capacities, an ecological conversion can inspire us to greater creativity and   
   enthusiasm".   
    As proposed in Evangelii Gaudium: "sobriety, when lived freely and   
   consciously,   
   is liberating", just as "happiness means knowing how to limit some needs which   
   only diminish us, and being open to the many different possibilities which life   
   can offer". In this way "we must regain the conviction that we need one   
   another,   
   that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being   
   good and decent are worth it".   
    The saints accompany us on this journey. St. Francis, cited several times, is   
   "the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral   
   ecology lived out joyfully and authentically". He is the model of "the   
   inseparable bond between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment   
   to   
   society, and interior peace". The Encyclical also mentions St. Benedict, St.   
   Teresa di Lisieux and Blessed Charles de Foucauld.   
    After Laudato si', the regular practice of an examination of conscience, the   
   means that the Church has always recommended to orient one's life in light of   
   the relationship with the Lord, should include a new dimension, considering not   
   only how one has lived communion with God, with others and with oneself, but   
   also with all creatures and with nature.   
    The full text of the encyclical in English can be consulted at:   
      
   http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/   
   apa-francesco_20   
   150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html   
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Press conference for the presentation of the Encyclical Laudato si'   
    Vatican City, 18 June 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the New Synod Hall Cardinal   
   Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council "Justice and   
   Peace", introduced Pope Francis' Encyclical "Laudato si'", on care for our   
   common home.   
    The cardinal welcomed the presenters of the document: the Metropolitan of   
   Pergamon, John Zizioulas, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the   
   Orthodox Church, who spoke on theology and spirituality, the opening and   
   closing   
   themes of the encyclical; Professor John Schellnhuber, founder and director of   
   the Institute for Climate Impact in Potsdam, Federal Republic of Germany,   
   representing the field of natural sciences, with which the encyclical enters   
   into profound dialogue, and who was recently appointed as an ordinary member of   
   the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences; Carolyn Woo, president of Catholic   
   Relief Services and former dean of the Mendoza College of Business of the   
   University of Notre Dame, U.S.A., representing the sectors of economy, finance,   
   trade and commerce, whose responses to the great environmental challenges are   
   crucial; and Valeria Martano, a teacher for 20 years in the outskirts of Rome   
   and witness to human and environmental degradation, as well as to some examples   
   of "best practice", a sign of hope.   
    The speakers demonstrated that the Encyclical, from the very beginning, seeks   
   to establish a dialogue with all, both individuals as well as the organisations   
   and institutions that share the same concerns as the Pope, approached from   
   different perspectives, in a global situation that renders them increasingly   
   intertwined and complementary. "This type of dialogue was also employed as the   
   method of preparation that the Holy Father embraced in the writing of the   
   Encyclical", said Cardinal Turkson. "He relied on a wide range of   
   contributions.   
   Some, in particular those from many Episcopal Conferences from all the   
   continents, are mentioned. ... Others who participated in the various phases of   
   this work ... remain unnamed. The Lord knows well how to reward their   
   generosity   
   and dedication".   
    The Encyclical takes its name from the invocation of St Francis of Assisi:   
   "Laudato si' mi' Signore" "Praise be to you, my Lord". "The reference to St.   
   Francis also indicates the attitude upon which the entire encyclical is based,   
   that of prayerful contemplation, which invites us to look towards the 'poor one   
   of Assisi" as a source of inspiration" and as the quintessential example of   
   "care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and   
   authentically".   
    Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon devoted a large part of his   
   intervention to the ecumenism in "Laudato si'", and mentioned that in 1989 the   
   Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios published an encyclical addressed to all   
   Christians and persons of good will warning of the seriousness of the   
   ecological   
   problem and its theological and spiritual implications, and in the same year he   
   proposed the dedication of 1 September every year to prayer for the   
   environment.   
   This date, according to the Orthodox calendar, is the first day of the   
   ecclesiastical year and now devoted to the environment. The Metropolitan   
   proposed the adoption by all Christians of this day for prayer for the   
   environment.   
    "I believe that the significance of the papal Encyclical Laudato si' is not   
   limited to the subject of ecology as such. I see in it an important ecumenical   
   dimension in that it brings the divided Christians before a common task which   
   they must face together. We live at a time when fundamental existential   
   problems   
   overwhelm our traditional divisions and relativise them almost to the point of   
   extinction. Look, for example, at what is happening today in the Middle East:   
   do   
   those who persecute the Christians ask them to which Church or Confession they   
   belong? Christian unity in such cases is de facto realised by persecution and   
   blood - an ecumenism of martyrdom".   
