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July 8, 2019
Joseph P. Pecora
San Francisco
Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato si’” struck me as one of the most contemporary Christian concerns: a focus on mankind’s assault on God’s nature and a call to temper it. To paraphrase the pope, “God always forgives, but nature, when mistreated, never forgives.”
Granted, the encyclical was announced in 2015 but it has even greater relevance today. Oddly, I never see a reference to it in our Catholic San Francisco. These are concerns, I feel, that are of greater interest and relevancy to churchgoers of any age than much of what appears in the local church’s press. Climate change is affecting us all, and a series of articles highlighting the spirit of the encyclical would be more than welcome.
This is an issue of great urgency and one that Catholics, especially our youth, should be proud to champion. It would also, I believe, energize those who may be discouraged by the apparent timidity displayed within the archdiocese on such a critical call to action by the pope. Readers may check out “Laudato si’” on the internet. But I hope its importance receives the recognition it deserves and becomes an ongoing topic in future articles in the archdiocese’s paper.
Editor’s note: We agree this is a crucial issue and the paper makes a conscious effort to cover it. We’ve had 10 or 12 articles in the last year on local, national or world environmental issues, including two on Page 6 of this issue. Some articles appear only on our website and Facebook news feed. Over the years we have found it notable that reader interest in the topic seems consistently low. Still, we think its news and will keep covering it.
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