Respect for the environment is central to Christian faith in a God who loves the world.
International Mother Earth Day (22 April) has only recently been taken up by the United Nations. Its theme – the high value of the natural world – however, has always been central in prayer and in poetry.
The Psalms and the prophets are full of images of mountains, rivers and forest and the wonder of God’s presence in nature. Jesus also draws on images of the world that show knowledge and a deep appreciation of the world around him. From the 19th century onwards many poets have lamented the ugliness of the industrial world and the destruction of nature. This concern became more focused after WWII in recognition particularly of the effect of pesticides on birds and animal life in farming.
LAUDATO SI’
For Catholics, concern for the natural world became central when Pope Francis published Laudato si’, in which he recognised the threat both to the natural world and to the poor from global warming. He saw respect for our environment and the commitment to lower emissions as more than good works. They were also central to Christian faith in a God who loves the world in its beauty and delicacy. In that insight he evoked the spirit and the passion of St Francis of Assisi who also described the earth as mother.
He emphasised the value of each human being and also the importance of the relationships on which our human flourishing depends. He also considered the way in which economic, governmental and cultural systems encouraged or damaged human flourishing. Environmental vandalism and the gross inequality of the poor run together. Both reflect relationships poisoned by greed and apathy. Pope Francis concluded by saying that the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are signs of a world that needs healing. They must be heard and responded to together.
EFFECT OF WAR
Today Pope Francis would emphasise the effect of war on the environment. It affects the environment of nations affected by war as houses are destroyed, electricity connections, sewage and water pipes are broken, and people live on the edge of starvation. Even more destructive is the loss of attention to the climate crisis as nations put priority on building arms, diverting money from green energy production to coal and oil with its effect on emissions, and contributing to inequality with its effects on the natural world. The cry of the earth becomes louder and louder.
Mother Earth Day is not a fashionable day. Neither, of course, are days to do with poverty and grief. Yet they go together as reminders of our shared humanity with its limitations as well as its ambitions.
Fr Andrew Hamilton SJ is an editorial consultant at Jesuit Communications
