Book Launch: 'Laudate Deum: A Last Call for the Planet'

'Laudate Deum: A Last Call for the Planet' is inspired by Pope Francis and the legacy of his social teaching on ecology. Edited by Revd Prof Joshtrom Kureethadam SDB and Dr Tobias Thornes, the online book launch on 17 June was hosted by the Laudato Si' Research Institute, based in Campion Hall at the University of Oxford, with support from Partnerships For Change.

In 2015, Pope Francis' landmark encyclical letter 'Laudato Si' called for radical action to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Nine years later, the dismay Pope Francis felt that global society and international governance was not making the necessary changes to address these crises, caused him to issue a follow-up exhortation. In 'Laudate Deum', released in October 2023, he said, "I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point."

This new book, 'Laudate Deum: A Last Call for the Planet', brings together voices from across the world to explore the profound issues highlighted by these documents, from the 'technocratic paradigm' that has broken humanity's relationship with the natural world, to the poverty and injustice that the climate crisis itself perpetuates. It calls for urgency for us to live up to our collective responsibility as human beings to care for God's creation, before irreversible changes set in.

The book brings together a wide range of experts exploring how 'Laudate Deum' has spoken to us in the context of our time. In the meeting, Fr Joshtrom paid tribute to Pope Francis as, "one of few leaders understanding the crisis facing our common home." And more than one speaker felt Pope Leo will pursue action on Climate Change, particularly in the Academy of Sciences.

In her chapter on 'Inter-Religious Responses for Climate Change,' Dr Mary Evelyn Tucker of Yale University in the US said, "we need to broaden environmental ethics, including reference for the Earth." She felt 'Laudato Si' and 'Laudate Deum' are part of an international moral force, inspiring energy for what eco-theologian Fr Thomas Berry called, 'The Great Work'. All faiths need to be involved, and she praised Jesuit universities, the Parliament of World Religions and United Nations work. "Wide-ranging moral and ethical voices are needed," she said; "humans have a responsibility for the continuity of life." She reminded that this year is the 25th Anniversary of The Earth Charter, which is mentioned in 'Laudato Si,' and which has fostered: Respect and Care for the Community of Life; Ecological Integrity; Social and Economic Justice; and Democracy, Nonviolence, and Peace.

Professor Veerabadhran Ramanathan of the University of California produced the chapter 'From Climate Change to Climate Resilience'. He said that what is unique about 'Laudato Si' and 'Laudate Deum' is that, "they capture for the first time the human dimensions of the climate change issue." Pope Francis linked them with the term 'integral ecology.' We are all responsible of the planet continuing to warm but the wealthiest contribute most on the energy front. "The rich pollute the planet, but 75% of disasters afflict the poor," he stressed. He endorsed the call in 'Laudato Si' to 'hear the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor.'

In the chapter, 'A Theological and Eco-Social Response to the Climate Crisis,' Professor Celia Deane-Drummond, Director of Oxford's Laudato Si' Research Institute, also endorsed the term 'integral ecology' used in 'Laudato Si which "rejects mastery over the natural world". And the term, 'Ecological conversion,' although, she pointed out, "it is not just individual conversion but the structural level as well." She called for human society to understand human dignity differently, that it is within the community of creation. "We have co-evolved with all these other creatures and they have worth in themselves." And Catholic Social Teaching on the Common Good now focuses on justice between generations. She applauded environmental defenders who are at the coalface of protecting the natural world.

In his conclusion to the book, Fr Joshtrom said, "Jesus' own final commission to his disciples was to, 'go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole of creation' (Mark 16:15). Our mission, our God-given great commission, includes the whole of creation, not just human beings."

A recording of the book launch is available to watch at:

https://lsri.campion.ox.ac.uk/events/book-launch-laudate-deum-last-call-planet

'Laudate Deum: A Last Call for the Planet' is available in PDF for free at: https://lsri.campion.ox.ac.uk/node/1882

Print and ebook copies of the book will be made available for purchase in the near future.