Pope Francis published his encyclical Laudato si' on June 18, 2015. It is the first one specifically dedicated to the environmental issue. It received high praise from religious leaders and scientists and it would be paradoxical if it did not find the same reception among Catholics.
Undoubtedly, this encyclical, which calls for an ecological conversion on the part of all, has been the most widely read and quoted document of the Catholic hierarchy in recent decades, particularly among people who are not usually close to the Church.
The word conversion has deep roots in Christianity. It refers to a radical modification of attitudes and, consequently, of behavior. Conversion implies a change of life, which traditionally denotes the passage from a condition far removed from faith to another in which we live fully, or even the transition from one religious creed to another. Therefore, the expression "ecological conversion" implies a profound transformation in our relationship with the earth, which the encyclical describes as our "common home". Pope Francis applies it in this sense when he calls for a new approach, a new way of valuing and contemplating the earth, coming to consider it as a gift, as our home, which we must take care of for our own benefit, for the benefit of other human beings - present and future - and of other creatures, reviewing our daily behaviors that, perhaps inadvertently, cause serious environmental and social damage. As a result of the ecological conversion of each one of us, we will be able to enlighten a new concept of progress that will make the well-being of present and future generations compatible with its extension to all and the flourishing of other forms of life.
Continuity of the Magisterium
The concept of ecological conversion does not originate with Pope Francis. It was first enunciated by St. John Paul II. Already in his message for the World Day of Peace in 1990, he had indicated, referring to the environmental question, that "true education for responsibility entails an authentic conversion in thinking and behavior". A few years later, at the General Audience of January 17, 2001, he indicated that "it is necessary to encourage and support the 'ecological conversion' which in recent decades has made humanity more sensitive to the catastrophe towards which it was heading", and a couple of years later, in a text addressed to the pastors of the Church, he added: "An ecological conversion is therefore needed, to which the bishops will make their own contribution by teaching the correct relationship between man and nature. This relationship, in the light of the doctrine of God the Father, creator of heaven and earth, is of a ministerial type. In fact, man has been placed at the center of creation as a minister of the Creator" (Pastores Gregis, 2003, n. 90).
In the same vein, Benedict XVI included numerous references in his writings to the environmental issue, indicating the importance of addressing a change of mentality that will have an effective impact on our way of living: "We need an effective change of mentality that will lead us to adopt new lifestyles, whereby the search for truth, beauty and goodness, as well as communion with others for common growth, are the elements that determine the choices of consumption, savings and investments" (Caritas in veritate, 51).
Like his predecessors, Pope Francis considers that ecological conversion implies a change in lifestyles, but he extends this concept to multiple other facets: "It should be a different outlook, a way of thinking, a policy, an educational program, a lifestyle and a spirituality that form a resistance to the advance of the technocratic paradigm" (Laudato si', 194). In short, the Holy Father proposes a complete program, in which the spiritual dimension and solidarity reign in the midst of the material and its use. A program that encompasses many aspects and ultimately justifies the relevance of the term ecological conversion and its prominent role in the encyclical (which covers an entire section: points 216 to 221).
The encyclical does not disavow technology, as some have criticized it, but sees it as a tool for solving problems, not as a solution to them. There is little point in relying on technology if we continue to keep our priorities on personal profit, on the excessive accumulation of resources: in short, if we continue to identify happiness with material possession and refuse to accept the moral root of the evils that afflict us, the "violence of the heart," which is the one that is insistently pointed out. In this framework, technology will only serve to patch up the problem, at best, and at worst to perpetuate the injustices hidden behind an unfocused social and economic model. For this reason, the encyclical encourages all believers to adopt a new attitude towards other human beings and other creations, to recover some basic elements of Catholic theology that have perhaps been diluted in recent centuries, such as the sacred meaning of all creation, the sacramental value of the material, or its intrinsic call to grateful contemplation of the beauty inscribed in God's works.
Any of the great religions of humanity considers that the world is the work of a divine being, a gift, and that the immensity, beauty and perfection of creation is a manifestation of God that puts us in contact with Him. Therefore, any religious tradition approaches nature with great respect and veneration. In the Christian tradition, as in other monotheistic religions, God does not confuse himself with the world, but neither does he separate himself from it. If the world was created by God, it is necessarily good, as the first chapter of Genesis repeatedly indicates: "And God saw that it was good".
