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“Care for the Common Home”: Responses to Pope Francis’s Encyclical Letter

Authors:
Claude-Hélène Mayer at UJ
Claude-Hélène Mayer
  • UJ
Wolfgang Michael George at Mittelhessen University of Applied Sciences
Wolfgang Michael George
Elmar Nass at Wilhelm Löhe University for Applied Sciences
Elmar Nass
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Abstract

This article aims to build awareness of the growing global crisis in social, economic and environmental terms from different disciplinary approaches. The authors respond to the message of Pope Francis presented in his Encyclical Letter published in 2015. The article provides a short current overview of the discourse and presents three hypotheses anchored in the disciplines of Psychology, Health and Theology for a deeper discussion of Pope Francis’s viewpoints on the challenges to humankind and how to address them. It thereby contributes to the discourse on health and religion with regard to the Pope’s message to the world community. The article leads to an interdisciplinary conclusion and directions for future research and practice.
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Vol:.(1234567890)
Journal of Religion and Health (2020) 59:416–427
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00957-w
1 3
ORIGINAL PAPER
“Care fortheCommon Home”: Responses toPope Francis’s
Encyclical Letter
Claude‑HélèneMayer1,2 · WolfgangM.George3· ElmarNass4
Published online: 3 December 2019
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract
This article aims to build awareness of the growing global crisis in social, eco‑
nomic and environmental terms from different disciplinary approaches. The authors
respond to the message of Pope Francis presented in his Encyclical Letter published
in 2015. The article provides a short current overview of the discourse and presents
three hypotheses anchored in the disciplines of Psychology, Health and Theology for
a deeper discussion of Pope Francis’s viewpoints on the challenges to humankind
and how to address them. It thereby contributes to the discourse on health and reli‑
gion with regard to the Pope’s message to the world community. The article leads to
an interdisciplinary conclusion and directions for future research and practice.
Keywords Global crisis· Health· Thanatology· Human ecology· Salutogenesis·
Encyclica
* Claude‑Hélène Mayer
claudemayer@gmx.net
Wolfgang M. George
w.george@andramedos‑net.de
Elmar Nass
Elmar.Nass@wlh‑fuerth.de
1 Department ofIndustrial Psychology andPeople Management, University ofJohannesburg,
Johannesburg, SouthAfrica
2 Institut für therapeutische Kommunikation und Sprachgebrauch, Europa Universität Viadrina,
Frankfurt(Oder), Germany
3 TransMIT Project Division forHealth Services Research andConsulting, Jahnstraße 14,
35394Gießen, Germany
4 Department Ethik und Philosophie, Wilhelm Löhe Hochschule, Merkurstraße 41, Südstadtpark,
90763Fürth, Germany
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
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