When the Integral Meets African Ethics: Contextualizing Laudato SI’

Abstract

The concept of the integral speaks to the holistic nature of the globe. It is predicated on the claim that everything/everyone is related, and the destruction of one is the destruction of the whole. As such, it places a moral burden on each part to work towards the preservation and dignity of the whole. This ethics of union is aptly captured in Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home), a papal encyclical of Pope Francis. African moral theory perfectly captures this ethic: I am because we are. What this communal ethic does is constantly maintain the view that humans are interconnected to one another. We interrogate how this communalistic approach of the African is implicated and vindicated in integral ecology and the special place Laudato Si’ holds in the world. The end is to justify both the African and ecclesiastical approaches as decolonial ecology and then see how the uniqueness of both approaches can birth a universal approach. However, to achieve our aim, we employ the method of conversation that comes from the African place. We choose conversation because we believe that Laudato Si’ promotes a ‘theology from the borders’. If our statement is true, then we will best be able to project our argument using a method that comes from the borders but is universally possible in its application.