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POPE FRANCIS AND THE ORIGINAL PURPOSE OF RELATIONSHISPS:

UNION WITH GOD, OTHERS AND CREATOIN

Jen Andrysczyk
Religion 345: Issues of Christian Ethics
December 10th, 2015

Pope Francis and the Original Purpose of Relationships:

Union with God, Others and Creation
Pope Francis on a Universal Communion
This paper will examine how Pope Francis vision of the human person in Ladauto Si fits
into the overall Catholic tradition. Humans are made to be in relationship with God, others and
creation.1 When considering the human person, Francis asserts that human life is grounded in
three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbour and with
the earth itself.2 The Pope says these three relationships are intertwined, meaning so
intrinsically connected that they cannot be torn apart. They are related in a unified, triangular,
rather than linear, fashion. This means that we need to care for the earth primarily because we
cannot love God without loving others and creation as both bearers of Gods presence. This
portrays the Catholic idea of sacramentality, that all of created reality reveals God. Every aspect
of Gods creation, human creatures as well as His earthly creation, are rays of His presence and
contain His energies. Thus, all of these three relationships are primary. Francis asserts that there
needs to be a restoration of not only our relationships with others, but also with the earth.3 God
made man to be in union with the rest of His creation. Francis says that, all of us are linked by
unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family.4 We are all intricately united to God
as His creation. Francis also says that, these relationships have been broken, both outwardly and
within usThe harmony between the Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted
by our presuming to take the place of God.5 We are not able to love God, others or creations as

Pope Francis. Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home: Encyclical Letter. (Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana,
2015), 66.
2
Pope Francis, 66.
3
Pope Francis, 75.
4
Pope Francis, 89.
5
Pope Francis, 66.

we ought because we are fallen creatures. Nevertheless, we are called to strive all the more to
enter into right relationship with all of Gods creation. Methodologically, this paper will focus on
the popes argument for who we are, the basis for this argument in the Catholic tradition and the
moral implications of the Popes views for contemporary Christians. Humans exist in
relationship to each other, God and non-human creation. God reveals himself in all three of these
relationships, therefore one must not be prioritized over the other. As Pope Francis asserts, these
relationships are not conflictual, on the contrary, cultivating and caring for them are different,
unique ways of loving God.
Relationships
Today, many who hear the word relationship might think of two people who are in an
exclusive, romantic relationship. The word relationship is frequently associated with romantic
involvement. However, the word relationship stems from relation or relate and the Latin word,
relti, which just means two things coming into contact. It may be translated as connecting,
correspondence a bringing back, [and] restoring.6 Francis asserts the need there is to restore
not only our relationships with others, but also with the earth.
Having relations with others is virtually impossible to avoid and necessary for human
moral development. Every person we encounter changes us in some way. Based on reason and
experience, everything we come in relation with does have an impact on us and change us in
some way. Also, all of Gods creation shares a common destiny. God made us to be in relation
with His creation, people and the earth, and He also gave us an ultimate purpose [and] a
common point of arrival, which is God.7 God made us to be in union with Him in Heaven, but

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7

Dictionary.com
Pope Francis, 83.

also to be in union with others and His creation.8 Despite the common opinion that relationship
has only romantic meaning, humans are called to be in relation with all of Gods creation; it is
this union that is the aim of relationships.
Humans Relationship with God
Christianity tells us that the deepest desire of our heart is to love others and be loved by
God.9 This desire is the single dominating desire of our hearts. Blessed Mother Teresa says, We
must know that we have been created for greater things, not just to be a number in the world
We have been created in order to love and to be loved.10 We, as humans, are social beings
programmed for relationships, love and connection. It is written into our very being by God, and
only He can fulfill our need for that love. God made us for Himself and our hearts are restless
until they rest in Him.11 Nothing less than the Person of Jesus Christ can satisfy our need for
love. This is Francis starting point: all of creation (human and non-human) is fundamentally
called to be in relationship with its Creator and His creation, never to be seen as mere objects for
use. The Pope says, The biblical accounts of creation invite us to see each human being as a
subject who can never be reduced to the status of an object.12 We must never exploit human
beings or creation for our own selfish means; this will create a rupture in our relationships. After
we receive His Divine Love through relationship, we are then asked to make Him known to
others through creation.

