Journal of Ecumenical Studies

The Parliament of the World’s Religions at its November, 2018, gathering in Toronto added a Fifth Principle to its “Declaration toward a Global Ethic,” making explicit the universal commitment of all peoples to cherish and foster the earthly environment within which we all live. Although this principle was already implicit in the 1993 Declaration by the Parliament of World’s Religions, it was rightly felt vital that today it be made explicit. It is now everywhere “in the air”—healthy or not! Although this declaration calls upon all persons, it is especially directed toward religious persons. Besides all the political and private initiatives urging the fostering of the Earth where we all live, doubtless the most significant religious voice in this direction was that of Pope Francis and his encyclical on the environment, Laudato si’.¹

Francis in this encyclical issued a charter document for all peoples of the world, including not only Christians and those of all other religions but also humanists, agnostics, and atheists—of wisdom, vision, challenge with a richness of scientific acumen and human sagacity, pointing the way for us to follow in engaging in deep interreligious, intercultural learning, dialogue, and action about our one home of all, Mother Earth. We are all connected, and we all must care for everyone, especially the poor and marginalized.

Francis’s circular letter (in Greek, “encyclical”) is meant to encircle the whole Earth and everyone on it. In a way, like his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, he was also addressing not only us humans but also all the animals, as well as Sister Water and Brother Wind. In the midst of its abundance of [End Page 599] sage wisdom, deep philosophical insight, and manifold knowledge about scientific matters, I find two main themes running throughout the entirety of Laudato si: the fundamental need for multiple and constant dialogue, and that everybody and everything is connected. From the very beginning of his time as pope, Francis spoke of dialogue. For example, he said to the youth of Latin America that, if there is a problem, “Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue!” In the 40,000+ words of Laudato si’, Francis used the term “dialogue” twenty-five times. Already at the very beginning of this document, he wrote, “I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home” (no. 3).

This is a very important sentence, for in it he signals that he is not going to simply state information and give marching orders but wants to engage in a dialogue; that is, in this text he listened to the laid-out scientific facts as carefully and critically as he could and invited his readers to do the same with him—and then both speak to the facts and with each other. Furthermore, he wanted to have this dialogue not just with the 1,320,000,000 Catholics in the world but with “all the people.” He wanted this dialogue to be “about our common home.” In other words, he wished to launch a dialogue that is as broad and deep as possible, yet he strove to go even further, writing, “I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone” (no. 14).

What is this dialogue that Francis makes so much of here and elsewhere, and why should it be considered so necessary? Simply put, dialogue means that “I want to talk with you who think differently from me so I can learn.” While it sounds simple, until very recently, when we met someone who thought differently from us, we either dismissed them as mistaken or, if we deemed the matter sufficiently important, proceeded to persuade them— with varying degrees of insistence—that they were wrong, and we were right. In matters deemed important, most often the “other side” was equally convinced that they were right, and we were wrong. The usual result of such ubiquitous encounters was that neither side learned anything new but simply reinforced their prior convictions.

However, dialogue, especially in important matters, is increasingly being seen as a necessity...