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The deep connection between environment destruction and poverty
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<p><strong>The deep connection between environment destruction and poverty</strong></p>
<p>by Fred Kammer, SJ </p>
<p>One of the most significant insights of Pope Francis in his May 24 encyclical on the environment—Laudato Si’—is the direct connection between environmental degradation and the plight of people who are poor. A critical look at this connection can help to unlock the message of the entire document. [1]</p>
<p>The concern of Francis for the poor and the environment is not new to papal teaching nor Catholic social concern. In his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI developed the theme of a “covenant between human beings and the environment” [7] [2] in which he delineated a threefold responsibility that is part of the human relationship to the environment: “a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations, and towards humanity as a whole” [48].</p>
<p>Before Benedict, St. Pope John Paul II had made the connection in his 1990 World Day of Peace message Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation. National and regional conferences of bishops also made the same connection in the years that followed. Of course, teaching at the hierarchical level was deeply influenced by the work of local Catholics and other people of good will on issues of environment preservation and “environmental justice” (often referring to the connection of environmental degradation and its profound impact especially on poor and minority communities).</p>
<p><a href="https://jsri.loyno.edu/sites/loyno.edu.jsri/files/Canaries in the Cole Mine.pdf">MORE>></a></p>
<p>by Fred Kammer, SJ </p>
<p>One of the most significant insights of Pope Francis in his May 24 encyclical on the environment—Laudato Si’—is the direct connection between environmental degradation and the plight of people who are poor. A critical look at this connection can help to unlock the message of the entire document. [1]</p>
<p>The concern of Francis for the poor and the environment is not new to papal teaching nor Catholic social concern. In his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI developed the theme of a “covenant between human beings and the environment” [7] [2] in which he delineated a threefold responsibility that is part of the human relationship to the environment: “a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations, and towards humanity as a whole” [48].</p>
<p>Before Benedict, St. Pope John Paul II had made the connection in his 1990 World Day of Peace message Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation. National and regional conferences of bishops also made the same connection in the years that followed. Of course, teaching at the hierarchical level was deeply influenced by the work of local Catholics and other people of good will on issues of environment preservation and “environmental justice” (often referring to the connection of environmental degradation and its profound impact especially on poor and minority communities).</p>
<p><a href="https://jsri.loyno.edu/sites/loyno.edu.jsri/files/Canaries in the Cole Mine.pdf">MORE>></a></p>