Jun 14th 2015

Pope Francis, the Common Good and Global Climate Change

by Charles J. Reid, Jr.

Charles J. Reid, Jr. was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he majored in Latin, Classics, and History, and also did substantial coursework in classical Greek and modern European languages. It was during his undergraduate days that he developed an interest in canon law, doing a year of directed research in Roman and canon law under the supervision of James Brundage. Reid then attended the Catholic University of America, where he earned J.D. and J.C.L. (license in canon law) degrees. During his time at Catholic University, he organized a series of symposia on the bishops' pastoral letter on nuclear arms. The proceedings of these symposia were published under Reid's editorship as "Peace in a Nuclear Age: The Bishops' Pastoral Letter in Perspective" (Catholic University of America Press, 1986). This book was called by the New York Times "among the most scholarly and unsettling of responses" to the pastoral letter (December 28, 1986).Reid then attended Cornell University, where he earned a Ph.D. in the history of medieval law under the supervision of Brian Tierney. His thesis at Cornell was on the Christian, medieval origins of the western concept of individual rights. Over the last ten years, he has published a number of articles on the history of western rights thought, and is currently completing work on a book manuscript addressing this question.In 1991, Reid was appointed research associate in law and history at the Emory University School of Law, where he has worked closely with Harold Berman on the history of western law. He collaborated with Professor Berman on articles on the Lutheran legal science of the sixteenth century, the English legal science of the seventeenth century, and the flawed premises of Max Weber's legal historiography.While at Emory, Reid has also pursued a research agenda involving scholarship on the history of western notions of individual rights; the history of liberty of conscience in America; and the natural-law foundations of the jurisprudence of Judge John Noonan. He has also published articles on various aspects of the history of the English common law. He has had the chance to apply legal history in a forensic setting, serving as an expert witness in litigation involving the religious significance of Christian burial. Additionally, Reid has taught a seminar on the contribution of medieval canon law to the shaping of western constitutionalism.  Recently, Reid has become a featured blogger at the Huffington Post on current issues where religion, law and politics intersect.

It is a line repeated with tiresome regularity in right-wing circles: Pope Francis has no business proposing solutions to the crisis of global climate change. He is not a scientist, they say. He should stick to morals and to matters of faith and doctrine.

Pope Francis' defenders point out that climate change is a moral question. If the destruction of the planet's ecological health is not a moral concern, then what is? But while climate change is certainly a moral issue, it is something much larger and more significant than that. It is a threat to the common good of the world. It is menacing the globe's well-being and even the integrity of nations. There are the island nations, of course: the Maldives, Fiji, the many islands and atolls of Micronesia, of course.

But even the Cape Verde Islands and Tonga are at grave risk. It is not a coincidence that Pope Francis conferred the rank of cardinal on Arlindo Gomes Furtado (Cape Verde Islands) and Soane Patiti Paini Mafi (Tonga). They are the first cardinals to represent these small nations, but they have clearly been given a responsibility to the world: to stand at the front line of looming climate catastrophe and carry the message of a world at risk to all of humanity.

Even the world's superpowers are not immune from the effects of climate change. Climate change is disrupting agriculture and water supplies in China. It is melting the Siberian permafrost and releasing thousands of tons of trapped methane in Russia. And it is eroding American coastlines and threatening harbors and beaches close to home. There is no question -- the world is at risk.

Pope Francis now means to address this growing crisis and he intends to do so in the name of the common good. As we look forward to his message, we should understand something of what is meant by the "common good" as Catholics use this term. For I predict that we shall hear this term mentioned frequently in the weeks and months ahead.

The "common good" is a term that has an ancient meaning and Popes have long invoked that ancient heritage. The idea of the common good can be traced as far back as Aristotle. Aristotle maintained that there were certain concerns so widely shared that it was uniquely the community's responsibility to address them. Thus, the community was supposed to see to the common defense, prosecute crime, and ensure that the marketplace operated fairly and to the benefit of all. The community should aim, in other words, at creating the conditions that allowed its members to lead "the good life."

This is not the way contemporary Americans view politics. Politics, as it is widely understood and practiced today, is about satisfying individual interests and wants. Politics in the United States is about short term fixes and quick solutions. It is missing the sober, long-term thinking that comes with reflection on the common good. Just from the standpoint of thinking about problem-solving, I suspect Pope Francis will have some important things to say.

When Pope Francis speaks about the defense of the common good later this week, he will, furthermore, be joining a long line of pontiffs who have used this mode of reasoning to advocate for a better world. The modern papacy might be said to have its origin with Leo XIII (1878-1903). Leo inherited a papacy in deep disarray following Pope Pius IX's military defeats and the loss of the papal states. But Leo had the foresight to realize that the papacy might be rebuilt, not on geographic ambitions or political expedience, but as the conscience and moral voice to the world.