Biblical basis
The relationship of the human being with other creatures is reflected in two chapters of Genesis. In the first, corresponding to the Yahwist tradition, it is indicated that the creation of man is in some way a "culmination", since he is the only creature that can properly be defined as "image and likeness" of God. In this line, man is given a predominant role, which leads him to have a certain dominion over the others. However, as many theologians have pointed out, the well-known text: "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that creeps upon the earth" (Gen 1:28), cannot be read in isolation and interpreted as a theological justification of a predatory attitude towards nature, but rather as a call to responsibility: "Ecological conversion leads the believer to develop his creativity and enthusiasm, to solve the dramas of the world [...]. He does not understand his superiority as a motive for personal glory or irresponsible dominion, but as a different capacity, which in turn imposes on him a grave responsibility that springs from his faith" (Laudato si', 220).
Delegated and responsible control
In short, it is not a matter of absolute dominion over creation, but of delegated authority, which implies giving an account to God for the way we have treated his creatures and the rest of human beings. This tradition of environmental stewardship is supported by multiple passages of Sacred Scripture. Already in the second chapter of Genesis it is indicated that God, after creating man, "left him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15), which indicates a kindly relationship with the environment. We must not forget that the name given to the first human being (Adam) has the same Hebrew root as the word soil (Adamah); therefore, he must be considered as part of the same Earth that he inhabits: "We forget that we ourselves are earth" (Laudato si, 2). This same sense has the Latin translation of these terms: homo and humus, which deeply shows our connection with the environment. In short, we are creatures, part of a much larger whole, and we have bonds of biological and theological communion with other created beings.
This is the main theological basis for the care we owe to nature, of which we form part in an integrated whole, even though each of us transcends it spiritually. For this reason, as Pope Francis points out, it is essential to recover the Catholic theology of Creation in order to redirect our relationships with other creatures and change our role from that of exploiters, so often unconscious and involuntary due to the concealment implied by the complexity of the markets that supply us, to that of custodians of Creation, committed to respecting it: "The best way to put the human being in his place, and to put an end to his claim to be an absolute dominator of the earth, is to re-propose the figure of a Father creator and sole owner of the world, because otherwise the human being will always tend to want to impose on reality his own laws and interests"(Laudato si', 75). We cannot continue to consider ourselves the only beings with value before God. This is theologically, metaphysically and biologically absurd.
This is continuously manifested by our body, which absolutely needs a relationship with the rest of the material creation in order to breathe, nourish and live. The world has evolved in enormously diverse ways, many millions of years before human beings existed. All those creatures that existed on the face of the Earth before our arrival have been dear to God, have given Him glory by their very existence, and have played a key role in the diversity and richness of the species we now know. Psalm 136 expresses it with great beauty when it states: "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his love endures forever! [He alone has done wonders, for his love endures forever. He has made the heavens with understanding, for his love endures forever; he has established the earth upon the waters, for his love endures forever. He made the great lights, because his love endures forever; the sun to rule the day, because his love endures forever; the moon and the stars to rule the night, because his love endures forever". Since all creatures are the fruit of God's love, they praise and bless him by their very existence, as the book of the prophet Daniel (3:57-90) and Psalm 148 propose: "Praise the LORD from the heavens [...] Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you stars of light, praise him, you heavens of the heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Praise the LORD from the earth, you monsters of the sea and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind, executor of his word, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and cedars all, wild beasts and all cattle, creeping things and birds that fly"!
To the extent that Christian contemplation has lost sight of this reality, its relationship with the Creator has been impoverished. All creatures have an intrinsic value, they are not mere instruments to satisfy our needs: "But it is not enough to think of the different species only as possible 'resources' to be exploited, forgetting that they have a value in themselves. Every year thousands of plant and animal species disappear, which we will no longer be able to know, which our children will no longer be able to see, lost forever. The vast majority become extinct for reasons that have to do with some human action. Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God with their existence, nor will they be able to communicate their own message to us. We have no right to do so" (Laudato si', 33). It is not surprising, then, that Francis invites us to "become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening to the world into personal suffering, and thus to recognize what contribution each of us can make" (Laudato si', 19).
