Marybeth Lorbiecki - Following St. Francis: John Paul IIs Call for Ecological Action

ALSO BY MARYBETH LORBIECKI
A Fierce Green Fire: The Life and Legacy of Aldo Leopold
Painting the Dakota: Seth Eastman at Fort Snelling

FOR CHILDREN:
Sister Annes Hands
The Wild Prairie that Nature Built
Planet Patrol: A Kids Action Guide to Earth Care
Paul Bunyans Sweetheart
Things Natural, Wild, and Free: The Life of Aldo Leopold
John Muir and Stickeen: An Icy Adventure with a No-Good Dog
Jackies Bat

AND OTHERS

Lorbiecki provides a wonderful connection between Franciscan spirituality and Pope John Paul IIs call to care for all of Gods creation. She not only explains why we are called to action but offers clear examples of how to accomplish it.

PATRICK CAROLAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE FRANCISCAN ACTION NETWORK

First published in hardcover in the
United States of America in 2014
By Rizzoli Ex Libris, an imprint of
Rizzoli International Publications, Inc.
300 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10010
www.rizzoliusa.com

This ebook edition 2014 Marybeth Lorbiecki
Papal quotations Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Foreword copyright 2014 Bill McKibben

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior consent of the publishers.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8478-4273-5

v3.1

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO:

Papa Francis, for the hope you have brought

St. John Paul II, for your model of mystical prayer and compassion for all creation

My father and mother, Rudy and Marilyn, who passed on the faith and taught me to leave a campsite cleaner than I found it

My childrenNadja, Mirjana, and Dmitriand their children some day, and of course, for my sisters and brothers, nieces and nephews, and young people of the world, so they might always have places of natural beauty to feel their Creators breath on their cheeks, voice in the birdsong, companionship in the animals, and touch in the lake and ocean waves

My dear husband, David, for your long-suffering, sweet support, and friendship

Edy, for your passionate belief in me, this project, and the good struggle

Fred, for your model of prayer and faith in action

My family and friends, who know who they are, whom they serve, and how they have held me up

All the brother and sister species, lands, waters, and stars of Gods creation, that always fill me with love and wonder

Sts. Francis and Clare, Mother Mary and Father St. Joseph for all your care and assistance

And to the Creator of the vast universe, the Alpha and Omega, Your Son and Your Spiritthis is all Yours, and has always been so. I give it back to You.

An alliance between all those who want goodness is extremely urgent today.
Humanity and the world are at stake and they are endangered as never before.
As I said before:
Protect the world, the beautiful, endangered world.
POPE JOHN PAUL II, ADDRESS TO REPRESENTATIVES OF SCIENCE,
ART, AND JOURNALISM, SALZBURG, AUSTRIA, JUNE 26, 1988

Contents

Foreword: Reorientation and Action

This is the profoundly right moment for this book. It comes as all of useven Methodists like myselfare feeling the excitement of a new pope, Francis, who seems to have broken the mold, and to speak with a freshness and a candor that the world is eager to hear. One cant help but be charmed and challenged by his actions, from washing the feet of Muslims to refusing to judge our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. And one senses in his choice of a name that this new approach will extend to our relationship not just with each other but with the planet God has given us.

But few things spring up absolutely afresh in human historyand its doubly rare in the Church! So its very good to be reminded in this book that the current excitement has precedent both fairly recent and fairly ancient. Marybeth Lorbiecki does a lovely job of tracing Pope John Paul IIs ecological insights, which were acute and deepthe product not only of his boyhood in the natural world and his faith, but also, perhaps, of the chance to watch how the insane materialism of his communist homeland had destroyed so much of that world. Right from the start of his papacy, he understood the core of the problem and its urgency: as he said in 1979, each of us needs a deep personal conversion in his or her relationship with others and with nature.

The ancient source of that understanding harkens back to the first books of the Bible and onward, then on through St. Francis of Assisi, perhaps the most beloved of the line of saints, and certainly one of the most unlikely. His surpassing ability to see God in the world around him (human, beast, and even rock), adds enormous dimension to the Christian story; the radicalism of his message has in some sense lain buried until it was needed in this moment of ecological crisis.

The scriptural and moral principles the pope laid out have points of universal resonance, showing how spirituality and ecology intersectand how the many different ecological issues are related. They come after a century in which ecological insight really flowered; now the deeper meanings of that new science are being explored, and powerfully so in the case of John Paul II.

Simply because this message is needed, of course, doesnt mean it will be acted on. Pope John Paul II did say many powerful things; it must be noted, however, that he didnt turn the Church into an effective fighting force for ecological progress. It was left to Patriarch Bartholomew of the Orthodox Church to show, one watershed at a time, how religious leaders can rally society to action out of the wellsprings of their faith.

One hopeshopes against hope, but then what is the Holy Spirit for?that the current pope will truly channel the beautiful radicalism (or is it conservatism?) of his namesake, and that he will build on this faith legacy of the newly named St. John Paul, and on the powerful science that the exercise of our civilizations reason has produced. If so, then the words in this book will prove powerful preludes to some of the most needed deeds in the short history of the human species.

Authors Note:

In his book Blessed Unrest, entrepreneur and author Paul Hawken writes:

It has been said that we cannot save our planet unless humankind undergoes a widespread spiritual and religious awakening. In other words, fixes wont fix until we fix our souls as well. So lets ask ourselves this question: Would we recognize a worldwide spiritual awakening if we saw one? What if there is already in place a large-scale spiritual awakening and we are simply not recognizing it?

His book suggests we are in the midst of one, and we need only notice and join in.

Pope John Paul II, newly named a Catholic saint, was a follower of St. Francis, often quoting him or referring to him as a model for us all. In his own time, St. Francis of Assisi was a spiritual movement unto himself: a man radically and wholeheartedly devoted to Christ, creation, and the poor. His power surpassed that of kings and popes who are no longer much remembered, and his work lives on, expanding to inspire new generations and contemporary popesespecially Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis. His legacy has never been more relevant.