Pope Francis, 9.
John 13:34.
10
Teresa of Calcutta. "Centenary of Mother Teresa's Birth." (Mother Teresa Center: Libreria Editrice Vaticana,
2015).
11
St. Augustine. Confessions. (Madrid: Biblioteca De Autores Cristianos, 1986), 33.
12
Pope Francis, 81.
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Humans Relationship with Others

God commands to love Him as well as our neighbor.13 What is love? How do we love as
we ought? As stated above, we are fallen creatures and cannot yet love as God commands
because of sin. However, we are stilled called by God to love others. Francis says the Bible
teaches that every man and woman is created out of love and made in Gods image and likeness.
This shows us the immense dignity of each person, who is not just something, but someone. He
is capable offreely giving himself and entering into communion with other persons.14 When
exploring love, Bernard of Clairvaux says that love can be a matter of doing or of feeling.15 St.
Bernard emphasizes the Christian responsibility to first love in deed and then passively receive
a loving heartas a gift, in recompense.16 What he means by this is that, contrary to the
popular belief that love is a feeling and loving actions to be done in response to this feeling, we
must first act lovingly towards all others and then the feeling of affection may be given as a gift
from God as a result of our charitable acts. We all have a responsibility to our neighbor to love
them and treat them as such. Emotions are changing and selective. If we just rely on emotions to
dictate our loving actions, our actions will also be selective. Francis continues to say that is
because of this relationship with God and other people that Christians [must] realize that their
responsibility within creation, and their duty towards nature and the Creator, are an essential part
of their faith. It is good for humanity and the world at large when we believers recognize the
ecological commitments which stem from our convictions.17 The Pope is saying we need to
recognize our responsibly as Christians to cultivate our relationship with God, others and non-

13

Mark 12:30-31
Pope Francis, 65. qtd. Gen 1:26, CCC 357.
15
Pauline Maud Matarasso qtd. Bernard of Clairvaux. The Cistercian World: Monastic Writings of the Twelfth
Century. (London, England: Penguin. 1993), 66.
16
Pauline Maud Matarasso, 67.
17
Pope Francis qtd. John Paul II. Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, (15: AAS 82, 1990), 156.
14

human creation in a triangular fashion. God asks us to ground all our relationships in acts of love
to others as well as His creation.18
Julie Macken, a journalist for the Compass says that Pope Francis clearly connects our
collective alienation from the earth with a debasement of each other and ourselvesthe
interdependency of this primary relationship is clear.19 Macken acknowledges that Francis
emphasis on how the ways we treat Gods creation impacts ourselves as well as how we treat
each other. Thus we must be conscious of how we treat the earthif we take it for granted and
use it for selfish means, this further alienates us from our true selves, each other and Gods
creation.
Humans' Relationship with Creation
Francis says that sin distorted our mandate to have dominion over the earth, to till it
and keep it. As a result, the originally harmonious relationship between human beings and
nature became conflictual.20 Originally, we were meant to be in full harmony with creation, but
this was broken because of sin. The Pope presents St. Francis as a preeminent example of what
Gods plan for man and creation was initially. He says that it is significant that the harmony
which Saint Francis of Assisi experienced with all creatures was seen as a healing of that rupture
[of sin]...through universal reconciliation with every creature, Saint Francis in some way
returned to the state of original innocence.21 St. Francis example is very counter cultural; in the
present day, he may have been seen as crazy or insane for his connection to animals and creation.
However, this was Gods original plan for the world and humans relationship to creation.

18

1 John 3:18.
19 Julie Macken. "On Care for our Common Home." (Compass: 49, no. 3, April 15, 2015) 1-2.
20
Pope Francis 66, Gen 1:28, 2:15, 3:17-19, St. Bonaventure
21
Pope Francis, 66.

Julian of Norwich, a medieval visionary mystic, also experiences this connection to

creation. She describes her vision in her book, Showings, when she says,
And in this [vision] he showed me something smallI looked at itandwas amazed that it
could last, for I thought that because of its littleness it would suddenly have fallen into nothing,
And I was answeredIt lasts and always will, because God loves it; and thus everything has being
through the love of God. In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it, the
second that God loves it, the third is that God preserves itGod is the Creator and the protector
and the loverfor his goodness fills all his creatures and[he] endlessly overflows in them[he]
always preserves us in his blessed love; and all this is of his goodness. 22

Her explanation of her vision is truly a living out of what all are called to in their relationship
with nature. This portrays the idea of sacramentality, that all of created reality can reveal Gods
presence to us.
Union: a Common Point of Arrival
Christian religious belief gives meaning to our life. It gives us a purpose, to bring
ourselves and others into a deeper love relationship with the Father. Christians believe Jesus is
the perfect example how to live this out. He was always moving towards God the Father; Jesus
lived for God. It is our job to enter into this mystery and live for Him alone, as the ultimate goal
of our life. Christ and perfect union with Him in Heaven is our final destination. We are meant to
be shares in the Divine Life here on earth by participating in the Life of the Trinity. Again, all
creatures are moving forward with us and through us to a common point of arrival, which is
God...human beings...are called to lead all creatures back to their Creator.23 Union with God in
Heaven should be what we are striving for personally, but so is all of creationwe have a
responsibility to our neighbor and the earth that must be displayed in our actions as an integral
part of what it means to be Catholic.

