Why papal encyclicals continue to be relevant

The independent statehood of the Vatican City allows Pope Francis to be a neutral voice of conscience for all of the peoples across the world, writes TP O’Mahony

YES, Pope Francis’s encyclical was a passionate plea to safeguard the future of the planet, but will anyone listen? That was the question put to the Pope’s biographer, Paul Vallely, on the BBC, following the publication of Laudato si, the hard-hitting encyclical on the environment and climate change, in which the Pope said: “The Earth, our common home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth”.

Leading figures on the American right — dismissing the Pope’s anti-fossil fuel message — have rejected the encyclical, which they regard as a challenge to the core beliefs of US conservatives. That challenge will undoubtedly be reiterated in September, when Pope Francis is due to address the US Congress. He is sure to repeat the key question asked in his encyclical: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” But will anyone listen? “The Pope ought to stay with his job, and we’ll stay with ours,” said James Inhofe, a leading climate-change denier in the US Congress and chairman of the Senate environment and public-works committee.