In 2007 I was one of 80 invited delegates – science, political, business and ecumenical representatives - to a ‘Climate Change and Development Conference’ at the Vatican organised by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. It was a fractured affair as was reported in the Hong Kong Catholic paper the Sunday Examiner (27 May 2007). Christian faith responses to the scientific evidence on the impact of global warming did battle with climate change deniers who were largely financed by the fossil fuel industry.
Saying, ‘Our current destruction of the planet is a blasphemy’, Anglican Bishop James from Liverpool summed up well the consensus of the religious leaders. On a brighter note, the conference ended with a plea for the Pope to write an encyclical on the environment. Nearly a decade later in 2015 Pope Francis fulfilled that hope when he wrote Laudato Si’.
Fr James Martin SJ in America magazine (19 June 2015) wrote that the encyclical put spirituality into the public debate on the environment. The role of spirituality is part of his article entitled ‘Top Ten Takeaways from Laudato Si’. He continued, ‘The greatest contribution of Laudato Si' to the environmental dialogue is, to my mind, its systematic overview of the crisis from a religious point of view. Until now, the environmental dialogue has been framed mainly with political, scientific and economic language.’
It seems that prayer must be central to action if Catholics are to help humanity face the 21st century environmental crisis. And the focus of that prayer is the communal relationship of love between Humanity, the Earth and God according to the Pope (LS #240). Thanks to scientists and environmental campaigners ecological awareness has arisen, but believers need to ask what specifically they can bring to the table.
Developing my ideas about environmental prayer over many decades I have moved away from using of the words ‘themes’ or ‘issues’. These words can have an educational ring to them or verge on a campaign slogan. I prefer to use the word ‘grace’ in prayer. All creation is graced. Meditation focused on creation starts with thanks for the outpouring of God in love, revealed in a near fourteen billion year cosmic unfolding – planets, earth and diverse life. This is the central story to bring to prayer so that it can grow to fullness in the Cosmic Christ.
Only when we first appreciate God’s outpouring of loving kindness in creation can we then be truly morally horrified by the plight of victims suffering from our proud exploitation of Earth’s gifts in God – poor people without food or water or even a place to live; the bio-rich diversity of creatures losing habitat or becoming extinct; Earth’s own support systems of atmosphere and oceans disrupted to the point of catastrophe. Changed ways follow.
Many church communities have designated the Sundays in September as a liturgical Season of Creation. The Columban Mission Institute has published a resource to help parish leaders read the Sunday Lectionary in September with ecological eyes. Bringing the environmental crisis to Sunday prayer is one way to structurally make real the new communion between God, Earth and Humanity as outlined by Pope Francis.
For my current environmental journey I have written this reflection:
To love Earth is to love God.
It is the human calling to love every species that lives on Earth.
Creatures large and small are companions in our journey.
We love them for their own sake.
Our hearts are torn if our actions disrupt their evolving pathways.
We love all human beings as they are forever linked to Earth.
Humans are brother and sister to all things of Earth, both living and physical. We have a special love for people locked out from sharing the riches of Earth.
We love Earth systems of oceans and rivers, mountains and plains, wind and rain.
They dance in support of each other in acts of a mutual love.
They are the bed where human beings lie down and find rest.
To love Earth is to love God.
This vision of Creation leads me to reach out to others and dialogue with them as mission.
To talk about Earth is to talk about God
To talk and share ideas is human.
To share views about a spirit filled Earth opens discussion.
To look at our environment for many angles grows our view.
Dialogue is the act of two people sharing.
Dialogue offers a view point felt from the heart.
Dialogue grows a big picture of the world to tell a bigger story.
The frame of dialogue adds many colours to our view of Earth.
The frame of dialogue helps all sides to grow in what is known.
The frame of dialogue gives hope to face the future in joy.
To talk about Earth is to talk about God.
Fr Charles Rue SSC works at the Columban Mission Institute, Sydney in the office of Peace, Ecology and Justice.