Aldy on papal encyclical, policy implications
During his two years leading the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis has washed the feet of inmates, proposed larger roles for women in the church, and famously shifted the institutional tone toward gay acceptance, saying, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
On Thursday he again displayed his activist side by delivering a papal encyclical, a formal letter to the world’s Catholic community, titled “Laudato Si” or “Praise Be to You,” which addressed issues involving climate change and the poor. In the nearly 200-page document, the pope ― who has a master’s degree in chemistry ― discussed how the effects of global warming disproportionately harm the poor, backed the science outlining climate change, and called for worldwide action to stop global warming.
Responding to the encyclical, Harvard President Drew Faust said, “Climate change is among the most dire and devastating threats confronting people and the planet today. It was clear from the time he chose to be named after St. Francis of Assisi that Pope Francis would demonstrate a powerful reverence for all living things, and deep compassion for the most disadvantaged among us. In showing how climate change is both a threat to the planet and to impoverished peoples across the globe, Pope Francis’ encyclical highlights climate change as one of the most urgent social justice issues of our time.”
To better understand the issues in play, the Gazette spoke with Harvard Kennedy School Assistant Professor Joseph Aldy about the papal encyclical, its policy implications, and its likely impact on the international debate on climate change.
