A Pope Francis Lexicon

Wooden, Cindy , McElwee, Joshua J.

Published by Liturgical Press

Wooden, Cindy and Joshua J. McElwee.

A Pope Francis Lexicon.
Liturgical Press, 2018.
Project MUSE.muse.jhu.edu/book/62809.

For additional information about this book

https://muse.jhu.edu/book/62809

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 Creation
John Chryssavgis

“Creation is of the order of love. God’s love is the

fundamental moving force in all created things.”
—Laudato Si’ 77

“United by the Same Concern”

It was a unique privilege for me to attend the formal publication of
the green encyclical issued by Pope Francis. Laudato Si’: On Care for our
Common Home was released before a crowded audience in the new synod
hall of the Vatican on June 18, 2015.
The occasion was both historical and ecumenical. It marked the first
time that a papal encyclical cited—indeed, highlighted—an Orthodox
prelate, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (LS 7–9). It was also the first
time that a papal document was jointly launched at the Vatican by a senior
cardinal of a Roman Catholic authority, Peter Turkson, together with a
senior and distinguished hierarch theologian of the Orthodox Church,
Metropolitan John [Zizioulas] of Pergamon. This was an extraordinarily
unprecedented moment and a profound ecumenical gesture on the part
of Pope Francis.
When in March of 2013 Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew attended
the inaugural mass of Pope Francis, his spontaneous initiative signaled
the first time that the leader of either church had ever participated in such
an event. One year prior to the launching of Laudato Si’, the pope and

32
 Creation 33

the patriarch also shared a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where they cele- A
brated the fiftieth anniversary of the visit there in 1964 by their visionary B
predecessors, Paul VI and Athenagoras. In many ways, then, the papal
encyclical on creation care was long anticipated from the perspective of C
ecumenical openness between the two sister churches and their respec- D
tive leaders, who were “united by the same concern.”
The broad perspective of creation as “our common home” is a reminder E
that the ecological crisis is larger than any single individual or institution, F
larger than any single denomination or faith, and larger than the world
G
itself. The proper remedy for our excess consumption is the awareness
that earth belongs to heaven (LS 67), the acknowledgment that neither H
material possessions, nor the air and the sea, can be claimed by the few. I

A Crisis of the Spirit J

Both Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew have repeatedly em- K
phasized that the predicament we face is not primarily ecological but es-
sentially spiritual (LS 101). “Human life is grounded in three fundamental L
and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbor and M
with the earth itself. According to the Bible, these three vital relation-
N
ships have been broken.  .  .  . This rupture is sin” (LS 66). It is a crisis
concerning the way we regard and relate to the world. We treat the natural O
environment in an inhumane, godless manner because we perceive it in P
this way. “In calling to mind the figure of Saint Francis of Assisi, we come
to realize that a healthy relationship with creation is one dimension of Q
overall personal conversion, which entails the recognition of our errors, R
sins, faults and failures, and leads to heartfelt repentance and desire to
change” (LS 218). S
Another ancient response to sin is asceticism, whose intrinsic value T
is properly understood in the spirit of freedom and gratitude; its ulti-
U
mate purpose is the rediscovery of wonder in the created world. The goal
of asceticism is moderation, not repression; it looks to service and not V
selfishness. Asceticism is about living simply and about simply living. W
Without asceticism, none of us is authentically human.
X
The Cry of the Earth Y
The response, then, to today’s “throwaway culture” (LS 20–22) is to
recognize in the face of the world the face of my brother and sister, and Z
34  A Pope Francis Lexicon

in the face of the earth the very face of God. This is why Laudato Si’
quotes St. Bonaventure describing his mystic mentor, St. Francis of As-
sisi: “Filled with abundant piety, he would call creatures, no matter how
small, by the name of ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ ” (LS 10–12). We will resolve
the ecological crisis only when we recognize in all animals (LS 32–42),
each tree (LS 39) and every body of water (LS 27–31) a face, a place, and
a voice that longs to be heard.
Of course, this takes a generous act of sacrifice and grace. The cry of
the earth is ultimately a call for humility. Pride is a uniquely human at-
tribute; it belongs to Adam (LS 67)! “The harmony between the Creator,
humanity and creation as a whole was disrupted by our presuming to take
the place of God and refusing to acknowledge our creaturely limitations”
(LS 66). All other species seem instinctively to know where they fit in
the order of things (LS 68). It is a matter of doing with less. Surely this is
what the “sabbath” principle (LS 71) is all about.

The Cry of the Poor

When we travel light, we are attuned to the cry of the poor. For we
respond to nature with the same tenderness with which we respond to
people (LS 66). The ecumenical movement aptly coined the term eco-
justice: all ecological activities and economic programs, all theological
principles and spiritual practices are ultimately measured by their effect
on people, especially the poor (cf. Matt 25:31). As the papal encyclical puts
it: “A true ecological approach .  .  . must integrate questions of justice .  .  .
so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (LS 49).
We must hear the voice of the poor. We must affirm the dignity of
the poor. We must assume responsibility for the consequences of our
actions on the poor. Our market is based on exploitation and exclusion;
our technology marginalizes and excludes the poor. The first word in
any ecological response comes less from the environment or even from
theology; it comes from our attitude to the poor (LS 48–52).
This is perhaps why, on the day of his election, the pope assumed the
name Francis, an unmistakable indication of his priority for and sensi-
tivity to the vulnerable and the oppressed in our global community. In
his encyclical, he prays: “O God, bring healing to our lives, that we may
protect the world and not prey on it.  .  .  . Touch the hearts of those who
look only for gain at the expense of the poor” (LS 246).
 Creation 35

What Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew reminded and rein- A

forced is that preserving nature and serving neighbor are inseparably B
interrelated. Both leaders have repeatedly underlined the intimate con-
nection between environmental and social justice, declaring solidarity C
with people suffering from war and persecution, as well as poverty and D
hunger.
E
“Integral Ecology” and “Ecological Conversion” F
This approach is a breath of fresh air in a world that has long regarded
G
the church as a strict and static institution. Theologians may understand
what the church is; but Francis and Bartholomew underline where the H
church should be! By re-centering the priority of the church, Francis and I
Bartholomew provide a personal face to its vocation.
The favorable reception of—and, paradoxically, the adverse reaction J
to—the way in which Pope Francis (with his “green encyclical”) and K
Patriarch Bartholomew (with his “green ministry”) advocate for creation
care is arguably the greatest proof that they are on the right track. L
The world is not hungry simply for bread (Matt 6:10); it is hungry for M
a sense of holiness and mystery, for a spiritual vision that does not lose
N
sight of the trees, the poor, or the sacred. This in turn endows us with
a sense of integrity for life and the natural environment. It inspires an O
understanding of the reconciliation of all people and all things. And it P
restores the covenant between God and creation, so that God’s will may
be “done, on earth as in heaven” (Matt 6:10). Q
R
Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis is Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and S
theological advisor to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on environmental
issues. He lives in Harpswell, Maine, and serves as theologian to the Ecu- T
menical Office of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. U