If we pay attention to the news at all, we should be aware of how much the weather has changed over the past few years. I do think it is related to climate change and that it does not portend well for our home---the earth. I am fully aware there are many naysayers who make fun of this claim, see it as a left-wing political ploy or some other way of writing off the human threat to our planet. I have no interest in making that into a fight. If we are going to fight, we need to fight our indifference to the damage being done.
This is such a huge issue, it is too easy to throw up our hands and feel like there is nothing we can do. We resort to denial---it really isn’t a problem…or, at least, that big of a problem. We rely on theology---God will step in and do some kind of miracle to save us and our world from ourselves. Or finally, we turn to blame---we blame the Chinese or some other foreign group of culprits and push for Washington to do something about it. Send the military or just do something!
I am aware that Pope Francis published his encyclical, Laudato Si, in 2015 (abbreviated LS). It is an insightful, challenging document to read. I am not sure how many non-Catholics are aware of it. In fact, I am not sure how many average Catholics are aware of it, much less have read it. I was reminded of this when recently I saw the remarks of Archdiocese of Chicago Cardinal Blaise Cupich’s remarks to a conference hosted at Creighton University in the summer of 2021. I was attracted to the title of the essay: “Cardinal Cupich: Laudato Si calls us to economic and spiritual conversion.”
I don’t want to spend time sharing the contents of the papal document itself, but rather want to share some of Cupich’s words for us, because I see them as pertinent to addressing our duty as human citizens of the earth. Clearly, his title says we need a conversion. This is bold language to tell us we need to change our ways of thinking and acting. This is more than needing a tweak here and there. In effect, he says that if we don’t want to damn our future, then we need to convert. It is an economic and spiritual conversion.
There are many details to his message. I want to focus on one aspect of it, namely, education. The first thing I lift up is the way he links information to virtue. Since I have done a great deal of thinking and writing about virtues, this caught my attention. First, he tells us that “information about ecology is meaningless without the values needed to make important choices.” Then he offers an insight that I want to flag and develop.
Cupich warns us that “Education is incomplete without formation…” In effect, he says that education is more than mere information. Education is formation. I realize that non-Catholics typically don’t use the language of formation---except maybe in some sports’ contexts. For example, in football the defense will choose particular formations on certain plays. We can think about formation in this manner. Formation is the way we teach others to think and act. Perhaps, the operative word here is “act.” In the current context, Cupich is telling us that education is more than simply informing people we have a problem. We need to do something about it!
In his words, education must inform and start “cultivating social virtues that help people make selfless ecological commitments (LS 211).” He goes further when he claims, “To be complete, ecology education must provide a critical understanding of the "myth" of a modernity grounded in a utilitarian mind-set, e.g. individualism, unlimited progress, competition, consumerism, the unregulated market, etc. (LS 210).” With more time, we could develop the critique Cupich offers.
He details many more aspects of a presentation I wish all of us could read and heed. Of course, we need to be more aware of the scientific argument for climate action. He imagines one avenue for this kind of educational work. He asks, “Could we not begin this education in our parishes, schools and universities by arranging for small group gatherings to take up this dialogue?” I agree this could be a great start. I think universities who ignore this education are committing malfeasance.
We come to a summary kind of statement of Cupich when we read, “Ecological education also involves promoting a new way of thinking about human beings, life, society and our relationship with nature (LS 215), which aims to promote a simpler and more "grateful" way of living, concerned with the needs of the poor and the environment (LS 214). I would love to be part of a group and a movement that is learning and promoting a simpler and more grateful way of living. It fits perfectly with my own Quaker tradition of simplicity. Real Quakers should have taken a vow to live as simply as possible.
Of course, I am still falling short of this testimony of simplicity. In that sense, I can call it a sin. And sinning needs conversion, too. All of this is tied together. I have work to do, so it starts with me. Unless I am willing to convert, I should not expect others to do it. Selfishness is not the way to lead. Sharing this material from Pope Francis and Cardinal Cupich is one little step to my own conversion and helping others step into it, too.
https://www.ncronline.org/news/earthbeat/cardinal-cupich-laudato-si-calls-us-economic-and-spiritual-conversion
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