“Protecting the Whole of Creation:
A Service That the Bishop of Rome Is Called to Carry Out.”
We are invited to reread the Encyclical Laudato Si’ and to allow ourselves to be touched by the spirituality of ecology pervading it so as to transform our spiritual and sacramental life which cannot but take into account all Creation. Because the Holy Spirit is at work in every element in the Universe, it fills the entire cosmos with the Glory and the Energy of God and animates our hearts always to seek the good, the just, and beauty. The Holy Spirit urges us on to take an active and creative part in Creation and to become aware of our co-responsibility in caring for our common home. For this reason, we share with you this reflection on the Encyclical. We know that there have been many things written on this topic. Still, it seemed important for us to share with you how throughout all Pope Francis’ magisterium the theme of ecology is always present and that the Encyclical is but the culmination of his wish.
Francis: protection and harmony
For the past two years, right from the start of his Pontificate, Pope Francis has added his voice, the voice of the Church Universal, to the most recent world discussion. With his efficacious and direct style of speech, he has not hesitated to state: “for the most part, it is human beings who abuse nature, constantly. We have in some sense begun to lord it over nature, sister earth, mother earth. I remember, you have already heard this, what an old farmer once told me: ‘God always forgives, we men and women sometimes forgive, but nature never forgives.’ If you abuse her, she gives it back to you.”
https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/january/documents/papa-francesco_20150115_srilanka-filippine-incontro-giornalisti.html (Conference to the Press on the flight to Manila during his Apostolic Voyage to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, January, 15, 2015)
A global, holistic vision, continuing that of his predecessors has been obvious from the very start of his magisterium. Human beings, nature, the environment, Creation, and society are all linked one to the other: “Human and environmental ecology go hand in hand.” https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130605_udienza-generale.html (General Audience, June 5, 2013) When reading his talks, one notes, in particular, that he has an anthropological vision but not an “anthropocentric” one, in the reductive sense of the term. His keyword is “harmony” – more amply, “reconciliation” – and is able to be extended to all creatures. Harmony, in fact, regards all Creation and the relationships between living beings as a whole. It is a gift of God. Pope Francis affirmed this in his General Audience on April 22, 2015, the day on which Earth Day is celebrated: “I urge all to look at the world through the eyes of the Creator: the Earth is an environment to protect and a garden to cultivate. May the relationship between man and nature not be driven by greed, to manipulate and exploit, but may the divine harmony between beings and creation be conserved in the logic of respect and care, so as to be placed at the service of brothers and sisters, of future generations as well.” (https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/audiences/2015/documents/papa-francesco_20150422_udienza-generale.html)
This vast vision, which is attentive to “relationships” and not only to man, understood as “center”, questions what impact economic progress, new technologies, and the financial systems have on human begins and on the environment. During the Audience of June 5, 2013, he continued: “And the peril is grave, because the cause of the problem is not superficial but deeply rooted. It is not merely a question of economics but of ethics and anthropology. The Church has frequently stressed this; and many are saying: yes, it is right, it is true... but the system continues unchanged since what dominates are the dynamics of an economy and a finance that are lacking in ethics. It is no longer man who commands, but money, money, cash commands. And God our Father gave us the task of protecting the earth — not for money, but for ourselves: for men and women. We have this task! Nevertheless, men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: it is the ‘culture of waste.’”
One key concept of Pope Francis, which he has repeated a number of times since the Mass of his inauguration in the Petrine ministry, is that of the “custody” of the earth, taking as its reference point God’s creative “Fiat!” on one side and St. Francis of Assisi’s praise of Creation on the other. It was precisely with these words that the Holy Father had, in fact, launched his Pontificate on March 19, 2013: “The vocation of being a ‘protector’, however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live.” From these words stems the invitation: “let us be ‘protectors’ of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world!” The “dominion” over the Earth that God guarantees to man is not that of being its master, for God alone is the Lord of Heaven ad of Earth, but, rather, man is to be its guardian, its protector, and administrator. Good administrators treat nature with a respect that generates a lifestyle that is simple and modest and which will contribute to preserve the environment for future generations.
Pope Francis repeated these first words of his Pontificate in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium of November 24, 2013: “We human beings are not only the beneficiaries but also the stewards of other creatures. Thanks to our bodies, God has joined us so closely to the world around us that we can feel the desertification of the soil almost as a physical ailment, and the extinction of a species as a painful disfigurement. Let us not leave in our wake a swath of destruction and death which will affect our own lives and those of future generations» (no. 215). The condemnation of the System “which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits,” is clear because in it, “whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which become the only rule.” (no. 56) Therefore, “this is the first response to the first Creation: care for Creation, make it grow.” (Homily, at Casa Santa Marta, February 9, 2015).
Adding his voice to those of his predecessors – and in the specific form of an Encyclical – Pope Francis raises both questions and arguments. We trust that many, in welcoming the challenge in terms of faith and in choosing to act, will be profoundly grateful for the fact that a world leader has had the courage to summon everyone to a future that is more sustainable and inclusive. Moreover, Francis’ call is not at all weak but is incisive, just as it was on the occasion of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change on November 27, 2014: “The time to find global solutions is running out. We can find appropriate solutions only if we act together and in agreement. There is therefore a clear, definitive and urgent ethical imperative to act.”