Trinidad and Incarnation
Along with the theology of creation, Laudato si' also points to other very new theological aspects to support ecological conversion. Just as the Trinity is based on the relationships between the Three Persons, the human person is also shaped by his or her relationships, but not only with God and with other human beings, but also with other creatures, to the extent that we depend on them to maintain the symphony of life: without plants we would not have oxygen or food, without micro-organisms there would be no fertility in the soil, without certain insects the plants would not pollinate. As the Pope points out: "The more the human person grows, matures and is sanctified, the more he or she enters into relationship, when he or she goes out of himself or herself to live in communion with God, with others and with all creatures" (Laudato Si', 240).
But Christianity is also based on the recognition of the Incarnation, that God became Man in order to save us. To despise the natural, the material, is in some way to reject the redeeming value of the Humanity of Jesus Christ. In the face of these spiritualistic dualisms that have had a certain influence in the history of Christianity, Pope Francis reminds us that: "Jesus lived in full harmony with creation [...]. He was far from philosophies that despised the body, matter and the things of this world. Yet these unhealthy dualisms came to have a major influence on some Christian thinkers throughout history and disfigured the Gospel" (Laudato si', 98).
Along the same lines, both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches recognize the salvific value of the seven sacraments. All of them are supported by material signs, which are an image of the grace that they signify and through them confer: water, bread and wine, which are fruits of the earth. Somehow, in the Eucharist God "becomes" that same nature to which he already gave existence from his eternity before the sacramental action, thus remaining in the bread. This is why it is so proper in the Holy Mass to praise God in the name of Creation, whose firstborn we are: "Rightly do all your creatures praise you," we say in the third Eucharistic prayer of the Roman Missal. In short, as the Holy Father points out, "the Eucharist unites heaven and earth, embraces and permeates all creation. The world that came from God's hands returns to him in happy and full adoration" (Laudato Si', 236).
Fundamentals of social justice
In addition to the reasons of dogmatic or sacramental theology, for a Catholic, respect and care for the natural environment is also based on motives of social justice, which is why, traditionally in the Church, reflection on the care of nature has taken place within the framework of moral theology. In addition to the reasons mentioned above, care for the common home also has a very important social dimension, which has already been alluded to and which we wish to emphasize here, in keeping with the central attention that Francis attributes to this aspect in the encyclical. The Earth's resources should serve to meet the needs of all human beings, present and future: we cannot waste them irresponsibly, for we would be cutting off the possibilities of sustenance and progress for our neediest brothers and sisters. On this point, and referring to private property, Francis refers to a particularly demanding appeal of St. John Paul II: "God has given the earth to the whole human race so that it can sustain all its inhabitants, excluding no one and privileging no one" (Centessimus annus, 31).
As Pope Francis reminds us, environmental degradation has social impacts, and it is the most vulnerable populations (the poor, the excluded from society) who suffer the most serious consequences. For this reason, it is necessary to recognize that the lines for the solution of environmental problems: "require an integral approach to combat poverty, to restore dignity to the excluded and simultaneously to care for nature" (Laudato si', 139). It is worth recalling in this regard that many entities of the Catholic Church have for years included environmental care programs in their tasks of promoting human development. For example, Caritas International has had a specific climate justice program for a decade, and the national committees, together with Manos Unidas, work actively to mitigate the impacts of environmental degradation on the weakest people and societies. Moreover, we must not lose sight of the fact that there is a human ecology, which leads to respect for the ultimate truth of every person, his or her intrinsic dignity, regardless of his or her condition, age or social situation. As Pope Francis rightly says: "When the value of a poor person, of a human embryo, of a person with a disability - to give just a few examples - is not recognized in reality itself, it is difficult to hear the cries of nature itself. Everything is connected" (Laudato si', 117).
This social dimension of environmental problems explains why it is an eminent field of interreligious dialogue. These problems concern all human beings, regardless of their religious or ideological positions. As stated in Laudato si', the seriousness of environmental issues "should provoke religions to enter into a dialogue among themselves aimed at caring for nature, defending the poor, and building networks of respect and fraternity" (Laudato si', 201). Along these lines, we would like to report on the Torreciudad Declaration, the fruit of a seminar between environmental scientists and leaders of different religious traditions (www.declarationtorreciudad.org). The declaration underlines the importance of dialogue between science and religion to promote better care of the common home, following the line of dialogue promoted by the encyclical Laudato si'. The statement is open for adherence to people of any creed or ideology and has recently been referenced by the prestigious journal Nature (2016: vol 538, 459).
