Everything is connected

Richard A. Sokerka

Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si,” has certainly made headlines in the secular media since its release June 18.

For the most part, the secular media was quick to praise the pope’s call to enter into a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.

They gave us their “sound byte” take on it concerning the environmental issues that the pope addressed, but they stopped there — and this encyclical is about so much more than the environment. It is also about human ecology of which the Holy Father writes: “implies another profound reality: the relationship between human life and the moral law, which is inscribed in our nature and is necessary for the creation of a more dignified environment.”

When Pope Francis writes about gender identity (“Learning to accept our body, to care for it and to respect its fullest meaning, is an essential element of any genuine human ecology. Also, valuing one’s 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. In this way we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment”) or abortion (“Concern for the protection of nature is incompatible with the justification of abortion”), the secular media acted like these issues was never mentioned in the encyclical.

Of course, they want the reader to absorb only the issues they side with. As the USA Today story put it: “It is 184 pages long — about 38,000 words. You can read it in full, if you wish, but nobody’s going to blame you if you want the abridged version.” That’s the problem. Their “abridged” version does not give the reader the fullness of the work which reinforces the interrelationship of the environment with human ecology. And the secular media has had a longstanding problem, with the Church’s teaching on theses issues.

But as Pope Francis writes, “When we fail to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a poor person, a human embryo, a person with disabilities — to offer just a few examples — it becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature itself; everything is connected.”

Yes, everything is connected. The secular media just refuses to connect the dots. That’s why we urge Catholics to read the encyclical in full. It’s worth your time.