Sneak peek

Richard A. Sokerka

A sneak peek as to what issues Pope Francis may address in his speech to the United Nations in Sep­tem­ber can be gleaned from his recent meeting with U.S. mayors at a two-day symposium last month sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, titled “Pros­perity, People and Planet: Achieving Sustainable Development in Our Cities.”

In his remarks to the mayors, Pope Francis spoke of his recent encyclical, Laudato Si, explaining that one of his intentions in writing it was to emphasize that “caring for the environment means an attitude of human ecology.”

“In other words,” he told the mayors, “we cannot say: the person and Creation, the environment, are two separate entities. Ecology is total, it is human…you cannot separate humanity from the rest; there is a relationship of mutual impact, and also the rebound effect when the environment is abused.”

He emphasized to the mayors that although his encyclical has been much ballyhooed as a “green” document limited solely to environmental issues, it is clearly not. Pope Francis emphatically told the mayors that it is “a social encyclical, because we cannot separate care for the environment from the social context. Care for the environment is a social attitude.”

Sure to be addressed at the United Nations by the Pope Francis are human ecology issues found in his encyclical like human trafficking, which he said can be a “rebound effect” of environmental degradation.

“I have high hopes, and believe that the United Nations must take a greater interest in this phenomenon, especially human trafficking caused by environmental issues, and the exploitation of people,” the Pope said.

While he may mention certain environmental issues in his speech, it is clear Pope Francis will, in no uncertain terms, argue that it is not possible to effectively care for the environment without first working to defend human life from conception to natural death — a message the United Nations needs to hear and to embrace.