Leo XIII most famously appealed to the conscience of the world in his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum (best translated as "On Revolution"). Writing near the end of the Industrial Revolution, he feared a death struggle between two opposing camps: the plutocratic captains of industry against socialism. Leo sought a middle ground, most especially by stating a vigorous case for the rights of labor. This much, he said, was demanded by the common good.

Subsequent popes made use of similar arguments, especially on the questions of economic development and justice. St. John XXIII was especially emphatic on these themes. In Mater et Magistra (1961), good Pope John endorsed the modern welfare state: nations today, he asserted, must provide social security and disability for those too old or otherwise unable to work; and they must also commit to ensuring the well-being of workers and farmers.

Pope Paul VI and Benedict XVI both fit firmly within this tradition begun by Leo and advanced by John XXIII. In 1967, Paul VI promulgated Populorum Progressio -- on Human Progress. Recognizing the breakdown of traditional societies, Paul recommended building just social structures to assist in the transition to modernity. Education, just and fair wages, the promotion of human development and flourishing, these were the goals Paul VI called on the world to meet. "Freedom from misery" (para. 6) was his ambition. And in Caritas in Veritate ("Love in Truth," 2009), Pope Benedict XVI warmly restated Paul's lofty ideals.

All of these documents were issued in the name of a global common good. Like his predecessors, Pope Francis sees himself as uniquely empowered to explain and defend the common good. What he is about to do, in other words, is not revolutionary. Popes have long spoken in the way that Francis is about to. But while his defense of the common good is traditional, he is expanding its focus. His vision now takes in the whole question of planetary health.

And, truly, global climate change presents questions about the common good in new and powerful ways. Climate change affects all alike. It crosses boundaries. It threatens not merely humanity but other species and forms of life. The "common" in common good, in other words, is about to receive its most expansive definition -- now encompassing not merely local or national communities, but the entire world.

I expect this week to see Pope Francis reinvigorate the long-standing practice of Popes to speak constructively about the common good. Let us hope it is to good effect.



Related articles:

Captain Pope on the Titanic

by Jeff SchweitzerAdded 19.06.2015
The Pope now  recognizes the obvious: our climate is changing as a consequence of human activity. But still, not everyone agrees.  James Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the following: "We should be...

Pope’s climate letter is a radical attack on the logic of the market

by Steffen BöhmAdded 19.06.2015
What makes Pope Francis and his 183-page encyclical so radical isn’t just his call to urgently tackle climate change. It’s the fact he openly and unashamedly goes against the grain of dominant social, economic and environment policies. While the...

 

This article is brought to you by the author who owns the copyright to the text.

Should you want to support the author’s creative work you can use the PayPal “Donate” button below.

Your donation is a transaction between you and the author. The proceeds go directly to the author’s PayPal account in full less PayPal’s commission.

Facts & Arts neither receives information about you, nor of your donation, nor does Facts & Arts receive a commission.

Facts & Arts does not pay the author, nor takes paid by the author, for the posting of the author's material on Facts & Arts. Facts & Arts finances its operations by selling advertising space.
 

 