(https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/pont-messages/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20141127_messaggio-lima-cop20.html)
The Church is not a “Green” NGO
Some debate if the Church, in general, and if the Holy Father, in particular, ought to enter into the matter of the debate. Those who are most contrary to certain scientific discoveries concerning climate change also seem to be those most in favor of the continuous use of fossil fuels. One could argue that the Pope has more important things to concern himself with than that of the environment. His task as Shepherd ought to be – they say – the salvation of souls. Others might think that the Faith is an optional add-on to the commitment to ecology. This is something that has been denied by all the recent Pontiffs: it would be as if to say that the foundation is an optional add-on for a building. In fact, it is through our Faith that we know we are “creatures” and not accidental or fortuitous by-products of blind forces or casual coincidences.
This concern for the environment, however, does not transform the Church into a “Green” NGO. On the contrary, we must repeat with Vatican Council II that in our day humanity “often raises anxious questions about the current trend of the world, about the place and role of man in the universe, about the meaning of its individual and collective strivings, and about the ultimate destiny of reality and of humanity.” (Gaudium et Spes, no. 3). For this reason, we must begin a “conversation about these various problems. The council brings to mankind light kindled from the Gospel, and puts at its disposal those saving resources which the Church herself, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, receives from her Founder. For the human person deserves to be preserved; human society deserves to be renewed.” (ibid)
This concern for human and environmental ecology demonstrates a fundamental dimension of our Faith as it is lived today for the salvation of man and for the construction of our life in society. It is, therefore, delineated as a part of the Social Justice Doctrines of the Church. On account of this, the moment has come to have an entire Encyclical Letter on this topic and not just some paragraphs about it. Today we know much about the environment. Much research has been carried out. Even if we do not agree with some of the theories, the pollution in rivers and in lakes, the use of monoculture which destroys the land and our means of subsistence, and the death of so many species caused by human progress are all evident realities which require the specific attention of the Faithful. All these analyses must be viewed by the believer with a Christian perspective. In reality, after the Message of 1990 of St. John Paul II, the question is no longer if Catholics must confront the ecological problem with a faith perspective; the true question that must be posed to all societies, including Christian Communities, concerns how it ought to be confronted.
Science has done its best by gathering as much data as possible, by beginning collaboration among many specialized experts, by placing in common their reciprocal skills, by arriving at a unanimous opinion, and by giving advice. The questions are many. Is climate change caused by humans? Or is it one of the cyclic processes of nature? Or is it perhaps caused by both? No matter what the cause, though, what can be done about it? The fact that our planet is heating up in incontestable. Indeed, the concluding report from the United Nations’ inter-governmental group of experts on climate change (IPCC) of November 2014 was very grave. Thomas Stocker, the co-president of Workgroup I of the IPCC made this comment: “Our analysis recognizes that the atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have reached a level without precedent in the last 800,000 years.” This is the unanimous opinion of over 800 scientists of the IPCC and it represents an enormous challenge for us. Now it falls to us to draw our conclusions and to act, even if most of us are not scientists. http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_SPM_FINAL.pdf
In preparing his Encyclical, Pope Francis faces the challenge, adequately acknowledging the scientific viewpoint on climate change, its causes, its consequences, and the necessary remedies. The leader of the main religion of the world will avail himself of the Faith, of the teaching of the Church, and of the best information and the best advice at his disposal, demonstrating that it is our task to gather and to weigh the information, and then to make a judgment, to make decisions, and to act. This is his objective: not only to make speculations or to espouse one theory or another, but to invite all men of goodwill to consider well their responsibilities to the future generations and to act accordingly. Believers have one extra reason to be good administrators of the gift of Creation because they know that it is a gift from God. It is not necessary that we be experts on the climate for us to fulfill our personal responsibilities concerning the environment as believers who live on this Earth. Debate will then be welcome.
We are not speaking of making a campaign to save some rare animal or plant species – something which, per se, is important – but of assuring that hundreds of millions of people have clean drinking water and clear air to breathe. This is a grave moral responsibility which we cannot ignore or shrink from. To do nothing would be a sin of omission. It is up to us to begin the change; it is up to us as Christian and Salesian Associations to put our heads together to seek the best solutions because, as Pope Francis says: “The time to find global solutions is running out. We can find appropriate solutions only if we act together and in agreement. There is therefore a clear, definitive and urgent ethical imperative to act.” Therefore, it is urgent for us to begin a process of continuous conversion and of authentic humanization. This requires on our part, on a personal level. the attitudes of humility and of mercy with everyone else and with the entire universe.
WE ASK OURSELVES:
Where do we stand as regards these ecological challenges?
What attitudes can we reinforce on a personal level so as to continue the process of ecological conversion?
What line of action can we undertake as an Association so as to continue the process of formation to ecological citizenship?
