Nicole Foley’s Reviews > Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ Of The Holy Father Francis: On Care For Our Common Home > Status Update

People no longer seem to believe in a happy future. The accumulation of novelties exalts our superficiality. If architecture reflects the spirit of an age, our megastructures and drab apartment blocks express the spirit of globalized technology, where a constant flood of new products coexists with a tedious monotony. Let us refuse to resign ourselves to this - to reject new forms of escapism to endure the emptiness.

There is an urgent need for radical change in the conduct of humanity. The most extraordinary technological advances, the most astounding economic growth, unless accompanied by authentic social and moral progress, will definitively turn against man….Every effort to protect and improve our world entails profound changes in lifestyle, production and consumption, and the structures of power that govern us.

If we approach nature and the environment without openness to awe and wonder, we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world. Our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on our immediate needs….To commit a crime against nature is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God.