LAUDATO SI’ DISCERNMENT QUESTIONS FOR POLITICAL LEADERS
The following discernment questions, guided by the teachings of Pope Francis in Laudato Si’, are offered to help political leaders discern how the Holy Spirit may be asking them to approach or move on a particular policy decision. These questions can be thought of as a prayer in themselves, for they are a way of inviting God into a process which we may often forget is sacred.
1.Does the policy promote and serve the common good?
2. Does the policy help create a society that is more equitable, just and peaceful?
3. If the policy is passed, what impacts will it have on the Earth that God entrusted to our care?
4. Does the policy reflect civic and social love? Are my decisions being made from a place of love, compassion, and care or fear, greed, and pride?
5. Is the policy more concerned with short-term economic gains, easy solutions, and/or attempts to grasp at power of long-term, integral development and the cultivation of a better world for future generations?
6. Whose voices are being prioritized? Is this plan “drawn up by the few for the few?” Or has it been crafted for and with the most vulnerable and directly impacted?
7. What impact will the policy have on indigenous communities and their cultural traditions? Have their voices been included and truly heard?
8. Are we being honest about the economic, social, and environmental cost of the policy and who will bear them? What land and ecosystems will be altered? Who lives there? What plants, animals, and humans depend on these ecosystems to survive?
- Does it have any cultural or religious significance to peoples that I am ignoring?
- How will the policy impact the quality of air that people breathe? The cleanliness of water? The quality and accessibility of healthy foods?
- How will the policy impact people outside of our country? Are we forcing others to bear the burdens of our irresponsibility and desire for more?
9. What impact will the policy have on jobs and the labor market? Am I upholding the dignity of work and the rights of all workers?
10. Am I promoting and protecting life at all stages and in all forms?
“True statecraft is manifest when, in difficult times, we uphold high principles and think of the long-term common good."
-Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ # 178
Created by the National Religious Partnership for the Environment