time | How can one not be moved by the criticism of our “culture of waste”
or the emphasis on “the common good” and “the common destination of
goods”? And what of the vital importance attributed to the global
problem of clean water, which we have underlined for over two decades as
we assembled scientists, politicians and activists to explore the
challenges of the Mediterranean Sea (1995), the Black Sea (1997), the
Danube River (1999), the Adriatic Sea (2002), the Baltic Sea (2003), the
Amazon River (2006), the Arctic Sea (2007) and the Mississippi River
(2009)? Water is arguably the most divine symbol in the world’s
religions and, at the same time, the most divisive element of our
planet’s resources.
In the final analysis, however, any dissent over land or water
inevitably results in what the Pope’s statement calls “a decline in the
quality of human life and a breakdown of society.” How could it possibly
be otherwise? After all, concern for the natural environment is
directly related to concern for issues of social justice, and
particularly of world hunger. A church that neglects to pray for the
natural environment is a church that refuses to offer food and drink to a
suffering humanity. At the same time, a society that ignores the
mandate to care for all human beings is a society that mistreats the
very creation of God.
Therefore, the Pope’s diagnosis is on the mark: “We are not faced
with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but
rather one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.”
Indeed, as he continues to advance, we require “an integrated approach
to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the underprivileged, and at
the same time protecting nature.” It is also no surprise, then, that the
Pope is concerned about and committed to issues like employment and
housing.
Invoking the inspiring words of Scripture and the classics of
Christian spirituality of East and West (particularly such saints as
Basil the Great and Francis of Assisi), while at the same time evoking
the precious works of Roman Catholic conferences of bishops throughout
the world (especially in regions where the plunder of the earth is
identified with the plight of the poor), Pope Francis proposes new
paradigms and new policies in contrast to those of “determinism,”
“disregard” and “domination.”
In 1997, we humbly submitted that harming God’s creation was
tantamount to sin. We are especially grateful to Pope Francis for
recognizing our insistence on the need to broaden our narrow and
individualistic concept of sin; and we welcome his stress on “ecological
conversion” and “reconciliation with creation.” Moreover, we applaud
the priority that the papal encyclical places on “the celebration of
rest.” The virtue of contemplation or silence reflects the quality of
waiting and depending on God’s grace; and by the same token, the
discipline of fasting or frugality reveals the power of not-wanting or
wanting less. Both qualities are critical in a culture that stresses the
need to hurry, the preeminence of individual “wants” over global
“needs.”
In the third year of our brother Pope Francis’s blessed ministry, we
count it as a true blessing that we are able to share a common concern
and a common vision for God’s creation. As we stated in our joint
declaration during our pilgrimage to Jerusalem last year:
“It is our profound conviction that the future of the human family
depends also on how we safeguard – both prudently and compassionately,
with justice and fairness – the gift of creation that our Creator has
entrusted to us … Together, we pledge our commitment to raising
awareness about the stewardship of creation; we appeal to all people of
goodwill to consider ways of living less wastefully and more frugally,
manifesting less greed and more generosity for the protection of God’s
world and the benefit of His people.
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