In the opening sentence of the Second
Vatican Council’s Gaudium et Spes (Pope
Paul VI, 1965), the Church recognizes
the “joys and the hopes, the griefs and the
anxieties” of people in the world. In recent
times the Church has been preoccupied by
human relationships with the world around
us – or what is referred to as ‘nature’. These
relationships have unlocked many comforts
and much ease; nevertheless, they now also
pose a great threat to our very existence.
The Church lauds the achievement of
human intelligence in fields such as
medicine, technology, telecommunication,
transportation and other scientific
discoveries; however, it warns against the
uncontrolled exploitation of nature.
The Church’s intuitions concerning
humanity’s relationships with nature are
amply presented and explicated in the
social thought of the Church, especially in
the recent encyclical of Pope Francis (2015),
Laudato Si’. The Pope makes the critical
assertion that, should nothing be done
to repair the damages we are causing to
nature, then our world will no longer be able
to sustain the current pace of development.
In his encyclical, Pope Francis discusses
the damage that human activity has caused
to the environment: pollution, climate
change, degradation of land and water, and
the loss of biodiversity.
The international community admits that
we are facing an ecological crisis. Scientists
have documented unprecedented increases
in global temperatures, the melting of ice
caps, toxic rains, wildfires and droughts.
Pope Francis does not exonerate Christians
from this crisis. They have misinterpreted
an important portion of their mandate given
by God. In effect, they have over-exploited
nature, subjecting it to their inordinate
whims and caprices. In Laudato Si’, Pope
Francis explains that human beings are
rather stewards and caretakers of creation
(§§116, 236). The Catholic Church teaches
that, although the Earth and all it contains
belongs to God, nature is entrusted to
human beings, and hence human beings
must be responsible to and for nature.
The Church teaches that though the final
destination of Christians is heaven, they
have the responsibility of developing the
Earth in a responsible manner.
The role of Christians in solving the
present ecological crisis is to assume their
responsibility for creation, as stewards
and caretakers. Pope Francis teaches that
we are not excluded from nature. The
ways in which we relate to nature will
always return to us for better or for worse.
In the words of the Pope: “Nature cannot
be regarded as something separate from
ourselves or as a mere setting in which we
live. We are part of nature, included in it and
thus in constant interaction with it” (§139).
Nature is not only for the physical benefit of
human beings; it is also clear from the Bible
that Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ used
nature – sea, fishes, crops, plants, birds
and wind – to teach his gospel.
Many of the spiritual pillars of
Christianity contemplated nature in order
to communicate with God. Prominent
among them was St Francis of Assisi. In a
simple but profound manner, St Francis
anticipated the current environmental
crisis and prescribed an antidote: the
concept of the universal family – being
together with nature. For example,
through his popular song, ‘The Canticle of
Creatures’, St Francis taught us to relate to
all creatures as brothers and sisters. One
may ask, how then can we cut down a sister
tree or kill a brother cow? The Franciscan
answer is that we must take care of all
creation with affection, and use it only to
meet genuine needs. For the Franciscan, a
house or city without parks and gardens – a
world without clean streams and rivers, wild
animals and birds – is an impoverishment of
human life. Such a dwelling place lacks the
joy and beauty that nature brings to our lives.
There are people who think human
population growth is one of the major
contributors to the ecological crisis, and
therefore they prescribe birth control,
especially for poorer countries. The Church
does not condone irresponsible birth, such
as birth outside wedlock, but does hold that
“demographic growth is fully compatible
with an integral and shared development”
(§50). Pope Francis teaches that, instead of
blaming population growth for the ecological
crisis, we must blame extreme consumerism,
greed and the present ‘throw away’ culture.
Laudato Si’ has given birth to initiatives
like the Global Catholic Climate Movement
(www.catholicclimatemovement.global)
and the ‘Season of Creation’ within the
Catholic Church (www.seasonofcreation.org).
As an encyclical addressed to the global
human family, Laudato Si’ has received
great attention from Catholics and non-
Catholics alike. It affirms the widely accepted
notion that human beings are capable of a
sustainable development that meets their
present needs without compromising
the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs. But it also adds a crucial
dimension of spirituality and ethics to that
notion, and to the agreements enshrined in
important UN documents (such as the Earth
Charter, Our Common Future and Agenda
2030). In particular, it complements the
Paris Agreement, which was produced in the
same year as the publication of Laudato Si’,
and which calls on all nations “to undertake
ambitious efforts to combat climate change”
(https://is.gd/K1Entq).
References
Pope Paul VI (1965) Pastoral Constitution of the Church in
the Modern World: Gaudium et spes. Holy See, Vatican
City State. Available at https://is.gd/iVRwJg (accessed
January 2019).
Pope Francis (2015) Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’: On care for
our common home. Holy See, Vatican City State. Available
at https://is.gd/tqn0lW (accessed January 2019).
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Friar Joseph Kwame Blay, OFM, is the General Delegate for Justice, Peace, and Integrity for the Order
of Friars Minor Conventual. He is a Ghanaian and currently resides in Rome.
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