A Call to All the Earth

Laudato si, Pope Francis’s Circular Letter (in Greek, “Encyclical”), is meant to encircle the whole Earth and every one on it.¹ In a way, like his namesake Francis of Assisi, he also is addressing not only us humans but also all the animals, as well as Sister Water and Brother Wind. For all of its abundance of sage wisdom, deep philosophical insight, and manifold knowledge about scientific matters, I find two main themes running throughout the entirety of Laudato si: (1) the fundamental need for multiple and constant dialogue, and (2) that everybody and everything is connected.

From the very beginning of his time as pope, Francis said that if there is a problem: “Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue!” In the 40,000+ words of Laudato si, Francis used the term “dialogue” twenty-five times. Already at the very beginning of this document, he wrote, “I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home” (no. 3). This is a very important sentence, for in it he not only signals that he is not simply going to state information and give marching orders. He wants to engage in a dialogue; that is, in this text he is going to listen to the laid-out scientific facts as carefully and critically as he can and invite his readers to do so also with him—and then speak to the facts and with each other. Not only that. He wants to have this dialogue not just with all the 1,300,000,000 Catholics in the world but with “all the people.” Yet more, he wants this dialogue to be “about our common home.” In other words, he wishes to launch a dialogue that is both as broad and as deep as possible. Yet, Francis strove to go even further when he wrote: “I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone” (no. 14).²

What is this dialogue that Francis makes so much of here and elsewhere, and why should it be considered so necessary? Simply put, dialogue means that “I want to talk with you who think differently from me so I can learn.” Yes, it sounds simple. However, as we know, if we reflect but a little, until very recently when we met someone who thought differently from us, we either dismissed them as mistaken, or, if we deemed the matter sufficiently important, we proceeded to persuade them—with varying degrees of insistence—that they were wrong and we were right. In those matters deemed important, most often the “other side” was equally convinced that they were right and we were wrong. The usual result of such ubiquitous encounters was that neither side learned anything new but simply reinforced their prior convictions.

However, dialogue, especially in important matters, is increasingly being seen as a necessity because of a radical shift taking place in our “understanding of our understanding.” We are increasingly aware that “Nobody knows Everything about Anything—therefore, Dialogue.” This is all the more important as the matter concerned is more important—and what could be more important than the very foundation on which we all live—the Earth and the envelope of life around it? Hence, in this dialogue Francis is acting not just as Catholic with a capital “C,” but also as catholic with a small “c,” for katholos in its Greek origin means “universal.”

Francis calls for a serious dialogue in five major areas: (1) Dialogue on the Environment in the International Community, (2) Dialogue for New National and Local Policies, (3) Dialogue and Transparency in Decision-Making, (4) Politics and Economy in Dialogue for Human Fulfillment, and (5) Religions in Dialogue with Science. Each is worthy of extended analysis and discussion, and I second Francis’s appeal to all specialists in each of these areas to continue, expand, and deepen the dialogue in their areas of special competence and responsibility. Here, however, I will focus for just a few minutes on the more interconnected—and, therefore, more in need of integration...