The cry of the earth is the cry of the poor

The announcement that Pope Francis will visit Kenya in November was received with excitement not only by Catholics but by all people of goodwill.

What marks this pontiff apart is his broad appeal to every faith and nation, thanks to his ordinariness, inclusivity, mercy and challenging good sense.

Last week he released an encyclical on the environment and ecology — Laudato Si — that was addressed to the whole of humanity.

Pope Francis was not just bringing the Catholic voice to the environmental table but giving a critique and moral solution to the whole human family on the issue of environmental destruction. He boldly stated that human activity is the principal cause of climate change and destruction of the planet and that greed taking precedence over need has put our very existence at risk.

The encyclical states emphatically that the poor have their needs denied while the rich have their appetites indulged. Indeed, the poor world pays the biggest price for the harm inflicted on the planet by the self-indulgence of the rich.

The poor are the first hit by climate disasters through floods, heatwaves, droughts and crop failure. The pope is presenting a moral solution to a moral problem and at the same time is critiquing capitalism.

The market does not care about the common good or the long-term survival of the planet. Its concern is profit and choice but the pontiff warns, “Our freedom fades when it is handed over to the blind forces of the unconscious, of immediate needs, of self-interest and violence.”

SATISFIED WITH LESS

Economics based on unlimited growth cannot continue so the rich must radically change and learn to be satisfied with less. Our “collective selfishness” meets short-term wants rather than our long-term needs. At the moment we are turning the planet into a giant dustbin with our disposable culture where we use and dump commodities and even each other. Temporary solutions like recycling are not enough and there is no technological fix either.

The pope is emphatic that “we must integrate questions of justice in the debate on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” Put another way, humanity is reminded how our relationships with the earth and the poor have become distorted and imbalanced and are now putting our future in peril. The care of the earth and care of the poor are inextricably linked.

What legacy are we giving our grandchildren? What climatic disasters await the planet from human activity and its selfishness? Developed countries have used up more than their fair share of the earth’s resources and are now morally obliged to compensate poorer countries — like Kenya — in what the pontiff calls “ecological debt”.

The clear message is that we are sleepwalking into disaster, but is anyone listening? But do we have a choice as we cannot go on living as we are. Simple technological solutions will not avert the imminent catastrophe either. This document for all humanity most certainly will discover its local context when the pope comes visiting in November.

[email protected]. @GabrielDolan1