Lesson video

Hello there.

My name is Mr. Robertson.

I love RE, and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today.

Our inquiry question is this, Changing World: How Should the Earth's Resources be Used? And we've been looking at different ways that people respond to this big question.

Today's lesson focuses on Catholic Christians, and it particularly looks at Pope Francis and the Laudato si' encyclical to see what does this tell us about a worldview and how the Earth's resources should be used.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain the message of Laudato si' and how it calls people to care for our common home responsibly.

We have three key words in our lesson today.

The first is the phrase common home.

And by that, I mean the Earth we share and must look after.

Another phrase is ecological conversion.

This means changing how we live to care better for the Earth.

And finally, we have the phrase throwaway culture.

That's the idea of treating people, the planet and relationships as disposable.

You'll see as we go through the lesson how these words are used, these phrases are used, and you'll understand how to use them.

So this lesson all about Francis and the Laudato si' encyclical has two sections.

And in the first, we're going to be asking this question, what is the message of Laudato si'? Look at this view here.

This shows our planet Earth taken from space.

As far as we know, the only inhabited world, certainly in our solar system, and yet that we've discovered in the universe, an extraordinary precious place.

Philosophy asks big questions about our world, our universe and reality.

For example, it might ask a question like what is our role in caring for the Earth? Do we have a role? It might ask, how can we live well in harmony with nature? How can we do things that are good? It might ask what responsibilities we might have to other people and the environment more generally.

And different world views will offer different answers to these questions.

So there isn't necessarily one way of answering this question.

Today, we're going to be looking at Laudato si' and how that responds to these really important questions.

Look at the photograph here.

Do you know who this person is? Are there any clues in what they're wearing? So this is Pope Francis.

He was the head of the Roman Catholic Church from 2013 until his death in 2025.

There are 1.

3 billion Roman Catholics in the world.

This is approximately 17% of the world's population.

It's the largest religious grouping on Earth and that is a huge amount of people who subscribe to that world view and who look to popes like Francis for guidance.

And that means that the Pope's teachings can have a big impact on how people think about important issues.

The word Laudato si' means praise be to you, and it's an encyclical.

Now, encyclicals are letters that popes write and this one was written by Pope Francis in 2015.

And it's all about this idea of how should we look after the Earth? And he has this phrase.

I rather love this phrase actually.

He calls the Earth our common home.

And by that he means it belongs to everybody on the planet, humans and non-humans.

And it's a home because it isn't just a resource but it's somewhere we all live.

We all make shelter, we may have families, we all depend on this beautiful planet.

The words "Praise be to you" invite the audience to see the Earth as a precious gift from God.

And in this encyclical, Pope Francis doesn't just want to speak to Catholics but he actually he wants to speak to everybody on the planet, no matter what their worldview, religious or non-religious, because he's trying to appeal to this idea of the Earth being for everybody and all of us as human beings needing to care for it.

So let's just check our understanding so far.

Which of the following best describes the meaning of the phrase, our common home? Is it a, the place where only humans live and work? b, the Earth shared by all living creatures? c, only the natural environment excluding people? Or d, a city or town where people gather? Excellent.

It's b, isn't it? The Earth shared by all living creatures, humans and non-human creatures as well.

And let's further check our understanding.

Laudato si' is an encyclical written for everyone, not just the Catholic Church.

Is that true or false? Think about what we were just saying.

Excellent.

It's true, isn't it? Pope Francis is the head of the Roman Catholic Church, but he wrote this encyclical for everybody, not just Roman Catholic Christians.

Thinking about our beautiful planet, Pope Francis teaches that the Earth is not just useful, it is a sacred God-given gift.

In Laudato si', he describes the planet as "our Sister" and "Mother Earth".

He reminds humanity we are part of creation, not separate from it.

Our bodies are made from the Earth, we breathe its air and drink its water.

Francis invites us not to see ourselves as owners of the Earth, but caretakers.

When we treat the planet like something to be used or owned, we forget it's a gift from God meant for everyone.