Browse articles by author

More Essays

Alzheimer’s: mouse study may have uncovered drug that can prevent the disease
by Mark Dallas
Mar 10th 2021
EXTRACT: "Although around one in 14 people over 65 have Alzheimer’s disease, there’s still no cure, and no way to prevent the disease from progressing. But a recent study may bring us one step closer to preventing Alzheimer’s. The trial, which was conducted on animals, has found a specific molecule can prevent the buildup of a toxic protein known to cause Alzheimer’s in the brain."
Quantifying Artistic Success: The Ascent of Andy Warhol
by David Galenson
Feb 24th 2021
EXTRACT: "The art historian George Kubler observed that scholars in the humanities “pretend to despise measurement because of its ‘scientific’ nature.” As if to illustrate his point Robert Storr, former dean of Yale’s School of Art, declared that artistic success is “completely unquantifiable.” In fact, however, artistic success can be quantified, in several ways. One of these is based on the analysis of texts produced by art scholars, and this measure can give us a systematic understanding of how changes in recent art have produced changes in the canon of art history."
I was the Australian doctor on the WHO’s COVID-19 mission to China. Here’s what we found about the origins of the coronavirus
by Dominic Dwyer
Feb 24th 2021
EXTRACT: "The most politically sensitive option we looked at was the virus escaping from a laboratory. We concluded this was extremely unlikely."
Reflections on the Tuskegee Study and Its Moral Harm
by Sam Ben-Meir
Feb 16th 2021
EXTRACT: ".... these men were completely unaware that they had put their lives in the hands of doctors who not only had no intention of healing them but were committed to observing them until the final autopsy – since it was believed that an autopsy alone could scientifically confirm the study’s findings. As one researcher wrote in a 1933 letter to a colleague, “As I see, we have no further interest in these patients until they die.” ...... The unquestionable ethical failure of Tuskegee is one with which we must grapple, and of which we must never lose sight, lest we allow such moral disasters to repeat themselves. "
Remembering the Center for Creativity Economics
by David Galenson
Feb 14th 2021
EXTRACT: "In 2010 Carlos Rodriguez, the president of Buenos Aires' Universidad del CEMA, created the world's first - and only - Center for Creativity Economics.  During the next ten years, the CCE presented a number of short courses and seminars.  But the most important of its events was an annual lecture by an Argentine artist, who was given a Creative Career Award."
Let’s Get Real About AI
by Stan Matwin
Feb 11th 2021
EXTRACT: "It’s not hard to see why. Although AI systems outperform humans in tasks that are often associated with a “high level of intelligence” (playing chess, Go, or Jeopardy), they are nowhere close to excelling at tasks that humans can master with little to no training (such as understanding jokes). What we call “common sense” is actually a massive base of tacit knowledge – the cumulative effect of experiencing the world and learning about it since childhood. Coding common-sense knowledge and feeding it into AI systems is an unresolved challenge. Although AI will continue to solve some difficult problems, it is a long way from performing many tasks that children undertake as a matter of course."
Do we really need to walk 10,000 steps a day?
by Lindsay Bottoms
Feb 7th 2021
EXTRACT: "When it comes to being fit and healthy, we’re often reminded to aim to walk 10,000 steps per day. This can be a frustrating target to achieve, especially when we’re busy with work and other commitments. Most of us know by now that 10,000 steps is recommended everywhere as a target to achieve – and yet where did this number actually come from?"
Why creationism bears all the hallmarks of a conspiracy theory
by Paul Braterman
Feb 5th 2021
EXTRACT: "This so-called elite supposedly conspires to monopolise academic employment and research grants. Its alleged objective is to deny divine authority, and the ultimate beneficiary and prime mover is Satan.Such beliefs derive from the doctrine of biblical infallibility, long accepted as integral to the faith of numerous evangelical and Baptist churches throughout the world, including the Free Church of Scotland. But I would argue that the present-day creationist movement is a fully fledged conspiracy theory. It meets all the criteria, offering a complete parallel universe with its own organisations and rules of evidence, and claims that the scientific establishment promoting evolution is an arrogant and morally corrupt elite."
Anti-ageing treatments: these two drug types are being investigated
by Richard Faragher
Jan 29th 2021
EXTRACT: "Ageing is so far known to be caused by nine biological mechanisms, sometimes called the “hallmarks of ageing”. In order to prevent ageing in our tissues, cells, and molecules, we need to be able to slow or prevent these hallmarks of ageing from taking place. While there are numerous treatments currently being investigated, two approaches currently show the most promise in slowing the development of age-related disease. .... One area researchers are investigating is looking at whether any medicines already exist which could tackle ageing. This method is advantageous in that billions of pounds have already been spent on testing the safety and efficacy of these drugs and they are already in routine clinical use in humans. Two in particular are promising candidates."
Cognitive decline due to ageing can be reversed in mice – here’s what the new study means for humans
by Richard Faragher
Jan 23rd 2021
