Live Simply So That Others Can Simply Live

 

At the heart of Live Simply is the inspirational encyclical/letter of Pope Francis: ‘Laudato Si’. It is subtitled,

‘On Care For Our Common Home’ i.e. Mother Earth.

In this inspirational letter to the Church, Pope Francis calls on mankind to act as stewards of Mother Earth, not ruthless exploiters. He makes the case that mankind, largely through the selfish, materialistic greed of ‘the Global North’, is ruinously damaging God’s gift to mankind.  He asks:

‘What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?’ Pope Francis.

 

He himself lobbied governments every year before the annual COP Climate summits. Pope Leo, who has strongly endorsed Laudato Si, has done the same.

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Laudato Si is now the official social teaching of the Catholic Church:​​

This sister (Mother Earth’) now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will.

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We know the summers here are getting hotter and hotter. Last year the hottest on record.  We know that the ice caps at the north and south poles are melting.  Sea levels are rising.  Droughts, floods, extreme storms, forest fires are increasing as the planet warms up scarily quickly. The oceans are acidifying as they absorb more and more carbon dioxide, killing off undersea life. The poorest and most vulnerable parts of the world are suffering the most and it’s getting worse.

 

Pope Francis pointed out that, left to our own devices, we are all fundamentally selfish. He was a severe critic of unbridled capitalism, corporate greed, the unfettered rule of the market and its exclusive pursuit of money which he described as ‘the dung of the devil’. He attacked the extreme consumerism of the richest countries. 

We know that leaders of richer and more powerful countries are concerned largely or exclusively with short term national self interest at the expense of long term world climate damage. We know that, left to its own devices, corporate exclusive pursuit of profit is leading to disastrous consequences for planet Earth.

In particular, by:

• The Petrochemical industry

• The Car industry –  with the worldwide introduction of high emission SUVs

• Artificial Intelligence with its data centres which use up vast amounts of electricity and water. What price technological progress if it comes at the expense of the planet?

• Industrial Fishing, scraping all marine life from the bottom of the oceans creating scars visible from space.

 

In  Southern and Eastern Africa more than 90 million people are facing extreme hunger because of climate change induced drought. Africa produces just 3% of global emissions but is suffering the ever worsening effects of climate change. Here in the UK, the average British person  will have emitted more carbon dioxide in the first two weeks of the year than a citizen of 7 African nations does in an entire year.

Probably uniquely in this country, we at OLOL have a black crucifix on our altar: a black crucified Jesus Christ, carved in Malawi, a country massively impacted by climate change driven drought. It falls to us particularly to act in solidarity with our suffering brothers and sisters in Africa .

 

A  Change of Heart – Ecological Conversion

Faced with the scale of the task,  we ask, ‘But what can we do?’  We feel powerless so we don’t do anything much.

Christians aren’t good at eco action.  Statistically, we are no better than the general public. Incredibly, a third are even climate change deniers.  Vice President J D Vance, a practising Catholic, is one of them. Young Christians, with their lives still ahead of them, are more actively concerned than older.

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Pope Francis called us to an ‘Ecological Conversion’.

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 'Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.'

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With God, anything is possible. That is the message of the Old and New Testaments.  Fragile and isolated individuals though we are, we can change the way whole countries and continents think and act through our prayers and our actions.  Pope Francis believed that national leaders and the wealthy and powerful could be swayed by a powerful movement arising from the bottom of the pyramid, from the grass roots. 

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William Wilberforce was a Cambridge graduate who successfully campaigned for the abolition of slavery.  He  said,

‘Things great have small beginnings.

Every journey is just a step because,

Without that step there will be no journey

Without that raindrop there can be no shower.’

 

The Catholic Church is a universal church. In this parish we come from all over the world. We know the impact of climate change in countries on every continent in the world – in Kerala, South America, the Philippines, Japan, Zimbabwe, Zambia, the US, all over Europe. We know the need for action. Close to home, 250 people were drowned in Valencia in 2024 from sudden climate change torrential downpours.

 

The Solution

Let’s be positive. Catholics are people of Hope. We know a lot has been achieved so far in terms of Green Energy, electric cars and recycling. We have started the journey. 

Many Catholic parishes and schools have embarked on the CAFOD sponsored Live Simply project. A whole parish commits to reducing its energy use and its carbon footprint, to greening its everyday habits. We have an MP, Pippa Heylings, who is a leading expert on the world environment and Lib Dem spokesperson for Energy Security and Net Zero.  

There are 1. 4 billion Catholics in a world with a total population of 8. 2 billion. Drop a pebble in the pond.  Say a prayer and watch its ripples spread.   Become EcoChristians. Spread the word with friends and at work. Or in the playground or the classroom. Lead by example. As Catholics, we can and must make a difference. Pope Francis said,  ‘There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through small daily actions’. Do them consciously with Love.‘

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David Attenborough says, ‘Give Mother Earth a chance and she will regenerate’ .

 

Practical Steps.

What can we actually do? We all compromise.  But it’s important to take the first step. The car park is full of cars.  Only a handful of people cycle to Mass and we are nearly all over 65. Car share. Get on your bike. Get your parents on their bikes, or on electric bikes.  Certainly on buses and trains. To church, to work, to social events.  Let’s do it as a trade mark of our community here at OLOL.

The Live Simply parish handout lists a whole series of things you can try to do in various categories of actions: transport, in the home, shopping and more.  You almost certainly do some of them already.  Try another one for size.  Let’s get better and better at being Eco Christians.