I wonder what you think about those phrases of "our Sister" or "Mother" referring to the planet.

Do you think that helps us care more for it or less for it? Why do you think that? It's interesting how we see Pope Francis drawing on traditions, ancient traditions within the world in many cultures which speak of the Earth as a mother and within Francis' own description, his own Saint Francis who also used terms like that to describe nature.

Pope Francis says that in the last 200 years, humans have caused more harm to our common home than ever before.

Pollution, destruction of forests, extinction of species are signs that our common home is suffering.

But this damage is not only physical, you can see different images there that remind us of some of the destruction, but it's more than that.

It reflects our own attitudes, our own selfishness as human beings.

He talks about the Earth crying out because it's been mistreated.

I wonder if you could think of any other ways where you feel the Earth might be being mistreated and the idea of our common home is being destroyed or put at risk.

Let's just check our understanding so far.

A true or false question for you here.

Humans have caused less damage to Earth over the last 200 years.

Is that true or false? Think about what Francis was saying.

Excellent.

It's false, isn't it? Because actually over the last 200 years, we've caused more harm thanks to technology and the things we can do than we ever did before.

One thing which is really interesting about what Pope Francis says and is at the core of his argument is that we cannot separate caring for the Earth from caring for people, especially the poorest people.

This is called integral ecology, which means that everything is connected.

We cannot protect nature while ignoring poverty.

We cannot help the poor without caring for the Earth.

Ant that's because communities who are the poorest on our planet are the ones who are going to be most affected by changes to our climate.

So issues of drought and flooding will affect the places on Earth which are the most poor.

So what Pope Francis says is that climate change affects everybody but it hurts the poor first and worst, even though they are the people who create the least harm.

So this is a very powerful argument.

He says we need to listen to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor and saving the planet, saving forests, trees and animals is not separate from social justice and caring for the poorest people on our planet.

I wonder what you think about this.

Why might it be, do you think, and how are our poorest communities more affected by environmental damage? You may have mentioned that some of the poorest people in the world live in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world, in low-lying areas which are prone to flooding or areas where there's a danger of drought.

You may also have thought about the fact that the poorest people often have the least technology, the least impact on the environment, whereas richer countries may have had a bigger historical impact on the environment, emitting carbon and emissions over many, many years using their highly developed economies.

Let's just check our understanding again.

Why does Pope Francis say we must care for both the Earth and the poor? a, because environmental problems mainly affect the rich.

b, because caring for the Earth and caring for people are connected.

c, because nature can fix itself without any help.

d, because the poor cause most of the pollution.

Think back to what he said.

Excellent, it's b, isn't it? Because Francis argues that caring for the Earth and caring for people are connected.

The poorest people in the world will be the most affected by climate change and so we need to have justice for the Earth and justice for people as well.

Laudato si' can be understood as offering two contrasting paradigms or ways of seeing and living in the world.

One is this idea of a throwaway culture, and one is this idea of ecological conversion.

What do these mean? You may have some ideas already of your own.

So, Pope Francis talks about a throwaway culture as being a way of living where people, the planet and even relationships are treated as disposable.

Whereas ecological conversion is about a deep change of heart and lifestyle where we see the Earth as a sacred gift and live as responsible caretakers.

So you can see we have two very different world views there and two very different ways of seeing the world.

Pope Francis warns that today's world encourages a throwaway culture.

This lifestyle is driven by constant advertising, fast fashion and living and the pressure to succeed individually.

That is a problem because it leads to overconsumption.

We buy more than we need.

We buy the latest phone, we replace our cars, we buy clothes and then we buy more clothes before the others have worn out.

Another problem is it creates distraction.

We have this incredible technology but one of the consequences of that is that we're constantly busy, we're constantly online, we're constantly connected and that means that we become distracted from real people around us and forming real human relationships with other people.

And we also live in a very fast world and we don't take time to slow down and notice what's in front of us.

And thirdly, the idea of individualism.

We focus on ourselves, our careers, our progress, our wealth rather than the common good, thinking about how we can make everybody in our society better and how the actions we do can help everyone around us rather than just make us richer or happier.

