QUETION: What, the Lord, the creator of this world, wants from this generation is to cooperate with God to fulfil God’s plan for the human race and its world. As the world marked Earth Day on April 22, Pope Francis, in a post on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), noted that his generation has bequeathed many monetary riches to later generations, but has done little to protect the planet. Do we have a moral responsibility to protect the environment? – Gipson Jacob

ANSWER: Jacob Parappally MSFS

Everything is interconnected. Anything that happens to the tiniest atom may remain invisible and unnoticed, but everything is affected by it. The changes that are taking place in the gigantic
stars and planets can be seen and analysed by astrophysicists who are able to tell us their implications for those living on this planet earth. Visible or invisible changes that affect any reality in this universe affect everything and everyone in this world. We do not exist as monads or individuals, juxtaposed without relationships. Whether we want it or not, we are in a network of relationships. Increasingly, the cancer of individualism is affecting our human society, making individuals to think and behave as if they do not need others and the earth for a dignified and peaceful life on earth. Humans have a tendency to reduce God, other humans and life-sustaining and nurturing nature as objects. Reduced objects, God and humans are seen and related to for their usefulness. Some people see and relate to God only to secure favours and privileges. They do not seek intimacy with God and do not become friends with God, though his friendship is available to humans.
Some treat others or relate with others only if they think that others are somehow useful to them. They judge relationships in terms of profit. The same pragmatic attitude is seen in the approach to all material realities of this world and to the animal kingdom. The new ethics is that whatever is profitable and pleasurable is good and whatever means used to achieve them is right. Disastrous are the consequences of this type of ethics not only for the individuals who hold such a philosophy but also for the generations to come, if at all they come.
Unbridled Development a Planetary Disaster
It is an obvious fact that the progress of science and technology, new machines and gadgets, speedy means of communication and transport have revolutionized to make human life, making things much easier. Though the main beneficiaries of these human achievements are mostly accessible and affordable to the middle class and the rich, the poor may get some fringe benefits. From the time of the Industrial Revolution 1780 – 1900, the discoveries in the field of power technology, especially using steam engines, electricity and petroleum and the developments in the iron and steel industry using coal revolutionized the building of machineries. These machines could produce parts for engines that revolutionized the means of speedy transportation as well as various other products that offer better conveniences for leading a comfortable life on earth. The scientific and technological progress since the industrial revolution has changed the face of the earth with various machines, gadgets that raised the standard of life. Progress in every field of life and activities, reaching up to the use of Artificial Intelligence, has changed the face of the earth. But at what cost?
Scientific and technological progress and consequent industrial activities have created and are still creating havoc for the entire planet through environmental degradation. Natural resources are depleted, air and water pollution is creating serious health hazards for humans and animals, habitat destruction by deforestation is causing the extinction of many animal and plant species. The Bhopal gas tragedy of 2 December 1984 night that happened in the pesticide plant of Union Carbide India Ltd, has been considered the world’s worst industrial disaster. Over 500.000 people were affected by the highly toxic methyl isocyanate and over 2259 people were killed. Even now, about 40 years after this tragedy, there are reports about the health problems caused by this disaster. The question Pope Francis raises about what we are bequeathing to our future generations is relevant, and it must evoke positive responses in the minds of those who make economic policies and political decisions that affect our entire planet. The world today is structured in such a way that money can buy means of sustenance, comforts and pleasure, but also weapons, small or big, including weapons of mass destruction.
Weapons are produced by rich countries and sold to poor countries in the name of protecting their sovereign territories. Mostly, the weapons producing countries are behind the outbreak of conflicts between nations and these conflicts are used to sell their weapons. The vicious circle of production, marketing and money procured for the productions continues to create enormous environmental degradation and pollution. Individual greed and collective greed of nations to acquire more money and more power at the cost of the environment is responsible for the gradual destruction of our planet.
Care for the Earth – an Expression of Faith
In all his writings, Pope Francis is trying to liberate the people of God from a narrow understanding of Christian faith and commitment to Christ. In his universally recognized and accepted encyclical Laudato si he has clearly stated that the earth is our common home and taking care of it is our Christian duty. God created the earth as a home for all living creatures and plants and, above all, humans so that they can live and unfold themselves in this home in loving relationship with their creator. The story of the Fall represents not only the beginning of the rupture of man’s relationship with God; it is also represents the rupture of man’s healthy relationship with the environment, namely, planet earth and all what makes it a habitable place.
Genuine Christian faith is total self-surrender to Christ who assumed humanity and became part of this world. The entire world including our planet earth is a part of the physical body of Christ that has been transformed by the hominization of the Word and by the resurrection of Christ. For fear of pantheism, the Christian tradition has distanced itself from considering the sacredness of the earth though in some ritual blessings the sacredness of material objects is affirmed. A wider and deeper understanding of our faith demands that we are called to recognize the sacredness of this God-created and God-assumed materiality which needs to be approached with a certain sense of sacredness. When we lose the sense of the sacred in general and the sacredness of the earth in particular, we will not have any qualms of conscience to misuse and abuse the earth and its resources. Time and again, Pope reminds all the faithful and all humans of good will to take care of the earth not only for ourselves but also for the future generations. It is not for any pragmatic reason Pope Francis insists on the need to care for our planet but it is a necessary actualization of our faith in God, the creator of everything in this universe.
It is not only the responsibility of politicians and bureaucrats, world-organizations and corporates who make policies that have direct consequences on the environment but it is the bounden duty of all Christians to become aware of their responsibility to the nature as a part of their faith-commitment and work for the protection and preservation of nature and contribute to the further nurturing of nature in great or small way according to their capabilities.
Cooperating with the Creator
According to Christian faith, God’s work of creation continues till its eschatological fulfilment is achieved as intended by God. Humans are called to cooperate with God in this process of creation. When humans thwart God’s plan of creation by diverting its intended purpose for monetary gains or other selfish ends, all humans of the present and the future have to suffer the consequences of it. Often, we interpret it as the punishment of an angry God. But it is not to be seen as a punishment of God. God who created humans free does not interfere with their misuse of abuse of their freedom. The consequences of the abuse of creation, is embedded in what makes creation what it is. The present generation is playing with fire when they exploit the resources of earth for their short-term monetary gains without any regard for the welfare of future generations.
Dichotomizing matter and spirit, body and soul, this worldly and the other worldly and so on has been a constant theme in the theological and spiritual discourses in Christian tradition. It is not so in the biblical understanding of reality. The Biblical revelation speaks of an integrated understanding of the entire reality. It emphasizes not only the wholeness or liberation of humans from sin and human vulnerability but also the liberation of the entire creation (Romans 8:21). The liberation or salvation brought about by the Word by the fact of incarnation itself and fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus have a decisive and definitive impact on the entire creation. Therefore, anyone committed to Christ needs to understand that a part of that commitment is to take care of the earth, not only for themselves but also for their future generations! In his encyclical Laudato si’ Pope Francis reminds that “All Christian communities have an important role to play in ecological education. It is my hope that our seminaries and houses of formation will provide an education in responsible simplicity of life, in grateful contemplation of God’s world, and in concern for the needs of the poor and the protection of the environment” (LS, 214). A contemplative attitude to nature is imperative for every Christian as it is an integral part of Christian spirituality. It is necessary for the survival of the present generation and also for the continued existence of human race till the end of time.