POPE Francis Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si is available on the internet from the Vatican website.
It is well worth reading. The Holy Father affirms the moral validity of those clamouring to take climate change more seriously, indeed, urgently.
This will not be welcome by those who tread lightly on climate issues in the name of market forces and a more calibrated interpretation of the ongoing use of fossil fuels to drive human development.
It highlights the difference between those who believe that human dignity finds expression in economic freedom and those (like Pope Francis) who call for a sweeping ‘ecological conversion’ to combat what he sees as the evil of environmental degradation and rampant corporate and financial power with its low moral compass.
The Encyclical is sweeping in scope and manages to include our obvious addiction to consumerism and its waste. Nobody really escapes the purview of this fine document and nobody can escape the consequences of not addressing climate change.
World leaders in Paris in 2015 have much to consider and, with this persuasive Letter from Pope Francis, a considerable degree of moral evaluation. The Pope may not have added much information but he has raised the debate to a properly moral one. Its clear from the responses so far that people are listening.