So these three strands all link into this idea of a throwaway culture.

I wonder what you think about what Pope Francis is saying here.

Do you see the diagnosis of his problem in the world that you live in, in your towns, cities, villages or in your own life? Do you see evidence of overconsumption or distraction or individualism? You might want to pause the video and think about this idea and whether you agree with it or not.

Alex and Laura are discussing this idea of throwaway culture.

Alex says, "I see throwaway culture in how quickly we buy new clothes or phones.

We don't think about the waste or who gets hurt making them, we just what we want next." So Alex talking there about the fact that there's a cost to these things being produced, the minerals taken from the earth, the people working in factories to make things, but most of the time we don't consider that, we just focus on the product and how it will make us feel.

Laura says, "I'm always scrolling but it leaves me feeling tired and empty.

There's no time to think or slow down, just this constant feeling that I need more." What do you think about what Alex and Laura are saying? Do you agree with what they're saying? Do you think they've made some good points but actually you have a disagreement with some of what they're saying? Why do you think that? Again you might want to pause the video and ponder that yourselves or talk to someone else about these ideas of throwaway culture.

Really great to see you engaging with this and thinking about these big ideas.

So what is the alternative then? Well, Francis talks about this idea of ecological conversion, and by that he means a change of heart and lifestyle and it starts from a very different way of seeing the world.

So instead of seeing the world as a resource to be used as we wish to make us individually better and happier and wealthier, it's about seeing the Earth as a sacred gift from God and human beings as caretakers of this world.

And Francis talks about ways in which we can do that.

So one of the ways he talks about is simplicity.

We could buy, use and waste less stuff.

We could be more reflective.

We could try and slow down in our daily lives, try and be more present to the humans in our lives, our families and our friends and make time for what matters.

So rather than losing time and having time stolen by devices and things, thinking about what's really important, spending quality time with a friend or just going for a calm walk and spending some time in nature.

And he talks about the idea of solidarity, not seeing ourselves as individual human beings on Earth with our own life goals, the only thing we need to focus on, but thinking ourselves as a common human people and trying to think about the things that we could do to help us better as human beings and how we can live better together.

Why do you think that Francis talks about this idea of a conversion? We often talk about conversion in religious terms, in terms of changing from one religion to another, but here he talks about an ecological conversion, a change of heart towards the Earth.

I wonder what you think of that idea.

Do you think that's an interesting idea? Do you agree with it? Do you disagree with it? Alex, Laura and Aisha have been thinking about this idea of ecological conversion and they reflect on what they respond.

Alex says, "I think it means a desire and a choice to live more simply by asking, do I really need this, before buying something?" Laura says, "Maybe intentionally turning things off like our phones.

That might help us think more clearly and be less distracted." Aisha says, "I think it's realising our choices affect the planet and people who make our stuff.

Just because something's cheap, it doesn't mean it doesn't cost someone somewhere." Really interesting thoughts from Alex, Laura and Aisha.

I wonder what you think about what they say.

Does any of that resonate with you? Do you agree or disagree with some of the things they're saying? Okay, so we've been thinking about this idea of Laudato si', and we've been thinking about two big ideas that Pope Francis talked about in that: the idea of a throwaway culture and the need for an ecological conversion.

He characterised throwaway culture as having certain attitudes, and then he put forward in terms of ecological conversion, some different values or ideas that humans could have instead.

I've listed them for you here: distraction, solidarity, reflection, overconsumption, simplicity, individualism.

What I'd like you to do is see if you can match the word to either throwaway culture or ecological conversion.

Which of those makes most sense? Brilliant.

You've done some amazing thinking there.

So you might have linked ideas like overconsumption, distraction and individualism to throwaway culture.

In terms of ecological conversion, you might have thought of ideas such as simplicity, reflection and solidarity.

Brilliant work if you've managed to sort those values and ideas into those two categories.

The second thing that I'd like you to do is this.

I'd like you to write a description explaining the shift from what needs to change to what's being encouraged to accompany the diagram.

