Greening the Church

In many of his writings and speeches Pope Benedict, like many other Church leaders, sees care for the environment as a moral challenge to all people. While not explicitly addressed in depth, because at the time it was not high on the agenda of most people, we can see the roots of his concern in Vatican II.

When the Council met (1962-65) there were already glimmerings of concern about the environment and the impact of human beings on nature—exploitation of land and water resources were already showing dangerous signs of having a long term negative effect.

Pollution from factories was already being felt in some areas, but at this stage there was little knowledge or insight into the phenomenon we now know as global warming. Scientists were already experimenting with new fertilisers and seeds to create a “green revolution” that they hoped would solve world food shortages. They were yet to see the serious adverse effects of some of their experiments.

As the Council drew to a close, the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, was promulgated. Focusing on the Church ad extra—to humanity, to the world—it affirmed the dignity of the human person as the image of God called to cooperate in the struggle to share in “earthly activity in such a way as to integrate human, domestic, professional, scientific and technical enterprises with religious values” (43).

Speaking on the importance of economic, social, cultural and political rights, it concluded: “It is the Father’s will that we should recognise Christ our brother in the persons of all and love them with an effective love, in word and in deed, thus bearing witness to the truth” (93).

Within a few years this call to work together for human improvement came to be seen as inseparable from concern for the planet.

Noting the dumping of waste materials in the atmosphere and sea, the post-Vatican II 1971 Synod of Bishops warned that “irreparable damage would be done to the essential elements of life on earth” (Justice in the World, 1).

The outpouring of concern for justice, a fruit of Vatican II, took a new direction. While the Council did not explicitly talk about ecology it was the logical extension of the call to cooperation of Vatican II and the concerns raised by the 1971 Synod: humans, inseparable from the rest of the planet, exist in an increasingly uneasy balance with the natural world. Indirectly what we do to the planet we do to ourselves, as much as what we do to our brothers and sisters defines, dignifies or dishonours ourselves.

In a Joint Declaration on Environmental Ethics, Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Bartholomew I stated: “In our own time we are witnessing a growth of an ecological awareness which needs to be encouraged, so that it will lead to practical programmes and initiatives. An awareness of the relationship between God and humankind brings a fuller sense of the importance of the relationship between human beings and the natural environment, which is God’s creation and which God entrusted to us to guard with wisdom and love (cf Gen 1:28).”

With this declaration, the pope and patriarch buried forever the idea that environmental concern was anything other than at the heart of the Gospel and the universal call to holiness and justice that Vatican II proclaimed 40 years before.

Noting this, we must realise that environmental stewardship challenges us with many tough choices about our lifestyles and even our positions as human beings on the planet.

We now know that resources on earth are far less renewable or abundant than we imagined. Water is not an easily renewable resource, nor is it unlimited. The pursuit of human survival has led to the extinction of thousands of animal and plant species, many of them essential to the survival of other species—and the numbers of extinctions increase annually. Uncontrolled human population growth has an effect on this: more people, less food, more conflict over resources is a lethal formulation of this interconnected problem.

This leaves us with uneasy questions. Though a simpler lifestyle might slow down the crisis, can it save us in time?  Despite the insights of all religions, which agree substantially on values of compassion and sharing, will human beings really put aside self-interest?

The alternative seems to be a global social engineering project that would entail controversial actions—radically reducing meat production, dietary controls, and even strict population control. The latter in particular would be anathema to the Catholic Church. All would limit personal freedoms.

But does commitment to the environment, if only based on human self-interest in survival, demand this?