    "The threat posed to us by the ecological crisis similarly bypasses or   
   transcends our traditional divisions. The danger facing our common home, the   
   planet on which we live, is described in the Encyclical in a way leaving no   
   doubt about the existential risk we are confronted with. This risk is common to   
   all of us regardless of our ecclesiastical or confessional identities. Equally   
   common must be our effort to prevent the catastrophic consequences of the   
   present situation. Pope Francis' Encyclical is a call to unity - unity in   
   prayer   
   for the environment, in the same Gospel of Creation, in the conversion of our   
   hearts and our lifestyles to respect and love everyone and everything given to   
   us by God".   
    Professor John Schellnhuber went on to note that, from a technological   
   perspective, the deployment of clean energy for all is feasible and is, in   
   fact,   
   "available in abundance. All we have to do is develop the means to properly   
   harvest it and responsibly manage our consumption. While we have been working   
   decade after decade on developing an incredibly expensive fusion reactor, we   
   are   
   already blessed with one that works perfectly well and is free to all of us:   
   the   
   Sun. Photovoltaics, wind and energy from biomass are ultimately all powered by   
   sunlight. These new technologies could unfold potential in poor countries where   
   no grid exists to distribute electricity produced by centralised power plants   
   and where settlements may be too distantly located from one another to make   
   such   
   as system feasible. Just like the evolving use of mobile phones without the   
   previous establishment of landlines, developing countries could leapfrog the   
   fossil episode and enter the age of decentralised renewable energy production   
   without detour".   
    "The care for our planet therefore does not have to evolve into a tragedy of   
   the commons. It may well turn into a story of great transformation in which the   
   opportunity was seized to overcome profound inequalities. These disparities   
   arose from the geological coincidence of regional fossil fuel distribution   
   controlled by the few and the concomitant exploitation. Today, the implications   
   of our actions and the pathways are clear. It is solely a question of what   
   future we choose to believe in and to pursue".   
    Carolyn Woo, the president of Catholic Relief Services and former dean of the   
   Mendoza College of Business of the University of Notre Dame, U.S.A., as an   
   expert in economics and finance, affirmed that investing in sustainability is   
   "another win-win opportunity for business", given that "numerous studies have   
   provided estimates of astronomical costs associated with coastal disasters as   
   water levels rise, drought and storms that devastate agricultural production,   
   or   
   loss in productivity due to growing days of extreme heat and health crises due   
   to pollution. ... Business can play a role to assist customers to become   
   responsible consumers. Design and production that minimises waste by utilising   
   renewable energy sources, improving efficiencies, enabling recycling,   
   reclamation and re-use provides new opportunities for businesses as these   
   enable   
   consumers to do their part".   
    "This Encyclical certainly affirms the important role that business will need   
   to play, but Pope Francis is clear that we need partnerships between public and   
   private sectors - as he puts it, 'politics and economics in dialogue for human   
   fulfilment'. Since both public and private sectors have the same goal, and are   
   integrated into the same interconnected web of life, they need to work together   
   in harmony. Sometimes that means business being more accepting of stronger   
   forms   
   of regulation, especially in the financial sector. It also means business   
   getting fully on board with the new Sustainable Development Goals and the need   
   to take action to combat climate change. At the end of the day, business is a   
   human enterprise and must strive for true human development and the common   
   good".   
    Finally, the teacher Valeria Martano talked about urban ecology, endangered by   
   pollution, inadequate services and generalised individualism, as a challenge   
   for   
   Christians. The quality of life in the suburbs is poor, she emphasised: "there   
   is a build-up of rage and a sense of exclusion. Too many people are denied the   
   dignity of a house, such as the Roma community, and often we witness the   
   destruction of precarious dwellings without the offer of an alternative. The   
   elderly are 'expelled' from the social fabric and located in peripheral   
   institutions. ... We encounter violence in some quarters. But we can help live   
   better if we reject this resignation to individualism. ... For years, with the   
   Sant'Egidio Community, we have worked to save spaces from pollution. ...   
   Starting   
   with the weakest - children, the elderly, the disabled - we reconstruct a human   
   fabric. ... Around the weak, it is possible to renew the face of the suburbs,   
   discovering energies that renew human ecology".   
    "The Encyclical invites us to put into practice the common good", she   
   concluded. "The city and the environment are our common home. We often live   
   according to human itineraries: fragmented and contradictory. Each person tries   
   to save himself, in his own corner. Everyone follows his own interest. But   
   there   
   is a 'community salvation' that starts from the inclusion of the weak, a   
   valuable resource for an integral ecology".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope continues his visits to the dicasteries of the Roman Curia   
    Vatican City, 18 June 2015 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father visited the   
   dicasteries of the Roman Curia located in Via della Conciliazione, 5.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 18 June 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Msgr. Franco   
   Piva of the diocese of Rimini to the College of Apostolic Pronotaries "de   
   numero   
   participantium".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
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