Laudato Si’ (LS) is Pope Francis’s appeal to 1) hear the intimate relationship between the poor and the fragility of the planet, 2) see the interconnectedness of all life, 3) confess the consequences of abusing creation and 4) reach toward new habits that value and protect our shared home. How can the written words of this encyclical reach people who are becoming more concerned with the virtual worlds on their screens and less concerned with the world around them? One answer emerges by exploring how video games allow players to engage ecological ethics through more impressionable avenues than reading and pondering. One of the most influential and critically-acclaimed video games of all time, Final Fantasy VII (FFVII), casts players into an eco-ethical digital drama that echoes the encyclical’s theological themes.
In light of its upcoming remake for a new generation of gamers, this paper offers a timely consideration of how the original FFVII role-plays LS’s eco-ethic in cognitive, social, emotional, and motivational dimensions. The first section connects the gamer’s concern for a virtual world to the virtuous concern for the created world; it examines empirical evidence that shows how gaming can enhance a person’s cognitive processes, social capacity, emotional health, and motivational sensibility. The second section explains how LS’s contemplative eco-ethic addresses intellectual, relational, soul, and environmental pollution in the created world. The third section considers how FFVII’s immersive game experiences mirror LS’s eco-ethic. This paper concludes that FFVII brings the theological themes of LS into the lived experience of a modern generation who values video gaming as well as reading and pondering.
About the presenterGreg Jones
Greg teaches in the Theology Department at Duquesne University. His dissertation examines how a play theology of religions navigates the dialogical problems of the interreligious encounter. He published a related article in “Religions” journal, and contributed a chapter to “The World of Final Fantasy VII.” He holds a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Duquesne University, an M.A. in Theology from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, and 15+ years of experience in Broadcasting/Digital Communications and teaching Sunday School.