{"id":4019,"date":"2015-06-18T10:23:47","date_gmt":"2015-06-18T16:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/?p=4019"},"modified":"2015-06-18T10:23:47","modified_gmt":"2015-06-18T16:23:47","slug":"10-key-excerpts-from-pope-franciss-encyclical-on-the-environment-washington-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/?p=4019","title":{"rendered":"10 key excerpts from Pope Francis\u2019s encyclical on the environment-Washington Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 18, 2015 – by Sarah\u00a0<\/strong>Pullman Bailey in the\u00a0Washington Post<\/a>. Editor’s note: Valley Watch, Inc. and ValleyWatch.net are 100% secular and we endorse no particular religion over another. You may download the Encyclical in full at the bottom of this story.\"SNN1604P--620_1728824a\"<\/a><\/em><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Pope Francis is calling for an \u201cecological conversion\u201d for the faithful in his\u00a0sweeping new encyclical on the environment<\/a>.\u00a0In \u201cLaudato Si<\/a>,\u201d or \u201cBe Praised\u201d (or \u201cPraised Be,\u201d) he warns of harming birds and industrial waste and calls for renewable fuel subsidies and energy efficiency.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the key passages people will read\u00a0closely, everything from climate change and global warming to abortion and population control.<\/p>\n

1) Climate change has grave\u00a0implications.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cEach year sees the disappearance of thousands of plant and animal species which we will never know, which our children will never see, because they have been lost forever,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

2)<\/strong>\u00a0Rich countries are destroying poor ones, and the earth is getting warmer.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThe warming caused by huge consumption on the part of some rich countries has repercussions on the poorest areas of the world, especially Africa, where a rise in temperature, together with drought, has proved devastating for farming.\u201d<\/p>\n

3) Christians have misinterpreted Scripture<\/strong>\u00a0and \u201cmust forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God\u2019s image and given dominion over the earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures.\u201d<\/p>\n

4) The importance of access to safe drinkable water is\u00a0<\/strong>\u201ca basic and universal human right.\u201d<\/p>\n

5) Technocratic domination leads to the destruction of nature and the exploitation of people<\/strong>, and \u201cby itself the market cannot guarantee integral human development and social inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

6) Population control does not\u00a0address the problems of the poor.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cIn the face of the so-called culture of death, the family is the heart of the culture of life.\u201d And, \u201cSince everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion.\u201d<\/p>\n

7) Gender differences matter<\/strong>, and \u201cvaluing one\u2019s own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different.\u201d<\/p>\n

8) The international community\u00a0has not acted enough:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201crecent World Summits on the environment have not lived up to expectations because, due to lack of political will, they were unable to reach truly meaningful and effective global agreements on the environment.\u201d\u00a0He writes, \u201cthe Church does not presume to settle scientific questions or to replace politics.\u00a0But I am concerned to encourage an honest and open debate so that particular interests or ideologies will not prejudice the common good.\u201d And,\u00a0\u201cthere is urgent need of a true world political authority, as my predecessor Blessed John XXIII indicated some years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

9) Individuals must act.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cAn integral ecology is also made up of simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness,\u201d he writes.\u00a0We should also consider taking public transit, car-pooling, planting trees, turning off the lights and recycling.<\/p>\n

10) By the way,\u00a0why are we here on Earth in the first place?<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWhat kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si_en<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 18, 2015 – by Sarah\u00a0Pullman Bailey in the\u00a0Washington Post. Editor’s note: Valley Watch, Inc. and ValleyWatch.net are 100% secular and we endorse no particular religion over another. You may download the Encyclical in full at the bottom of this … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4019"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4021,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4019\/revisions\/4021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/valleywatch.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}