I'd like you to show how we could do this.

How can we go from overconsumption to simplicity? How can we go from distraction to reflection, from individualism to solidarity? I've had a go at the first one for you.

So just want you to look at the next two.

So you might say something like, Laudato si' encourages us to move away from buying and wasting too much.

Instead, simplicity invites us to live with less, reducing harm to the planet and focusing on what truly matters.

Have a go at the next two, b and c.

What does Laudato si' mean when it talks about distraction? What are the problems of that? And what might reflection mean and how might that be different? And finally, what did Pope Francis and Laudato si' talk about as the problem of individualism and how might solidarity offer a different way of seeing the world? Really looking forward to seeing how you've done this.

You might want to go back and read some of those earlier slides to help you.

Fantastic work, everybody.

So in terms of distraction, you might have talked about the idea that Laudato si' reminds us that modern life often overwhelms us with noise and speed, whereas reflection is about slowing down, paying attention to the world around us and making space to care for others and creation, forming better human relationships.

Individualism, Laudato si' warns against putting the self first and ignoring others' needs and thinking just about what you can gain from the world.

Solidarity is about being connected with everybody and standing with everybody.

And particularly, you might have drawn out the idea that Francis talked about the poorest being most at risk.

If you manage to say some things like that, that's brilliant and amazing work.

Thank you.

So the second part of this lesson is how can people care for our common home? So Pope Francis talked about this idea of being a caretaker or steward of our common home.

And stewardship means taking care of the Earth because it's a precious gift from God.

And this idea of stewards can take different forms. So it might be acting as a responsible caretaker, not owner.

So not seeing the world as us humans being in charge, but actually, humans, we look after the world on behalf of God.

It's also about caring for the Earth by caring for people.

And as we said earlier in this lesson, Pope Francis was especially concerned about the poorest people because he felt that they would be the most impacted by climate change.

It's also about respecting nature rather than just seeing it as something that can be used and harmed to make our world better.

And finally, it's about seeing this idea of caring for our common home as a moral duty.

This is something that every human being should do because it is the right thing to do, caring for our world.

So these different ways, these different aspects are all ideas of being stewards of our common home.

Let's just check our understanding of what we've said.

A true or false question for you here.

Being a steward of our common home means humans are able to use their power to control and dominate the Earth.

Is that true or false? Excellent.

It's false, isn't it? But why is it false? Because stewardship is about taking care of the Earth as a gift from God, not about controlling and dominating the Earth.

So Laudato si' talks about how we can, as human beings, become stewards through really, really practical everyday things like eating less meat, because meat causes a lot of land use, feeding animals and methane pollution, avoiding wasting food because huge amounts of food on the planet is thrown away every day, even though there are many people in the world living with hunger, simple things like turning off lights and electrical devices when we're not using them, trying to avoid the car, walking, cycling, using public transport, reducing plastic use, recycling, and in supporting things like fair trade and ethically made products, which pay the people who make them a decent salary rather than buying stuff where people may have been exploited or are working in really poor and difficult conditions.

I wonder what examples you can think of where people could be better stewards of our common home on the Earth and what really practical things we might do as humans to make the world a better place.

I wonder which of these you think is not a practical action to care for our common home, thinking about some of the things that Francis was saying.

a, eat less meat and avoid wasting food.

b, turn off lights and electrical devices when not in use.

c, drive or get a bus for every short trip instead of walking or cycling.

d, support fair trade and buy ethically made products.

Which of those would not help us care for our common home in the way that Francis talks about? Excellent, c.

Laudato si' talks about the idea of trying to use more sustainable forms, such as walking or cycling, rather than driving.

Let's look at a case study of somewhere which is trying to put some of these really big ideas of Francis into practise in everyday life.

Salford is part of Greater Manchester, and there there is somewhere called the Laudato si' Centre.

It welcomes people from all walks of life, Christian, non-Christian, to learn how to care for the Earth.

And it's about supporting well-being and spirituality.

It's founded on the hope that everyone can make a difference, which, as we said, was a key message of Laudato si'.

