THE CHURCH AS A SACRAMENTAL COMMUNITY IN THE ANTHROPOCENE: PERSPECTIVES FROM THE SOCIAL ENCYCLICALS

Abstract

The publication of Laudato Si in 2015 and Fratelli Tutti in 2020 is Pope Francis’ significant contribution to the Catholic Social Encyclicals. These texts present a critical assessment of modern capitalism: it condemns the mistreatment of our common home by capitalistic consumerism and the technocratic exploitation of human labor and the natural world. It laments the emergence of new global divisions which discriminate between citizens of the developed and developing worlds. In this essay, I shall argue that Pope Francis’ contribution to the growing body of Catholic social encyclicals allows Christians to engage in conversations about the Anthropocene and discern our collective future as we face an impending climate catastrophe. His social encyclicals propose reimagining the church as a “sacramental community” that sees human society and nature as a pilgrimage toward its creator. Following Leonardo Boff’s method for a theology of liberation, Pope Francis’ texts point our attention to the concrete conditions of our time, marked by frequent and intensified natural disasters which destroy communities and livelihoods, destructive models of economic development, and intensified social antagonism at local and international levels. The conversation on the Anthropocene exposes the underlying ideological factors that sustain destructive economic models and activities. The critical nature of Pope Francis’ social encyclicals implies that Christian educators have a broader role in inviting everyone to a sustained collective critique of our predicament.