What ecology owes Pope Benedict XVIWe lay people, more or less well-off, sometimes forget that poverty and austerity are Christian virtues that we are called to live. In these days of concern about the serious decline of biodiversity and climate change, we can affirm that both virtues are signs of social responsibility and care for people and the environment.
In this article we shed light and show the social and environmental impact of a simple act of austerity in our daily lives, based on the Gospels and the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Poverty and austerity: beyond material things
Poverty can be understood from different perspectives. At first, we think of it as a situation in which a person's basic physical and psychological needs cannot be met, but the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) offers another definition when it describes the voluntary poverty of religious as the renunciation of all that one possesses and of what one's self-love may consider necessary. In the Gospel (Luke 12:34) the Lord says to the first Christians: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" or in Matthew 19:24 "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven". This shows us that poverty also has deep moral and spiritual connotations. "Blessed are the poor in heart, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).
For a Christian, to live poverty does not mean to be miserly, poorly dressed or poorly groomed; it means to be austere. Austerity is not something rigid and invariable, but a question of interior life, something that each one must judge at each moment. It is essential to be sincere with our conscience and to understand that the condition of being lay does not exempt us from living austerity.
Many saints have dealt with these issues, but they stand out for their pragmatic vision: St. Teresa of Jesus said that "money is the devil's dung, but it makes a very good fertilizer" and St. Teresa of Jesus said that "money is the devil's dung, but it makes a very good fertilizer" and St. Teresa of Jesus said that "money is the devil's dung. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer spoke of "Christian materialism" as the most effective way to use this good "manure" for the glory of God. This duality requires a rectitude of conscience to discern when we use material goods out of attachment (manure) or as usefulness (compost) for human life.
Material goods in the Gospel
The Gospel gives us a clear perspective on material goods and their impact on our spiritual life depending on how we use them. Jesus warns us about the danger of attachment to riches, as seen in the episode of the rich young man (Mt 19:21-22). This young man, although he kept the commandments, could not let go of his possessions to follow Jesus, showing how material goods can bind us and keep us from a full life in God.
Disordered attachment to material goods can lead to spiritual blindness and hardening of the heart, as mentioned in 1 John 3:17. In this verse the apostle reminds us that the true love of God is manifested in our capacity to share with those in need.
It is enough to make a small reflection to notice that, without even realizing it, we create needs for ourselves: to watch an episode of our favorite series, to go shopping, to buy new clothes every season, to change our cell phone, to change the decoration of our house, to change our car, our coat, ... each one can add what binds him according to his conscience and if we do not have it, it worries us because we have linked our happiness to these needs. This bondage, apart from distancing us from God, has an impact on society that should lead us to a deep and relevant reflection on Christian poverty and its social impact. In the following, we delve into it.
Austerity, beyond oneself
The messages of Benedict XVI and Pope Francis invite us to consider how our actions and lifestyles affect others. Benedict XVI, on the 2009 World Day of Peace, highlighted the growing inequality between rich and poor, even in the most developed nations, and how this posed a threat to world peace. On the other hand, Pope Francis, in his encyclicals "Laudato si'" and "Fratelli Tutti", calls us to a more conscious social responsibility. In "Laudato si'" paragraph 57, he stresses that excessive consumerism can lead to violence and destruction, and that our purchasing decisions have a moral impact and quoting Benedict XVI he says "shopping is always a moral act, and not just an economic one". In "Fratelli Tutti", he also warns of possible future wars caused by the depletion of resources due to consumerism.
These messages invite us to reflect on how we can live more simply and in solidarity, bearing in mind that resources are limited and should be for our own use, for the use of others and for future generations. Therefore, we must value our ability to reuse and reduce unnecessary consumption as a way of loving our neighbor and the planet that has been entrusted to us. Seeing how we love our neighbor by carrying out all that Pope Francis teaches us in these two encyclicals is the ecological conversion he invites us to carry out.
Impact of consumption
Some examples of the impact of our consumption on the planet:
- The fast fashion industry produces 150 billion new garments each year, far outstripping consumer demand. 85 % of textile waste ends up in landfills mostly in Africa and Asia, polluting water and soil. Opting for second-hand clothing, swapping clothes with friends or choosing ethical brands can significantly reduce this impact.
- In 2022, 62 million tons of e-waste were generated globally, of which only 22.3% was properly recycled. Most end up in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and India, where they are attempted to be reused, but inadequately, exposing workers to lead, cadmium, mercury and causing air, water and soil pollution. Extending the useful life of our devices and recycling them properly when they are no longer needed is a responsible practice that can reduce pollution and waste.
- Every year, some 1,214.76 million kilos of food are wasted in Spain (Report on food waste in Spain 2023), contributing 121 and 242 million cubic meters of methane emissions from landfills. The fact that the organic matter decomposes, apart from being a great lack of charity towards many of our brothers and sisters on earth who do not have food in their day to day lives, is a reflection of a more responsible lifestyle. Planning our purchases, consuming local and seasonal products, and reducing food waste are practices that reflect a more responsible life.
As if these examples were not enough to see the relationship between austerity and our social responsibility, in "Laudato si'" (paragraph 211) Pope Francis warns us of the social impact of our consumption and tells us: "the fact of reusing something instead of discarding it quickly, based on deep motivations, can be an act of love that expresses our own dignity"..
So, let us not hesitate to make an effort to recycle, reuse, delay a purchase ... All these are acts of love of neighbor in the XXI century and I add, it is not a matter of "others", neither left nor right, neither hippies nor environmentalists, we are talking about love of neighbor and in that we Christians must always take the lead as good followers of Jesus Christ. The question that St. Francis asked himself can help us to examine ourselves, Do I need few things and the few things I need, I need very little?
Biologist, postgraduate degree in Sustainable Management and Agenda 2030 from ESADE, with extensive experience in the management of environmental services in the private sector.
