"We need now a jubilee, a time when those who have more than enough should consume less to
allow the earth to heal, and a time for the excluded to find their place in our societies. Let us put the regeneration of the earth and universal access to its goods at the heart of our post-Covid future". (Pope Francis)
"Do you want to live in community, on the understanding that you will not have any security? You will have enough to live on, but only just enough…‘Well then’, said N. Barré, ‘what is your answer to be?’ We answered wholeheartedly: ‘Yes, we are willing to accept this and to abandon ourselves to Divine Providence in complete disinterestedness."
‘Let us Dream’: This is an inspiring and challenging new book arising from conversations between Pope Francis and Austen Ivereigh. I was particularly interested in what the Pope had to say about planet earth. He doesn’t disappoint when he describes it as God’s gift to us which is life-giving and beautiful. To talk about God’s creation you need poetry, beauty and a sense of harmony. When we neglect Mother Earth we lose the wisdom of how to live that harmony.
It is no surprise that he continues to be scathing about a global economy which is obsessed with profits and shows so little regard for the harm it is doing to countless peoples and to the environment. He names, in particular, our throwaway culture, the irresponsible disposal of plastic; the use of pesticides, desertification and pollution. He says that an ecological conversion is necessary if we are to save humanity not only from destroying nature but from destroying itself.
Pope Francis puts the poor and the planet at the heart of his ‘path to a better future’ and he has great confidence in what ordinary people working together can do to change the situation. He insists that such change must be led by ‘local agents’. Networks of belonging and solidarity will flourish by restoring the bonds of community and fraternity, and by engaging institutions and people’s movements which are rooted in the community. He goes on to say that when organisations act together, beyond boundaries of belief and ethnicity, to achieve concrete goals for their communities, then they will have claimed back their soul.
He has particular confidence in the role of women in bringing about change. He says that in his pastoral experience, he has received the best advice from women because they are able to see from different angles and are practical with a realistic understanding of how things work and of people’s limitations and potential.
"We need now a jubilee, a time when those who have more than enough should consume less to allow the earth to heal, and a time for the excluded to find their place in our societies.
Let us put the regeneration of the earth and universal access to its goods at the heart of our post-Covid future". (Pope Francis)
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