Sister Earth

World Peace Day 2008: Peace and the Environment

Here is an excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI's message for the 41st World Day of Peace:

The family, the human community and the environment

The family needs a home, a fit environment in which to develop its proper relationships. For the human family, this home is the earth, the environment that God the Creator has given us to inhabit with creativity and responsibility. We need to care for the environment: it has been entrusted to men and women to be protected and cultivated with responsible freedom, with the good of all as a constant guiding criterion. Human beings, obviously, are of supreme worth vis-à-vis creation as a whole. Respecting the environment does not mean considering material or animal nature more important than man. Rather, it means not selfishly considering nature to be at the complete disposal of our own interests, for future generations also have the right to reap its benefits and to exhibit towards nature the same responsible freedom that we claim for ourselves. Nor must we overlook the poor, who are excluded in many cases from the goods of creation destined for all. Humanity today is rightly concerned about the ecological balance of tomorrow. It is important for assessments in this regard to be carried out prudently, in dialogue with experts and people of wisdom, uninhibited by ideological pressure to draw hasty conclusions, and above all with the aim of reaching agreement on a model of sustainable development capable of ensuring the well-being of all while respecting environmental balances. If the protection of the environment involves costs, they should be justly distributed, taking due account of the different levels of development of various countries and the need for solidarity with future generations. Prudence does not mean failing to accept responsibilities and postponing decisions; it means being committed to making joint decisions after pondering responsibly the road to be taken, decisions aimed at strengthening that covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying.

Pope Applauds Montreal Protocol on 20th Anniversary

Benedict XVI Pleads for Protection of Creation
Asks That Cooperation Intensify

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy, SEPT. 16, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI again reiterated his plea that an alliance be re-created between humanity and the environment, urging that cooperation intensity in the promotion of the common good.

The Pope made his appeal today, noting the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, adopted in that Canadian city on Sept. 16, 1987.

Addressing the faithful gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo for the praying of the Angelus, the Holy Father spoke about the anniversary of the document on "the substances that deplete the ozone layer, causing grave damage for human beings and the ecosystem."

Cardinal McCarrick: “This is a holy place because this is God's work”

Cardinal McCarrick Urges Rescuing Planet

NARSARSUAQ, Greenland, SEPT. 12, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The beauty of God's creation is being destroyed, and people of all faiths need to work together to stop the destruction, says Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

The retired archbishop of Washington, D.C., spoke Tuesday with Vatican Radio about the need to protect the environment. His comments came as he participated in the seventh symposium organized by the nongovernmental organization Religion, Science and the Environment, which ended today.

The symposium was held under the patronage of Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I and gathered religious and social leaders in Greenland.

Pope Benedict XVI: Celebrate Creation Every Sunday

Because Sunday is ultimately about encountering the risen Christ in word and sacrament, its span extends through the whole of reality. The early Christians celebrated the first day of the week as the Lord's day, because it was the day of the resurrection. Yet very soon, the Church also came to realize that the first day of the week is the day of the dawning of creation, the day on which God said: "Let there be light" (Gen 1:3). Therefore Sunday is also the Church's weekly feast of creation -- the feast of thanksgiving and joy over God's creation. At a time when creation seems to be endangered in so many ways through human activity, we should consciously advert to this dimension of Sunday too. Then, for the early Church, the first day increasingly assimilated the traditional meaning of the seventh day, the Sabbath. We participate in God's rest, which embraces all of humanity. Thus we sense on this day something of the freedom and equality of all God's creatures.

—Pope Benedict XVI, Homily, Vienna, Sept. 9, 2007

The Arctic: Mirror of Life

Religion, Science and the Environment, an NGO established by Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, opens its seventh symposium on September 6th. Titled "The Arctic: Mirror of Life," the focus of this year's symposium is climate change, its effects on polar regions, and what that means, locally and globally, to both humans and ecosystems.

The physical and biological impacts of a warmer climate on Arctic ecosystems will be tremendous, affecting nearly all marine- and land-based wildlife species. Even a few degrees increase in seawater temperature will affect the Arctic marine ecosystem in many ways. Warmer temperatures will lead to increased biological productivity at the lower parts of the marine ecosystem. Reductions in sea ice will drastically shrink marine habitat for polar bears, ice-inhabiting seals, and some seabirds, pushing some species toward extinction. Caribou, reindeer and other land animals are likely to be increasingly stressed as climate change alters their access to food sources, breeding grounds, and migratory routes.

Pope Benedict XVI on Creation Day 2007

To follow Christ, dear young people, also involves a constant effort to contribute to building a society that is more just and fraternal, in which everyone can enjoy the goods of the earth. I know that many of you have dedicated yourselves generously to testifying to your faith in various social fields, working as volunteers, for the promotion of the common good, peace and justice in every community.

One of the fields in which it is urgent to work is most definitely that of safeguarding creation. The new generations are responsible for the future of the planet, which shows evident signs of a development that has not always known to preserve the delicate balances of nature. Before it is too late, we must make courageous choices with a view to a strong alliance between man and the earth.