This is not just about Christians or Catholics, but this is about everyone in the world.

It's looking at practical ways to live more sustainably.

So it's not about doing philosophy or theology, but about saying, what can we as human beings in the UK do to make a difference? It offers a peaceful space, building on that idea of reflection, for people to become more aware and try and renew themselves spiritually.

And it's open to schools, parishes, community groups and individuals of faith and no faith who want to learn how to take action and care for the Earth as our common home in the language of Laudato si'.

This is Grace, and she's a young Catholic, and she's been to the Laudato si' Centre in Salford.

She says, "Visiting the Laudato si' Centre with my school helped me understand the heart of Laudato si', caring for creation really matters.

Now I try to use less single use plastic and recycle.

I switch off lights and devices when I don't need them.

I've also started going meat free four days a week to help reduce my carbon footprint and show care for the poor.

I've realised that even small actions can help.

I also try to spend more time outdoors, appreciating nature and seeing it as a gift we're called to look after.

So you could see that that visit to the centre made a really big difference to Grace, and as a result of what she's learnt, she's now trying to change her lifestyle and live more a lifestyle like Pope Francis talked about in Laudato si'.

So let's think about what we've learned so far today.

I put again the quote from Grace here, and I'd like you to think about what she's done.

Can you list the different things she's chosen to do as a result of her visit to Laudato si'? And why might they be better? How do the things she's chosen to do mean that she will have a positive impact on the Earth? Looking forward to see what you come up with.

And then the next things I'd like you to do is link those things to one of the strands of the ecological conversion.

So once you've got your list of the different actions that she's taking, I'd like you to think which part of ecological conversion does that show? Is this about simplicity, trying to buy, use and waste less? Is this action about reflection, trying to slow down, being present and making time? Or is this action about solidarity, thinking of others in the world and the common good? And you might think that they might link to more than one, and that's absolutely fine as well.

So think about this, listing the actions and then applying them to each of these strands of ecological conversion.

Really looking forward to seeing what you come up with here.

So you might have started to think about some of the things she's done.

She talked about using less single use plastic and recycling, and that's great because it helps reduce pollution and waste, and that protects wildlife and natural habitats from harm.

You might have linked this idea to the idea of simplicity, buying and using less.

Grace also talked about the need that she was going to switch off lights and devices when she wasn't in use, and that's great because it saves energy and reduces carbon emissions, which helps combat climate change.

Again, you might have linked that to the idea of simplicity.

She also talked about going meat-free four days a week, and that's great because that will lower her carbon footprint, because, as we said, meat really contributes to climate change.

But it also shows care for the poor because climate change affects poor people the most.

So you may have linked this idea to solidarity.

Finally, Grace talked about spending more time outdoors and appreciating nature.

And we might have talked about the idea that that might help connect her more, slows her down.

She might see the world as a precious gift.

And you might have linked this to the idea of reflection.

So you may have made different links to the different ideas of ecological conversion.

That's absolutely fine.

What I really wanted you to do here was just think about how her actions can link to these ideas in the encyclical and help improve her life.

Fantastic if you managed to make some of those links.

So let's sum up what we've been doing today.

We've been learning all about Pope Francis and the Laudato si' encyclical.

We've learnt that Laudato si' is an encyclical, which is a letter from Pope Francis, it's addressed to everyone, encouraging us to care for our common home.

The letter discusses this idea of integral ecology, the idea that caring for the environment and caring for people, especially the poor, are deeply connected.

It talks about the idea of a need for an ecological conversion for us to be responsible stewards of the Earth.

And Pope Francis is critical of many harmful behaviours found today, which he describes as a throwaway culture.

And finally, we looked at a practical case study of the Laudato si' Centre in Salford and how they try to put some of these principles into action so people can protect our planet.

I really hope you've enjoyed learning with me today.

I wonder what you think about these big ideas of throwaway culture and ecological conversion, and whether any of the ideas in this lesson might help you make a difference in your life or reflect a little bit about what you think you feel about how we should care for this world.

Thank you very much.