COMMENTARY: Laudato Si: what it means for the Philippines

On March 13, 2013, as fumata bianca billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, the whole world watched, and almost froze, until the The Vatican announced Jorge Mario Bergoglio had been elected as the new pope. 

 

Immediately, as the first act of a newly-elected pope, Bergoglio had chosen a regnal name that would undoubtedly establish his reputation as a defender of the poor and of the environment. "Quo nomine vis vocari?” (By what name do you wish to be called?). “Francis” then became the new pope, inheriting a spiritual responsibility that traces back to Saint Peter. He had chosen the papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, who is known as the patron saint of animals and the environment. 

 

Thus, it was no surprise that Pope Francis would come up with the unprecedented encyclical on the environment.  ‘Laudato Si: On the care for our common home’ had been heralded for many months and was eagerly anticipated by people from different creeds and leanings.  

 

Now that it has been published, the question is whether the encyclical retains its weight as an important Church document that speaks courageously about the glaring environmental crisis of our world, or does it join the countless exhortations of the religious leaders and political declarations of world leaders gathering cobwebs on some forgotten shelf in some forgotten room? 

 

But how important is an encyclical, by the way? An encyclical is a church document – a letter sent to bishops – that has such a high standing that it ranks second only to the highest-ranking document currently published by any sitting pope, which is the Apostolic Constitution. In many senses, it is a very authoritative document and can be seen as the basis of actions that the Church will take regarding the specific issues dealt with by the letter.  

 

Meaning “Praise be to You” in English, Laudato Si, the title of this newest encyclical, is actually a phrase from the Umbrian dialect and is a prominent and recurring phrase from Canticle of the Sun, a poem made by Saint Francis in the 13th century. The Canticle  is a prayer in the form of a poem wherein St. Francis praised God for the gift of creation, for ‘brother Sun’ and ‘sister water’, and ‘sister Mother Earth’. 

 

What does Laudato Si mean for the Philippines? It means a lot. The Philippines sits as one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change, the most profound environmental challenge that we have ever faced as a human family. The climate change crisis is the defining issue of our generation, and we will be judged by future generations by how we respond to the climate crisis and leave them the legacy of a caring, just, safe, and peaceful world. 

 

Pope Francis, in his encyclical, has strongly acknowledged the ‘very solid scientific consensus’ on the ‘disturbing warming of the climatic system.’ Francis has pointed to the root causes of the ecological crisis – apathy, arrogance, avarice. The reckless exploitation of the environment in the name of financial gain, creeping apathy, and weak political international responses have been finally categorically tagged by the pope as the root of all environmental evil. 

 

For us Filipinos, the encyclical has solemnly pointed to the reasons why many of our people remain poor and why the environment continues to deteriorate – because powerful vested interests will remain relentless in its pursuit of profit at the expense of nature, which is the very source of people’s lives and livelihoods. 

 

As such, it is enormously important that we as Filipinos, and as global citizens, look at climate change as a moral issue, more than an environmental and political issue. Sitting at the heart of the climate crisis is a myriad of dysfunctions - economic, ecological, social, political - but most importantly spiritual. 

 

In this light, it is ultimately crucial for our spiritual leaders to guide us in confronting the steep decline of the environment.  

 

Pope Francis, in his role as the head of the Catholic flock, has proven to be a pope of the poor, and has lived an example of a true leader. He has become the epitome of spiritual strength, solidarity with other faiths, and hope for the exploited. 

 

As he weighed in on this issue, his words have become a powerful indictment of the kind of economic world order that has exploited the poor and the Earth. The same economic order pervades in the Philippines and if we are to be true to our adulation of Francis, we must not stop at merely wearing shirts with his face or flocking to Luneta to catch a glimpse; we must heed his call for change. 

 

As Pope Francis reaffirms the reality of this madness called climate change, it will inspire billions of people, and it will at the same time unsettle those who have long denied climate change as a reality because they profit from the very system that has bred this great injustice. 

 

With Pope Francis as the messenger of this important exhortation for the care of our planet, it has the potential to dramatically change the way governments look at the overall development and climate change policy process and their own national imperatives. As the Pope has stood on the right side of this issue, we must rally behind his call and fulfill the transformational purpose of the encyclical. 

 

For the Philippines, this means a lot of work. Out of the original 30 million hectares, only 3% of our forests are old-growth. More than 90% of our fish stocks have been decimated. Only 1% of Philippine coral reefs are in excellent condition. Only 50% of our mangroves are intact. The supposed proud symbol of our nation, the Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) is close to extinction, with possibly as few as less than 180 eagles left in the wild. 

 

In our cities, misguided urbanization is spreading like a disease, characterized by worsening air quality, unchecked flow of wastewater that pollutes ground and surface water, accumulating piles of garbage and toxic materials, and unrestrained encroachment into green spaces. 
 

It should not be taken for granted that much of the raw material needed to build our cities come from nature and from the hinterlands. As such, the enterprises of mining, logging, destructive fishing, quarrying, and other forms of development aggression, especially those that are done illegally, are upon us in an unprecedented scale and magnitude. 

 

The long-term impacts of these sins against the environment will ultimately be borne by the communities that depend on healthy ecosystems for their livelihoods. The encyclical has so eloquently captured all of these issues, with depth and breadth.

 

Perhaps one of the most ironic aspects of our country’s reality is that despite being at the receiving end of climate impacts, we apparently refuse to accept that the era of fossil fuels must end if we are to emerge from this predicament. 

 

While the Philippines is blessed with an abundance of renewable energy resources, including biomass, geothermal, solar, hydro, ocean, and wind, we are turning to the single most significant cause of anthropogenic climate change – coal. 

 

In the larger picture, we must assert our right to development by insisting that the most powerful nations on earth abandon fossil fuels and in the name of climate justice, provide us with the means to pursue our development in a cleaner and sustainable manner. It is time for us to claim what is ours and make the richest nations pay their ecological debt, which the encyclical underscored. 

 

The papal encyclical will continue to send a powerful message across because it speaks for the people, and the people will stand with Francis on this occasion. What the encyclical offers is a message of great hope – that the current corrupt and dysfunctional world order can be transformed. 

 

In the words of Pope Francis, “Today, however, we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the redev earth and the cry of the poor.” (Laudato Si, Paragraph 49). 

 

With this urgent and bold message, we must realize that we cannot sacrifice the environment and the poor at the altar of “economic progress”. 
 

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Yeb M. Saño is a former Commissioner of the Climate Change Commission.