As the world holds its breath for the papal encyclical on the environment—and those at other publications pour over the leaked draft—I wonder whether some of those anticipating it most are in for disappointment. Perhaps they’re expecting the pope to mention their particular pet ideology or policy proposal. Perhaps they hope it will denouce the big, bad oil executives outside of whose offices they’ve protested. It probably won’t do either. It also won’t single-handedly turn the tide of our losing battle against our own appetite for carbon.

If this encyclical is successful, it will be because it inspires creative, diverse responses to the challenges it poses, rather than merely solidifying the existing political battle-lines. I’m less interested in the encyclical itself, really, than in what we the church—together with all people of good will—can do with it.


We need all the ideas we can get.

The Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, an arm of the Maryknoll mission organizations, has for the past year been publishing a series of of primers called Encounters: A Newsletter on Faith, Economy, and Society. They’re an excellent collection of prospects for a healthier economy and a healthier planet, presented in light of Catholic social teaching.

For instance:

These are slow, long-term proposals, and they’re no substitute for the strong international agreements that we so urgently need this December in Paris. But they help to remind us that real stewardship is not the result of a stopgap, or one faction winning out over another, or the arrival of a papal superhero. It begins with how we treat each other, and what we choose to value.