Tag Archives: Laudato Si’

Laudato Si’ Week and the passing of a good friend

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This entry is part 56 of 56 in the series Diary

I had meant to put up posts about two important events but yesterday I was trapped in a Zoom meeting all day so these are now a bit late; still, better late than never. The first is that this week is the fifth anniversary of the landmark encyclical on our relationship with nature, Laudato Si’, and as a part of its commemoration there are a number of events planned (alas, some already past) for Laudato Si’ Week – click on the link to follow up on them. Of course the message of this encyclical has been covered many times in the Sacred Space Astronomy site, and the document itself can be found (along with other relevant articles) on our Faith and Astronomy Resource site. This is in fact the inauguration of a Laudato Si’ year… The other event this week was the passing of the retired Father General of the Jesuits, Fr. Adolfo Nicolàs. Though he was originally from Spain, … Continue reading →

Across the Universe: Kings and Toys

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This entry is part 6 of 191 in the series Across the Universe

This column first ran in The Tablet in December 2016 The day after the feast of St. Nicholas, I arrived in the Netherlands for a series of faith and science talks. My hosts put me up in a marvelously trendy hotel, featuring an exercise machine and a bathtub in the bedroom (no artificial walls between bed and bath!); two televisions (one for the bed, one for the bath); and a coffee machine so complicated I had to look up the instructions on the internet. If only it had a drawer to store my clothes, or a rack for my wet towel. This proliferation of useless toys brought to mind [the 2016] Pontifical Academy of Sciences program on sustainability. For several days we heard from a series of Nobel laureates the latest word on rising carbon dioxide levels, and the need for immediate strong government action. The final day was centered on the hope that genetically modified foods might improve the … Continue reading →

Across the Universe: Sins against the Earth

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This entry is part 183 of 191 in the series Across the Universe

This column was first published in The Tablet in September 2017 Last July [2017] I visited my sister, a retired schoolteacher who’d moved to Florida to be close to our aged parents. From there I continued on to the North American Science Fiction Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Two months later came the hurricane season. First, Hurricane Harvey dumped meters of water on Houston. My colleagues near the Johnson Space Center survived without much damage, but a nearby neighborhood where friends once lived was inundated; it may never be rebuilt. Then Hurricane Irma struck Florida. Again, my parents’ and sister’s houses suffered little damage, although my parents (along with more than half the state, millions of people) lost power for a week… not a trivial thing for retirees in a climate that demands air conditioning. Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, amazingly, dwarfed even those other mega-storms. During my July visit I’d met up with a student who’d observed with … Continue reading →

Across the Universe: Song of Praise

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This entry is part 126 of 191 in the series Across the Universe

This column first ran in The Tablet in May 2016 When Pope Francis issued his groundbreaking encyclical, Laudato Sì, the Italian publishing house Elledici took the moment to reissue a book written in the 1960s by the Italian scientist Enrico Medi: Canitco di Frate Sole, a meditation on the Franciscan poem that gave Pope Francis his title. At that time, they asked me as the “Pope’s astronomer” to write an introduction for the book. On first anniversary of the Pope’s encyclical, in 2016, I was invited to Medi’s home town of Senigalia, on the Adriatic coast, to celebrate the publication of this book. I’d never heard of Medi; but I discovered that he was the spokesperson of his generation in Italy on faith and science. Reading his words, even with my poor Italian, I can see why. For example, in one chapter Medi begins with our scientific understanding of water as a marvelous molecule, but he arrives at finding in … Continue reading →

COP21: Understanding the Paris Climate Change Conference in Light of Laudato Si’.

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This entry is part of 27 in the series Integral Ecology

It’s no secret that one of Pope Francis’ goals with his Encyclical Laudato Si’ was to influence the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21).  So, how much influence is Laudato Si’ having upon COP21?  Since I am the pastor of a parish and not a member of the media, I’ll leave that question for others to answer.  However, by analyzing what is coming out of the meetings through the media, I feel confident in saying that COP21 is definitely adapting the same mentality Pope Francis encouraged the fathers (and mothers) of the Synod on Marriage and Family Life to have: Speak boldly and hold nothing back.  My proof of this is that, on the first day of the gathering, a coalition of close to 40 countries and a myriad of business leaders have called for an end to fossil fuel subsidies; France is investing two billion Euros to help Africa develop renewable energy sources; and a coalition of 11 countries, including the United States, has given 248 million … Continue reading →