‘Today’s newspaper wraps tomorrow’s fish.’ This is not just a fine historical example of environmental protection through recycling, but a challenging contemporary image. In an era of 24-hour rolling news, it can be difficult for any story, however powerful, to retain public interest for more than a day or two. One result is that there is often a gap between an immediate reaction to whatever is happening and a more detached reflective response coming years or decades later. In May 2015 the publication of Laudato si’, the second encyclical of Pope Francis and the first by any pope to concentrate principally on environmental concerns, undoubtedly made the news headlines. Television and radio, newspapers and journals, and the various social media were full of comments and analyses, positive and negative. Yet the issues that the encyclical was exploring will take many years to address fully. So, in the interim, what can we make of the Pope’s words now, five months after they were sent out, not just to Roman Catholics or Christians but to the whole world?
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