EXTRACT: "The ageing global population is the greatest challenge faced by 21st-century healthcare systems. Even COVID-19 is, in a sense, a disease of ageing. The risk of death from the virus roughly doubles for every nine years of life, a pattern that is almost identical to a host of other illnesses. But why are old people vulnerable to so many different things? It turns out that a major hallmark of the ageing process in many mammals is inflammation. By that, I don’t mean intense local response we typically associate with an infected wound, but a low grade, grinding, inflammatory background noise that grows louder the longer we live. This “inflammaging” has been shown to contribute to the development of atherosclerosis (the buildup of fat in arteries), diabetes, high blood pressure , frailty, cancer and cognitive decline."
Now’s the time to rethink your relationship with nature
by Matthew Adams
Jan 20th 2021
EXTRACT: "Anthropos is Greek for human.... The term is used to convey how, for the first time in history, the Earth is being transformed by one species – homo sapiens. ...... The idea of the Anthropocene can seem overwhelming and can generate anxiety and fear. It can be hard to see past notions of imminent apocalypse or technological salvation. Both, in a sense, are equally paralysing – requiring us to do nothing. .. I consider the Anthropocene as an invitation to think differently about human relationships with nature and other species. Evidence suggests this reorientation is already happening and there are grounds for optimism."
Lord Haw-Haw: popularity of wartime Nazi propagandist made the BBC up its game
by Tim Luckhurs
Jan 7th 2021
EXTRACT: "During the second world war, Nazi Germany banned all listening to foreign radio stations. Germans who overlooked their duty to ignore foreign broadcasts faced penalties ranging from imprisonment to execution. The British government imposed no comparable ban which would have been incompatible with the principles for which it had gone to war. That’s not to say, though, that it wasn’t alarmed by the popularity of German stations. Most effective among the Nazis broadcasting to the UK was William Joyce. This Irish-American fascist, known in Britain as “Lord Haw-Haw”, won a large audience during the “phoney war” in 1939 and early 1940, with his trademark call sign delivered in his unmistakable accent: 'Jairmany calling, Jairmany calling'. "
Power vs. Duty in American Politics
by Sam Ben-Meir
Jan 6th 2021
EXTRACTS: "The revelation of Trump’s hour-long recorded call with Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Secretary of State, over this past weekend crossed a new line – a line that not only set a high-water mark of moral reprehensibility, but a legal line as well, specifically in his pressuring Raffensperger to 'find the 11,780 votes' that would hand Trump the state and his veiled threat (' it’s going to be very costly…') if Raffensperger failed to comply. ........ Raffensperger – who has been forced to endure intense pressure, intimidation and threats – has proven himself to be a man of integrity and principle."
Why does Boris Johnson delay coronavirus lockdown decisions? A psychologist gives her view
by Nicola Power
Jan 6th 2021
EXTRACT: "A final, perhaps more sinister, possibility is that Johnson knows exactly what he is doing. His political style evokes a unique blend of dishevelled buffoon and privileged Etonian. He is someone who likes to bring good news and doesn’t take life too seriously. Making tough, controversial decisions threatens this persona and so hiding in the shadows until his hand is forced helps him to reconcile his identity threat."
Conservative Christians Remain Silent About Suffering Bethlehem 
by James J. Zogby
Dec 21st 2020
EXTRACT: "The resultant loss of land, the growing impoverishment of its citizens, and the hostile actions of Israeli occupation forces and settlers have forced many Bethlehemites to leave their beloved city and homeland. Given these accumulated violations of human rights and their impact on Christians and Muslims, alike, one might expect Christians in the West to speak out in defense of these residents of the little town they celebrate each year.  That, sadly, is not to be – most especially (and I might add ironically) among powerful Christian conservative groups in the US which, after all, claim to be the defenders of their co-religionists world-wide."
Giving with the Heart and the Head
by Peter Singer and Lucius Caviola
Dec 7th 2020
EXTRACT: "Worldwide, people donate hundreds of billions of dollars to charity. In the United States alone, charitable donations amounted to about $450 billion last year. As 2020 draws to a close, perhaps you or members of your family are considering giving to charity. But there are, literally, millions of charities. Which should you choose?"
Anarchism and the Avant-Garde: Félix Fénéon at the Museum of Modern Art
by Sam Ben-Meir
Dec 1st 2020
EXTRACT: " The Museum of Modern Art is currently presenting Félix Fénéon: The Anarchist and the Avant-Garde – From Signac to Matisse and Beyond, examining the immense influence of this art critic, editor, publisher, collector and anarchist............A crucial feature of anarchism is the emphasis on the individual as the fundamental building block, the essential point of departure for any human association whatever. The individual was characterized by Grave in 1899 as a social creature who should be “left free to attach himself according to his tendencies, his affinities, free to seek out those with him whom his liberty and aptitudes can agree.” "
Maradona: why the English can’t let go of the Hand of God and Latin Americans love it
by Matthew Brown
Nov 29th 2020
Diego Maradona with the World Cup, 1986.
Is belief in God a delusion?
by Ryan McKay and Robert Ross
Nov 25th 2020
EXTRACT: "As the pandemic raged in April, churchgoers in Ohio defied warnings not to congregate. Some argued that their religion conferred them immunity from COVID-19. In one memorable CNN clip, a woman insisted she would not catch the virus because she was “covered in Jesus’ blood”. "
Exercise and the brain: three ways physical activity changes its very structure
by Áine Kelly
Nov 18th 2020
EXTRACT: "Here are just a few ways exercise changes the structure of our brain."