I. INTRODUCTION II. THE ROLE OF HUMANITY IN THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT III. ECOLOGICAL ISSUES: THE BIBLICAL TRADITION AND THE POSITION OF THE CHURCH 1. BIBLICAL TRADITION 2. OCTOGESIMA ADVENIENS, POPE PAUL VI, 1971 3. SOLLICITUDO REI SOCIALIS, POPE JOHN PAUL II, 1987 4. PEACE WITH GOD THE CREATOR, PEACE WITH ALL OF CREATION, POPE JOHN PAUL II, 1990 5. CENTESIMUS ANNUS, POPE JOHN PAUL II, 1991 6. THE ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR ALL, USCCB, 1986 7. RENEWING THE EARTH, USCCB, 1991 8. THE COLUMBIA RIVER WATERSHED, 2001
I. INTRODUCTION II. THE ROLE OF HUMANITY IN THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT III. ECOLOGICAL ISSUES: THE BIBLICAL TRADITION AND THE POSITION OF THE CHURCH 1. BIBLICAL TRADITION 2. OCTOGESIMA ADVENIENS, POPE PAUL VI, 1971 3. SOLLICITUDO REI SOCIALIS, POPE JOHN PAUL II, 1987 4. PEACE WITH GOD THE CREATOR, PEACE WITH ALL OF CREATION, POPE JOHN PAUL II, 1990 5. CENTESIMUS ANNUS, POPE JOHN PAUL II, 1991 6. THE ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR ALL, USCCB, 1986 7. RENEWING THE EARTH, USCCB, 1991 8. THE COLUMBIA RIVER WATERSHED, 2001 3/3/2016 3 3
IV. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATION OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY 1. ADVOCATING ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE POLICIES 2. APPLICATIONS CROSSING RELIGIONS AND NATIONAL BOUNDARIES 3. CHANGES IN LIFESTYLE V. CONCLUSION 3/3/2016 4 4
I found no easy way to insert notes with Power Point; and therefore, the biliography is placed here to indicate the works cited in the sessions to follow. Bowman, Cynthia. Issues of Injustice in the Church and Society in the Prophetic Call, Celebrating Community, Earth, Justice, and Peace, Ed. Hugh Sanborn. Denver, MA: Chalice Press, 2004. Butkus, Russell A. and Steven A. Kolmes. Global Climate Change. Paper Presented at Villanova University, November 10-11, 2005. Catholic Bishops of The Region. The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and The Common Good An International Pastoral Letter. http://www.thewscc.org/files/pastoral-english.pdf (accessed September 13, 2008). Centesimus Annus. 05 January 1991. On The Hundredth Anniversary of Rerum Novarum. John Paul II. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp- Ii_Enc_01051991_Centesimus-Annus_En.Html (accessed 12-Sept-08). Christiansen, Drew, S.J.. The Common Good and Leadership among Nations, A Roman Catholic Theological Perspective on Equity and Global Climate Change. Paper Presented at Woodstock Theological Center for The Pew Center on Global Climate Change, September 17-18, 2001. Compendium of The Social Doctrine of The Church. 2004. Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_ Justpeace_Doc_20060526_CompendioDottsoc_En.Html#Responsibility% 20of%20everyone%20for%20the%20common%20good (accessed September 15, 2008). Gaudium Et Spes. December 7, 1965. Pastoral Constitution on The Church in The Modern World Promulgated by His Holiness. Pope Paul VI. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat- Ii_Cons_19651207_Gaudium-Et-Spes_En.Html (accessed 12-Sept-08). Johnson, Elizabeth. Women, earth, and Creator Spirit, Notre Dame, Ind: Paulist Press, 1993. 5
Hesse, Dieter T.. Becoming a Church for Ecology and Justice. in the Prophetic Call, Celebrating Community, Earth, Justice, and Peace, Ed. Sanborn, Hugh, Denver, MA: Chalice Press, 2004. McCollough, Charles. Issues of Ecological Concern for the Church and Society in the Prophetic Call, Celebrating Community, Earth, Justice, and Peace, Ed. Hugh Sanborn, Denver, MA: Chalice Press, 2004. Octogesima Adveniens. 14 May 1971. Apostolic Letter. Pope Paul VI. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_letters/documents/hf_p- Vi_Apl_19710514_Octogesima-Adveniens_En.Html (accessed 12-Sept-08). Peace with God The Creator, Peace With All Of Creation. 1 January 1990. For The Celebration Of The World Day Of Peace. John Paul II. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/peace/documents/hf_jp- Ii_Mes_19891208_Xxiii-World-Day-For-Peace_En.Html (accessed 12-Sept-08). Randle, David W. A Prophetic Vision of Restoring the Earth in the Prophetic Call, Celebrating Community, Earth, Justice, and Peace, Ed. Sanborn, Hugh, Denver, MA: Chalice Press, 2004. Sollicitudo Rei Socialis. 