The Cry of the Poor - Laudato Si'

 

Image credit: https://institucionteresiana.org/en/focal-points/the-cry-of-the-earth-cry-of-the-poor

I asked Meta AI, "What does Laudato Si' say about 'The Cry of the Poor'?" 
Laudato Si' is an encyclical written by Pope Francis and released on May 24, 2015. It addresses the interconnectedness of environmental and social issues. Here is the response from Meta AI...

Laudato Si' emphasizes the intimate relationship between the cry of the Poor and the cry of the Earth. Pope Francis stresses that we're facing a single, complex crisis that's both social and environmental ¹. The encyclical highlights how the Earth's degradation disproportionately affects the world's most vulnerable populations, particularly the poor.

The Cry of the Poor

In Laudato Si', Pope Francis identifies two significant injustices experienced by the poor due to the climate crisis. Firstly, they're usually the first affected by extreme weather events, losing their livelihoods and facing displacement ². Secondly, despite contributing minimally to climate change, they bear the brunt of its consequences.

Key Points

- Ecological Debt: The global north owes an "ecological debt" to the global south due to commercial imbalances and disproportionate resource consumption ².

- Vulnerable Groups: The encyclical emphasizes the need to protect human life in all forms, with special attention to indigenous people, migrants, unborn children, and children at risk of modern slavery ³ ⁴.

- Spiritual Crisis: The ecological crisis is also a spiritual crisis, requiring a spiritual conversion to address the root causes of environmental degradation ⁴.

Pope Francis urges us to listen to the cry of the poor and respond with solidarity, advocating for eco-justice and defending human life ¹ ³. By doing so, we can work towards a more equitable and sustainable future for all.

Here are the references for follow up:

1 https://www.jpic-jp.org/en/a/the-cry-of-the-poor-laudato-si-2nd-goal

2 https://ssnd.org/shalom-laudato-si-laudato-si-reflections-response-to-cry-of-the-poor/

3 https://laudatosiactionplatform.org/listening-to-the-cry-of-the-poor/

4 https://laudatosiactionplatform.org/response-to-the-cry-of-the-poor/

Hope and Act with Creation

 

The Season of Creation began September 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends tomorrow, October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology.

The theme for the 2024 Season of Creation is "To hope and act with Creation." This annual Christian celebration encourages Christians worldwide to pray and respond to the cry of Creation. The guiding symbol for this year's season is "The first fruits of hope," inspired by Romans 8:19-25.

The cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are two sides of the same coin. The cry of one causes the cry of the other.

The times we live in demonstrate that we often view the Earth not as a gift from our Creator but as a resource to be exploited - almost always at the expense of the poor. However, Creation teaches us that hope is present in waiting, in the expectation of a better future. To hope, in the biblical context, doesn't mean remaining still and silent; it means actively groaning, crying out, and struggling for a new life even amidst difficulties. Creation and all human beings are called to worship the Creator and work toward a dynamic future from which the first fruits of hope can spring.

As the season comes to a close, let us reflect on our relationship with the Earth, seek reconciliation with the Earth and with one another, and resolve on meaningful new personal habits to care for our common home.

Does Canada need a law to combat environmental racism?

Image: Steve Greenberg

The following is an excerpt from...

Why Canada needs a law to combat environmental racism

Read the full article here

At a time when health and environmental crises dominate the public conversation, Black History Month in February was a stark reminder of the pervasive environmental struggles racialized communities, past and present, disproportionately face.

This month, there may be good news on the horizon. Nova Scotia Liberal MP Lenore Zann has introduced Bill C-230 in the House of Commons, the National Strategy to Redress Environmental Racism Act. It’s scheduled for a March vote.

The historical link between the civil rights and environmental justice movements is widely acknowledged, yet these struggles have become increasingly isolated over time. While environmental laws and regulations have grown exponentially since the NIMBY protests of the 1970s, the concerns of racialized communities have rarely, if ever, been at their forefront.

Instead, environmental governance and zoning regulations have often been deployed against the interests of Black, Indigenous and immigrant communities in North America. Well-known Canadian cases include Ontario’s chemical industry cluster that surrounds the Aamjiwnaang First Nation and Nova Scotia’s hazardous waste siting in historical Africville.

Environmental injustice is just one aspect of the systemic racial discrimination that continues to plague Canada from coast to coast to coast.

In December, researchers Amanda Giang and Kaitlin Castellani from the University of British Columbia published research showing that the cumulative air pollution burden in Canada’s three major cities (Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal) disproportionately affects racialized communities. In Montreal, immigrant residents consistently experience higher cumulative air pollution, while in Toronto, this burden falls on low-income residents. In Vancouver, it’s Indigenous residents. These disparities in exposure to air pollution are just one dimension of the generalized pattern of environmental injustice affecting historically marginalized groups: Indigenous Peoples, racialized newcomers and the urban poor.

Read the rest of this article here.

Environmental Racism

 

Environmental racism occurs when racialised communities are targeted for the establishment of environmentally hazardous sites and the subsequent neglect of those communities in relation to the cleanup of those sites, especially where this happens with respect to environmental policy-making by any level of government.

A private member's bill that aims to address environmental racism is headed for debate in the House of Commons this month.

According to a CBC news article: "Introduced by Nova Scotia MP Lenore Zann, Bill C-230 is seeking a national strategy to examine the link between race, socio-economic status and environmental risk, as well as the connection between hazardous sites and negative health outcomes in communities where Black and Indigenous people and people of colour live." Read the full article here: Bill that aims to address environmental racism heads for debate in House of Commons.

The bill was inspired by Ingrid Waldron, associate professor in the faculty of health at Dalhousie University in Halifax and author of "There's Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities", which in turn inspired the 2019 Netflix documentary featuring actors Elliot Page and Ian Daniel.

If you have Netflix, do yourself a favour and watch this documentary, "There's Something In the Water."

Laudato Si’ Day 6 - #51 The Ethics of International Relations

What does the Pope mean by “ecological debt”?

51. Inequity affects not only individuals but entire countries; it compels us to consider an ethics of international relations. A true “ecological debt” exists, particularly between the global north and south, connected to commercial imbalances with effects on the environment, and the disproportionate use of natural resources by certain countries over long periods of time.