Laudato Si - analysis & reaction (III)

The basic question for people - "Why Pope Francis' encyclical matters"

Salt + Light have a roundup of coverage including their own daily news programme Behind Vatican Walls: Laudato Si’

Millenial has a running series of articles over at their website including Read Pope Francis’ Twitter Version of Laudato Si

Focus - Summary of Laudato Si, Pope Francis' Encyclical on the Environment

NCR - World weighs in on 'Laudato Si''  - NCR will be tracking reception worldwide to Pope Francis' environmental encyclical, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." Check back at this post throughout the day as it is updated with the latest reactions.

CNA - "'Laudato si' is not only an example of the Magisterium's social teaching: it also represents the birth of a new literary genre among papal documents. Normally in the modern epoch, Popes have included in encyclicals doctrinal themes. But 'Laudato si' is not a doctrinal text -- it is rather a pastoral letter based on the classical Latin American method: see, judge, act." Continue reading here.

Crux coverage:
What to do? The pope’s practical tips for helping the environment
John Allen looks at how Pope’s eco-manifesto looks like a game-changer in the US
Both praise, skepticism greet Pope Francis’ eco-encyclical

RNS - Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical is even more radical than it appears

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The ad intra arguments of the so called "right" and "left" wing elements of the church have also started. Take a look at NCR which calls out how those on the right wing who have problems accepting what has been defined as being part of Catholic Social teaching -  Laudato Si' - Magistra No.

"There is something a little endearing about watching some conservative Catholic wrestle with the fact that they are dissenting from papal teaching. They are a bit clumsy at it. Perhaps, here at NCR, we could offer a symposium or something. What has become abundantly clear in the last twenty-four hours is that these conservatives are dissenting, and not just from one item in a long papal document, but from the very foundations of Catholic Social Teaching......."

New Republic discusses "The Last Time Conservatives Dismissed a Major Encyclical, It Ended Terribly for Them"

On the other side of the debate Fr John Zuhlsdorf who blogs at Fr Z's Blog is tracking the responses and difficulties of those viewed as being more conservative and poses "A few mischievous thoughts" including,

"If Pope Francis is truly interested in the environment, he should, without delay, ditch the cars he is driven around in and use the sedia gestatoria.  It’s for the planet! Furthermore, to save the planet by reducing fossil fuel use (and planet killing Air Conditioning), Francis should immediately cancel World Youth Day........ 

And, again, if everyone is going to be required by the elite liberal set to accept the Pope’s musings on the environment and markets as nearly infallible teaching, then perhaps we should give them all copies of … say… Mortalium animos… Humanae vitae… Ordinatio sacerdotalis… Summorum Pontificum… and hold them to their own standards."

Spiritual Friendships reflects on Awe and Wonder: A Preliminary Comment on Laudato Si’

Laudato Si’ is shaping up to be the most controversial papal encyclical since Humanae Vitae. On the surface, the dissent from these two encyclicals seems very different: the rebellion against Humanae Vitae came from the political “left,” while the present rebellion comes from the “right.” If, however, we dig beneath the shallow political categories, we find that the two rebellions are “ultimately due to the same evil: the notion that there are no indisputable truths to guide our lives, and hence human freedom is limitless” (LS, 6).

The “left” has focused more on sexual freedom, and the “right” on economic freedom. The fundamental question for both, however, is: can we discover a rational order in nature, put there by God, an order to which we are called to conform our lives? Or do we see in nature—including our own human nature—only raw materials to be exploited for ends that we choose for ourselves?

The Vatican's presentation of Pope Francis' new encyclical said the intent behind the document goes beyond political debates, aiming for something more essential: the well-being of all creation.