30 December 1987. On Social Concern for The Twentieth Anniversary of Populorum Progressio. Encyclical. John Paul II. Vatican Web Site. The Holy See. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp- Ii_Enc_30121987_Sollicitudo-Rei-Socialis_En.Html (accessed 12-Sep-08). USCCB. Catholic Social Teaching. http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/projects/socialteaching/excerpt.shtml (accessed September 26, 2008). USCCB. Economic Justice for All. http://www.osjspm.org/economic_justice_for_all.aspx (accessed September 12, 2008). USCCB. Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and The Common Progressio. Encyclical. John Good, http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/globalclimate.shtml (accessed September 14, 2008). USCCB. Poor and Vulnerable Will Suffer Most from Inaction and Neglect on Climate Change, Says USCCB Official. http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/07-101.shtml (accessed September 8, 2008). USCCB. Renewing The Earth. http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/ejp/bishopsstatement.shtml> (accessed September 12, 2008). USCCB. The Common Good and The Catholic Church's Social Teaching. http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/ejp/bishopsstatement.shtml (accessed September 12, 2008). USCCB. Why Does The Church Care about Global Climate Change? http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/ejp/climate/wcc.shtml (accessed September 14, 2008).
The neglect and exploitation of the earth and its ecosystems is an ethical, religious, and theological issue of great importance. Global climate change affects all earthly creations; the implication of humanity and its activities in the ecosystems underlie a lack of respect for life, thus poses a great moral challenge.
What follows is the meticulous examination and awareness of the nature of our relationship with all of God s creation: our cultivation of and dependence on the lands, our responsibility and stewardship to the environment, what shall be left by us to our posterity, and what must be done in order to harmoniously subsist with God s creation.
Ten minutes Video clips, an Al Gore s movie. Titled AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH by Paramount Classics and Participant Productions 10
The environmental issues surround us: The smog in our cities; Chemicals in our water and on our food; Eroded topsoil blowing in the wind; The loss of valuable wetlands; Radioactive and toxic waste lacking adequate disposal sites; Threats to the health of industrial and farm workers. Our problems are the world's problems and burdens for generations to come. Poisoned water crosses borders freely. Acid rain pours on countries that do not create it. Greenhouse gases affect the earth's atmosphere for many decades, regardless of where they are produced or used. 3/3/2016 11 Isaiah 22-23 11
We experience the environmental effects in polluted air and water; in oil and wastes on our beaches; in the loss of farmland, wetlands, and forests; and in the decline of rivers and lakes. 3/3/2016 12 Isaiah 22-23 12
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Hebrew Scriptures Christian responsibility for the environment begins with appreciation of the goodness of all God's creation. Genesis 1:31. Prv 8:22-31. 3/3/2016 14 14
Humans, made in the image and likeness of God, are called in a special way to "cultivate and care for it" (Genesis 2:15). 3/3/2016 15 15
The Gospel Message Jesus came proclaiming a jubilee (see Lk 4:16-22) in which humanity, and with us all creation, was to be liberated (see Rom 8:18-25). For he is the firstborn of a new creation and gives his Spirit to renew the whole earth (see Col 2:18; Ps 104:30). Our Christian way of life, as 3/3/2016 saints Benedict, and Francis. 16 16
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In 1971, Pope Paul VI, in his apostolic letter, asks Christian to turn to new perceptions of the environmental issue and to warn the consequences of the environmental degradation.
