Laudato Si’: “The Gospel of Creation”
I remember my civil engineering Professor tell a story of a construction project he was involved in, at a site used previously by a chemical works. The construction works started off on schedule and under budget. The site was cleared, and the workers started piling steel beams into the ground to stabilise the foundations. Then the project hit a snag. The steel started to dissolve in the sulphuric acid left behind in the soil by the previous occupant. Decades of irresponsible handling of toxic chemicals had left the land polluted.
I was reading the book of Numbers (35:33) last week, and I was reminded of this story when I read “Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it”. I am sure this paragraph refers to moral misdeeds polluting the land, but reading the Old Testament, you may get the feeling that the chosen people never learn their lesson. The prophets are constantly having to emphasise the fact there is only one God, and it is sinful to worship idols or false gods. The Ten Commandments are re-iterated. The tribes of Israel constantly seem to be falling back into sinfulness, and often need to be told the same message again and again. Pope Francis and his advisors in writing Laudato Si, seem to re-visit areas which in fact Popes have been saying for centuries. The basic message is this: in order to love our neighbour and fulfil one of the most important commandments of Jesus Christ, we must consider the impact of industrialisation on communities, the created world and on the dignity of the human person. Pollution and hazardous industrial conditions harm our neighbours.
Chapter two of Laudato Si discusses the Gospel of Creation. The book of Genesis starts with an account of creation where humanity has dominion over the created world. Pope Francis reminds us that having dominion over the earth and all its creatures, means caring, protecting, overseeing and preserving. The aim is for every community to take from the bounty of the earth whatever it needs for subsistence, but also we have a duty to protect the earth and ensure its fruitfulness for future generations. Indeed, there is a section in Chapter two of Laudato Si, where it is highlighted that God created a world ‘in need of development’. This would imply that we should use human ingenuity, science and engineering to bring about appropriate development to serve the common good. There are many examples of course, where dominion has translated into exploitation, destruction of the natural environment and development of irresponsible industries concerned with maximising profits. Control of pollution, industrial safety and the fate of toxic materials was ignored particularly in the Victorian era where ‘laissez faire’ was the ruling philosophy. The capitalists, industrialists and landowners were largely free from government interference. Regulations on pollution control, industrial safety and the impact of products and services on the environment have historically been non-existent or light-touch, as the interests of industry and capitalism took priority. Damage has been done to the created world partly through lack of knowledge on the environmental impacts, but as the industrial age turned into the modern age, the risks and environmental impacts associated with industry have also increased. We have the technological capacity to potentially ruin the created world.
Despite the message of Christ in the new testament, there were still those who refused to listen to authority. In the early days of Christianity, there were those who reverted back to their old ways. There were even those who tried to undermine the work of Saint Paul, for example. Unfortunately, some things never change. An uncomfortable message has been reiterated by Pope Francis, that we cannot continue down a path of exploitation of the natural world, just because we have dominion over creation. Pope Francis emphasises in chapter two of Laudato Si, that the Christian tradition has never recognised the right to private property as absolute or inviolable. The natural environment is a collective good, the responsibility of everyone. Those who benefit the most from exploiting natural resources also have a social mortgage. If we do make something our own, it should be to administer it for the good of all. My interpretation is that Pope Francis is challenging the assumptions of Western capitalism in this regard. The Pope is also challenging the attitudes of some Catholics, particularly in the United States, on the matter of man-made climate change. Even with a statement originating from the highest authority in the Catholic Church regarding the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, some Catholics still insist the science is bogus. Some say the Pope is wrong and has no remit to make declarations on a scientific issue. But the real reason the ‘pick and choose’ attitude prevails, is that even doing even a fraction of what Pope Francis is asking for, would mean addressing over-consumption. It also means admitting the path of development pursued since the mid-20th century has been full of mistakes, that the 1960’s utopia was a false ideology. Indeed, the cost of living out the Gospel might mean supporting more regulation on industry, adopting more renewable technologies, and for example not investing in financial schemes involved with deforestation or coal mining. No Christian, rich and poor alike, can have exemption from a responsibility to preserve the natural world which supports us.
Living out the Gospel means considerable changes to our own attitudes that go so deep as to affect how we live our lives, and our immortal soul. Living a moral life is central to Christians. Catholics should believe that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can have a paradigm shift to change the human condition, to use our dominion over creation to enhance rather than destroy.
