Laudato Si: Foundations for an Integrating Spirituality

The recent encyclical of Pope Francis reaches across conventional religious and secular distinctions/divisions to offer foundational terms for a new, human community—a community fostering a shared ecological vision that acts on behalf of healing the earth and constituting the terms for both individual and communal conversion, as viewed through a Christian, ecological lens.

This course will entail a detailed study of the encyclical especially in light of the wide theological anthropology proposed by Pope Francis: namely, that there is no credible project for ‘saving’ or ‘sustaining’ the earth that does not acknowledge and embrace the need for a ‘saving’ of humanity as well from currently accepted ‘reductionisms’ in our public view of what constitutes a genuine path for becoming human. Pope Francis notes the intimate connection of economic, political, cultural and religious features required for advancing care for the world and care for human development in light of forming a more and more consensually chosen ‘common good’ for the good of all. At the heart of this course lies the view that our human and ecological vision and goal could be expressed in the terms suggested by philosopher John Macmurray, that: “All meaningful knowledge is for the sake of action, and all meaningful action is for the sake of friendship.”

Authors consulted within this study: John Macmurray, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Leonardo Boff, Naomi Klein, George Monbiot, the work of the Forum on Ecology and Religion, with reference to documents of the Anglican, Roman Catholic and United Churches of Canada as well as the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission regarding Aboriginal Peoples in Canada.