Benedict XVI on the Ecology of Peace

The “ecology of peace”

In his Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul II wrote: “Not only has God given the earth to man, who must use it with respect for the original good purpose for which it was given to him, but man too is God's gift to man. He must therefore respect the natural and moral structure with which he has been endowed.” By responding to this charge, entrusted to them by the Creator, men and women can join in bringing about a world of peace. Alongside the ecology of nature, there exists what can be called a “human” ecology, which in turn demands a “social” ecology. All this means that humanity, if it truly desires peace, must be increasingly conscious of the links between natural ecology, or respect for nature, and human ecology. Experience shows that disregard for the environment always harms human coexistence, and vice versa. It becomes more and more evident that there is an inseparable link between peace with creation and peace among men. Both of these presuppose peace with God. The poem-prayer of Saint Francis, known as “the Canticle of Brother Sun”, is a wonderful and ever timely example of this multifaceted ecology of peace.

The close connection between these two ecologies can be understood from the increasingly serious problem of energy supplies. In recent years, new nations have entered enthusiastically into industrial production, thereby increasing their energy needs. This has led to an unprecedented race for available resources. Meanwhile, some parts of the planet remain backward and development is effectively blocked, partly because of the rise in energy prices. What will happen to those peoples? What kind of development or non-development will be imposed on them by the scarcity of energy supplies? What injustices and conflicts will be provoked by the race for energy sources? And what will be the reaction of those who are excluded from this race? These are questions that show how respect for nature is closely linked to the need to establish, between individuals and between nations, relationships that are attentive to the dignity of the person and capable of satisfying his or her authentic needs. The destruction of the environment, its improper or selfish use, and the violent hoarding of the earth's resources cause grievances, conflicts and wars, precisely because they are the consequences of an inhumane concept of development. Indeed, if development were limited to the technical-economic aspect, obscuring the moral-religious dimension, it would not be an integral human development, but a one-sided distortion which would end up by unleashing man's destructive capacities.

—Pope Benedict XVI, The Human Person, the Heart of Peace (Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2007)

Season of Creation 2006

The Season of Creation is an ecumenical project to add a new season to the liturgical calendar that celebrates and honours the world of Nature from the perspective of the Christian faith. The season begins September 1, the Day of Creation in the Orthodox tradition, and runs until October 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron of ecology. Four of the Sundays in the Season have their own theme, rotating over a three year cycle. In Australia and US, the fifth Sunday is used by participating churches for other ecumenical celebrations, but there is no established practice in Canada. Since Hildegard of Bingen's date of death falls on a Sunday in September, I will celebrate her contributions to ecotheology on that day.

September 1 — Day of Creation
September 3 — Planet Earth Sunday
September 10 — Humanity Sunday
September 17 — St. Hildegard of Bingen
September 24 — Sky Sunday
October 1 — Mountain Sunday
October 4 — St. Francis of Assisi

See my Season of Creation sidebar (left) for links to readings, bible studies, and other resources.

Day of Protection of Our Natural Environment

September 1st was the ecclesiastical new year for the Byzantine rite of the Universal Church and the "green" patriarch, Bartholomew, has named it the Day of Protection of our Natural Environment. Here is an excerpt from his address:

God instilled in every beneficial relationship between man and creation feelings of joy and pleasure. Furthermore, He imbued man with a sense of longing when in genuine need, and a sense of satiety to protect against abuse by excess. Man, therefore, is equipped by God with an instinctual awareness of the proper measure of things, of the difference between what is necessary and beneficial and what is excessive and harmful. Endowed as well with free will, man has the ability to act on his instinctual understanding of the boundaries of these two conditions, so that he can either set new boundaries of self-deprivation for purposes of spiritual exercise, or can set them aside altogether through willful acts of self-aggrandizement. …

Unfortunately, man refused to comply with God’s directives regarding the measured use of natural resources according to his needs, nor did he preserve and protect the world entrusted to him, and thus he estranged himself from the governing grace of God. As a result, man acts toward his surrounding environment in rapacious and destructive ways, as a ruler rather than a steward, disrupting the natural harmony and balance that are from God. …

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord, let us all make every effort possible, each from where God has placed us, to rein in our reckless over consumption, so that the harmonious workings of this planet, our common home, may be restored, and that we and our children may enjoy in peace all the good things which God in His love for us has created and offers to all men and women. Amen.

— Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch, Constantinople, September 1, 2006

Read the rest here.

via Behind the Surface (Thanks Michelle!)

Steward's Sabbath

On the Sabbath, the traditionally observant Jew does more than rest, pray, and refrain from ordinary work. There are at least three other elements of Sabbath observance that are relevant to stewardship: we create nothing, we destroy nothing, and we enjoy the bounty of the earth. In this way the Sabbath becomes a celebration of our tenancy and stewardship in the world.

Nothing is created, and this reminds us of God’s supremacy as Creator and own comparative inadequacy. Nothing is destroyed, and this reminds us that the creations of this world are not ours to ruin. We enjoy the bounty of the earth, and this reminds us that although our work, if properly done, will uncover for us far more of God’s bounty than we would otherwise have enjoyed, nevertheless God, and not human invention, is still the ultimate source of that bounty…

For Jews, it is the awareness of the Sabbath during the working days that can bring the realm of time and its accompanying sense of restraint and limit to stewardship. It is the Sabbath that defines the relationship between steward and Ruler. It is the Sabbath, ultimately, that completes and confirms the environmental wisdom of Judaism.

Judaism and the Practice of Stewardship, David Ehrenfeld and Philip Bentley, Judaism (1985) 34(3):310-311. (Reprinted in Judaism and Environmental Ethics, Martin D. Yaffe ed.)

via the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life