In 1987, Pope John Paul II addresses his ecological concern in his letter as a sign of respect for an ecojustice and consequently a fair distribution of the results of true development
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In 1990, Pope John Paul II states a growing awareness that world peace is threatened not only by conflicts but also by a lack of due respect for nature.
The most profound and serious indication of the moral implications underlying the ecological problem is the lack of respect for life evident in many of the patterns of environmental pollution (no. 7).
c In Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II referred to the ecological question in terms of the impacts of consumerism, the resources of the earth, and the destruction of the natural environment. 24
-Depletion of soil, water and c other natural resources endangers the future. -Pollution of air and water threatens the delicate balance of the biosphere on which future generations will depend. The resources of the earth have been created by God for the benefit of all, and we who are alive today hold them in trust. This is a challenge to develop a new ecological ethic that will help shape a future that is both just and sustainable (no. 12). 3/3/2016 26
In 1991, the U.S. Bishops issued a pastoral statement to highlight the ethical dimensions of the environmental crisis, to link questions of ecology and poverty, environment and development. The U.S. Bishops stress the moral and ethical dimension of ecological crisis.
Isaiah 22-23 29
The bishops of the Northwest and Nelsen, Canada issued on January 8, 2001 a pastoral statement, The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good.
Isaiah 22-23 31 31
In regards to global equity, public authorities hold a particular responsibility to the common good. In accordance with Catholic tradition, the promotion and defense of the common good is to be the fundamental task of all public officials. Developing nations are experiencing the most severe and considering their relatively low outputs of pollution and resource consumption, disproportionate consequences of climate change to a far greater degree than developed nations who consume the most resources and produce the most pollution. Isaiah 22-23 32
The Bush administration, however, has rejected the Kyoto Convention. Morality itself demands that countries such as the United States make conscious efforts for the sake of and in the promotion of the planetary common good. The Industrialized countries must construct a policy of responsibility, beginning with efforts at compliance with the existing international agreements such as the Kyoto Treaty. 33
- In a companion document for the UN Agenda 21 adopted at the Earth Summit, Bahai, Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Jewish, and native writers, all share their perspective on ethics to care for and restore the Earth. - A precedent was set in faith-based responsibility when the Orthodox ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew declared pollution a sin against God. 34
The right to a safe environment is evermore insistently presented today as a right that must be included in an updated Charter of Human Rights. Pope John Paul II, The Ecological Crisis, a Common Responsibility, 1990. Declaration on the Environment Signed by Pope John Paul II and Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople June 10, 2002 "We Are Still Betraying the Mandate God Has Given Us"
- Global Climate Change demands changes in lifestyle as the U.S. Bishops stated. - No matter the changes made by corporations and public authorities, without the effort of each individual, the movement to be responsible shepherds of the Earth is futile. This ideal is not met without challenges. - If we are to deal realistically and responsibly with our global situation, we need both spiritual deepening and a renewed sense of hope. This hope must not be retained within races or borders, but must spread to all people as we all are responsible.
We stand at an ecological crossroads where critical choices must be made. Those choices are at heart religious as we are called for a deeper respect for God s creation and engage in activities to protect the environment, promote sustainable communities and preserve the sanctity of creation. The decisions we make will decisively shape the quality of life for ourselves and generations to come. As Christians, we need to open our hearts through scripture, tradition, prayer, theology and liturgy, and open our minds to learn and teach the issues among us and then open our hands to