Care For God’s Creation And The Social Teaching Of The Church
Long known as the Church’s “best kept secret”, Catholic Social Teaching (CST), with its concern for the poor, families and communities remains largely unknown by many in the Church. Even less known is the recent emergence of concern for God’s creation within that body of Church teaching.
CST is strong in its call to Christians. As Pope John Paul II stated in his 1990 World Day of Peace Message, “The ecological crisis is a moral issue, the responsibility of everyone – care for the environment is not an option” (#3 and #10).
Scripture is the starting point for the Church’s teaching on the environment. It is based on the recognition that all creation belongs to God: “The Earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it” (Psalm 24: v.1). The creation story in Genesis reminds humans that they have a responsibility to care for the rest of creation of which they are but a part. We read in Scripture that God saw creation as “good” (Genesis 1-28). Pope John Paul II accents this goodness and beauty of creation which he says “is called to glorify God” (#14).
CST also recognizes the sacramental nature of the universe by reminding Christians that in nature God is revealed to us. In their pastoral statement on the environment, “Renewing the Earth” the U.S. Bishops emphasize this point: “For the very plants and animals, mountains and oceans, which in their loveliness and sublimity lift our minds to God, by their fragility and perishing likewise cry out, “We have not made ourselves” (#6).
This grounds our call to respect creation. As John Paul states: “Respect for life and for the dignity of the human person extends also to the rest of creation”(#16). The Bishops of the Philippines in their 1988 document on the environment state that the environment is “the ultimate pro-life issue” thus linking the Church’s teaching on ecology to its teaching on a “consistent ethic of life”. Joining our care for the earth with our concern for the poor, the Canadian bishops remind us in their pastoral letter “You Love all that Exists” that: “We are called as co-creators to join God’s work to repair some of creation’s wounds which have been inflicted due to our ecological sins. We are also called to creative actions of solidarity with those who have less access to the benefits of God’s bountiful creation.” To achieve this they commend a three-fold response; a contemplative response through which we are called to “deepen our capacity to appreciate the wonders of nature as a act of faith and love”; an ascetic response which calls us to adjust our lifestyle choices limiting our consumption for the sake of the earth and its most vulnerable peoples; and a prophetic response which publicly challenges unjust structures. As Pope Benedict states: “The Church has a responsibility toward creation and she must assert this in the public sphere” (Caritas in Veritate #51).
