To the editor:
I enjoyed the July 2 Catholic Herald articles about Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.
Since becoming pope, Francis has continued the concern for the environment that St. Francis of Assisi, St. John Paul II, and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI shared.
He has connected the physical environment crisis with the social environment crisis. Improving the physical environment begins by improving the social environment.
He teaches that we must foster a human ecology, which promotes the good of fundamental pillars that govern nations. These include the family, the foundation of society.
He has stated that children have the right to grow up in a family with a mother and father “capable of creating a suitable environment for the child’s development and emotional maturity.” To support families, he called the 2015 Synod of Bishops on the Family.
Responsible families and some ecological practices of today are models, giving us hope that improving the physical and social environment is possible.
The written Chinese word for crisis signifies danger and opportunity. Many problems with the physical and social environment are caused by us, but we have opportunities to correct them. This will, however, require decades of committed, worldwide, responsible ecology.
Fr. Don Lange, Platteville