Laudato Si' 

On Care for our Common Home

Pope Frances' 77-page environmental encyclical is an amazing blend of secular concerns, scientific and poetic elements, Christian language, social justice teachings, imagery, and prayers.

It serves as a foundational document for many SCU initiatives and also centers this week (literally and figuratively) of tUrn events.

This work challenges us to renew our commitment and restore balance in all of our relationships to each other,

to all living things, and to the future.

We are taking the Laudato Si' challenge

Starting at 11am on Thursday of tUrn week readers take on 20 minute "shifts" to sustain a marathon reading of this text.

In October 2019 we spent twelve hours, under a tree, with a music stand, some wood pallets, and people brought us blankets and hot cocoa.

We read into the darkness of the night.

In April 2020 and October 2020 we read for ten hours,

successfully cycling through the entire text of 246 sections 2.4 times. 

Last spring and this fall, 2021 we again read the text, this time for 9 hours.

Spring and fall of 2022 read it for 8 hours. 

Spring and fall of 2023 it's 7 hours

Why 7 hours?

According to almost the entire scientific community, to drawdown global warming such that we do not enter an inescapable, accelerated warming loop or pass other tipping points that would devastate life as we know it, we need to act urgently before 2030.

We, who are living in this unprecedented window of time in human history, can either become informed and move into generous, unprecedented, just, informed action, or we can be passive at a time when just people should be justicing.

 

Come hear 21 different readers' voices bringing words into being.

Section #38 states:

38. Let us mention, for example, those richly biodiverse lungs of our planet which are the Amazon and the Congo basins, or the great aquifers and glaciers. We know how important these are for the entire earth and for the future of humanity. The ecosystems of tropical forests possess an enormously complex biodiversity which is almost impossible to appreciate fully, yet when these forests are burned down or levelled for purposes of cultivation, within the space of a few years countless species are lost and the areas frequently become arid wastelands.

A delicate balance has to be maintained when speaking about these places, for we cannot overlook the huge global economic interests which, under the guise of protecting them, can undermine the sovereignty of individual nations. In fact, there are “proposals to internationalize the Amazon, which only serve the economic interests of transnational corporations”.[24] 

We cannot fail to praise the commitment of international agencies and civil society organizations which draw public attention to these issues and offer critical cooperation, employing legitimate means of pressure, to ensure that each government carries out its proper and inalienable responsibility to preserve its country’s environment and natural resources, without capitulating to spurious local or international interests. 

EMAIL turnproject @ scu.edu if you have any questions or suggestions.

To sign up for a 20 minute reading time click here: 

BE A READER

To download the text of Laudato Si' click here:

 GET LAUDATO SI'

Thank you for being a part of this as a listener or reader or both!

Thank you for participating together.

We hope you can gaze at 

a tree while hearing

Laudato

Si'.