Chaput calls encyclical 'complex appeal to conscience'

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia on Thursday welcomed Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si" as a "challenge" for people to reexamine their approaches to both the environment and the poor.

"The Holy Father's new Laudato Si ('Praise be to you, Lord') encyclical is a deep and complex appeal to conscience, a challenge to all of us to reexamine our stewardship of the environment and our love for the global poor," he said in a statement.

"It argues forcefully for the priority of the common good, the dignity of the marginalized and the beauty of God's creation as a gift we all need to husband and share," Chaput said. "As Philadelphians prepare for the World Meeting of Families this fall, Pope Francis reminds us that the family is a school of love and responsibility, the seed of a culture of life that includes the dignity of the earth and the needs of all its peoples."

In his weekly column, the archbishop referenced authors J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis in discussing the encyclical.

"Generations have delighted in Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings," and Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "Space Trilogy." But what people often miss in the work of both men is their profound – and deeply Christian – love of nature and its creatures, and their equally deep distrust of man's temptation to dominate and abuse; to treat creation as dead matter available for exploitation," Chaput wrote.

"That word 'creation' is a key to understanding both writers. For both Tolkien and Lewis, all life and all creation are gifts of a loving God. Neither man disputed the good in modern technology, but they saw clearly that the world is a kind of sacrament, alive with a beauty that points to its Creator."

"We don't 'own' the earth or its creatures," Chaput said. "We have dominion over the world only as its stewards, not as its sovereigns. And as stewards, we have the duty to respect the created order and husband it for the common good."