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23

Julian of Norwich, Showings. New York: Paulist, 1978., 183, 184.

Pope Francis, 83.

The Catholic Tradition

Some may wonder why this all matters. Why do environmental issues have to be part of
what it means to be Catholic? Jesuit Priest and senior analysist for the National Catholic
Reporter, Fr. Thomas Reese, explores this issue. In his article, he says that there is a growing
consensus around the world that we need to take better care of the environment. Scientific
consensus exists that climate change is happening, and human activity is causing it. People are
growing in their awareness of the environmental crisis, but they also see that so far, the world
has done little to respond.24 He sees the encyclical [as] put[ing] the Catholic church firmly
behind the environmental movement. With the popes embrace, the environmental movement
goes mainstream. Environmentalists can no longer be denigrated as tree-huggers and Gaia
worshipers.25 The Environment is no longer just a Democratic Party or Greenpeace issue. It is
everyones issue, and the Pope empowers Catholics accept their responsibly to lead the efforts to
preserve and protect the environment. He says that,
Tilling refers to cultivating, ploughing or working, while keeping means caring, protecting,
overseeing and preserving. This implies a relationship of mutual responsibility between human
beings and nature. Each community has the duty to protect the earthThe earth is the Lords;
to him belongs the earth with all that is within it.26

The Pope calls Catholics to develop a passion for protecting and caring for the environment; God
reveals Gods self through it and it is deserving of our love.
Conclusion
The way humans treat the earth has extensive consequences. If we only see Gods
creation as something we have dominion over, to be used for our own benefit, this will not only
have devastating effects on the environment, but also on our character. All people, but Christians

24

Thomas Reese. "Why does Laudato Si' matter?." (National Catholic Reporter: 51, no. 21, July 31, 2015), 21.
Thomas Reese, 21.
26
Pope Francis, 67. qtd. Ps 24:1, Dt 10:14.
25

especially, have a moral and religious responsibility to care for the earth. We must treat it as it
is: something created by God to glorify Him, enriched with His presence and having a common
point of arrivalunion with God. This issue has moral and religious implications for Christians
specifically, who have been entrusted with the responsibility to care everything that contains His
presence.
We must take this charge to heart by first, identifying and experiencing the
interconnectedness with all of Gods creation, specifically humans but also the earth, and then
letting this love for all of Gods creation motivate our actions. Francis sheds rays of hope on our
situation, but also calls us to action. He says that These attitudes also attune us to the moral
imperative of assessing the impact of our every action and personal decision on the world around
us. If we can overcome individualism, we will truly be able to develop a different lifestyle and
bring about significant changes in society.27 This may be lived out differently for every
individual, but all have a duty to cultivate love for all persons as well as all of creation. We must
find the nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions and let this love
stimulate an awareness of how what we do effects the environment. 28 Ultimately, we need to
realize that we are intrinsically connected to all of Gods creation. We are unified in a way that
asks us to care for the earth because we cannot love God without loving all of creation as
containing Gods energies and rays of His magnificent presence.

27
28

Pope Francis, 208.

Pope Francis, 211.

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Bibliography
Augustine. Confessions. Madrid: Biblioteca De Autores Cristianos, 1986. Print.
Francis. Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home: Encyclical Letter. Rome: Libreria
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Julian of Norwich. Showings. New York: Paulist, 1978. Print.
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2015): 1-2. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed December 6, 2015).
Matarasso, Pauline Maud qtd. Bernard of Clairvaux. The Cistercian World: Monastic Writings
of the Twelfth Century. London, England: Penguin. 1993. Print.
Reese, Thomas. "Why does Laudato Si' matter?." National Catholic Reporter 51, no. 21 (July 31,
2015): 21. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed December 6, 2015).
Teresa of Calcutta. "Centenary of Mother Teresa's Birth." Mother Teresa Center: Libreria
Editrice Vaticana, 2015.