Scientists discuss Pope Francis' encyclical

Friday, Aug. 07, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Pope Francis’ concern about the environment, expressed in the encyclical “Laudato Si’”, found plenty of agreement with a four-person panel during the July 29 International Electrical and Electronics Engineering Conference held in Salt Lake City.

“This pope is so provocative that it’s a good way to provoke scientists and engineers to talk about things in public,” said Daniel Donahoe, the conference chairman, explaining why he chose as the panel’s topic “Laudato Si’”, which was released in  May.

The four panelists were Dr. Juliana Boerio-Goates, parish coordinator at Saint Francis of Assisi and chemistry professor emerita of Brigham Young University; Andrew Merryweather, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Utah; Christopher Perry, electrical engineer and past chair of IEEE Utah; and Ramana Reddy, professor of computer science at West Virginia University State College. 

During the discussion, Donahoe presented the panel members with a variety of paragraphs from “Laudato Si’” and asked them to address the issues raised.

None of the panelists disagreed with the introduction to Pope Francis’ message that “the urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development,” a theme that runs throughout the document.

The encyclical states a fundamental law that governs all natural systems, that “if we take out more than what we put back, this is not going to be sustainable,” Reddy said, pointing out that many others from a variety of backgrounds have recognized the need to respect and preserve the earth and the environment.

Perry agreed that other traditions echo many statements in the pope’s message, such as treating the earth as a family member, “respect it, not abuse it and not put off cleaning things until later on.” He pointed out that Utah is still dealing with the effects, such as leaching, of mining efforts 100 years ago. “That cost was put off for future generations for immediate profit, and don’t we see the same correlation today, where somebody’s going to have to clean up the air, and it probably will be up to future generations.”

Similarly, the panelists all said that while changes in technology can be beneficial, care must be taken so that they’re not detrimental. Merryweather used the example of asbestos, the full effects of which weren’t understood until years after it was in common use.

“We might want to be careful about how fast we accelerate some of these technologies before we really do understand what their effects will be on humanity,” he said.

Boerio-Goates pointed out that throughout the encyclical Pope Francis emphasizes that people must be better stewards of the earth so that it can be handed on to future generations, and that those people who have more material possessions must care for those who have fewer.

“We have a responsibility to look beyond our own needs and embrace the idea of the common good,” she said.

The IEEE Sustainability Technology Conference is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity, with more than 426,000 members in more than 160 countries. 

The Salt Lake City event was the organization’s third annual conference.