should make about Laudato Si’ and Pope Francis’ social teaching in general. (I have some thoughts about the argument religious conservatives could have made about marriage equality, too, believe it or not.) But until someone asks, here is…
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The genius of Laudato Si’ should make us all uncomfortable
When U.S. presidential candidate Jeb Bush initially distanced himself from Laudato Si, he raised some eyebrows not only by doing so, but on the grounds he took: “Mr Bush, who is a convert to Catholicism, said: “I don’t get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinals or my pope.” I will leave for others…
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What’s really new in Laudato Si’
Most analysts have focused on how Francis draws on his predecessors and Scripture to expound on his message in his encyclical, and that’s not new. Every social encyclical I’ve ever read does the same. It’s the style, as much as numbering the overlong “paragraphs” is. Some analysts have focused on how Francis reconciles faith and…
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Where Francis isn’t breaking new ground…which is most of it
The popular narrative about a pope reflects their context and is drawn to contrasts; what the popes say is actually pretty consistent. While people are going gaga about all the “new” stuff Pope Francis is saying, both supporters and opponents are missing the point that most of his predecessors have said many of the same…
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Turns of Phrase in Laudato Si, part 2
As I said in my last post, Laudato Si is too well-written to be left to analysts and reporters alone to read. Here are some more of my favorite quotes: “we can speak of the priority of being over that of being useful.” (69, quoting German bishops) “The God who created the universe out of nothing…
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Turns of Phrase that caught my eye in Laudato Si, part 1
I will get to actual analysis of Pope Francis’ encyclical soon, but as I said about his earlier apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, this is a document well worth reading yourself. It is long, yes. It is in a format that is foreign to almost everyone and an acquired taste for most. But it is well written…
Reading Francis 