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Earth Day: Chance to Give God Thanks for Creation
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Earth Day is this Friday, April 22. This celebration is a great opportunity to thank God for the marvelous gift of creation. As Pope Benedict wrote in 2009, "The environment is God's gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole." In this Cornerstone Notes, we offer some excerpts from papal encyclicals and several resources on the principal Care for God's Creation. |
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Human & Environmental Ecology
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Excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI's Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth, 51):
"The deterioration of nature is in fact closely connected to the culture that shapes human coexistence: when "human ecology" is respected within society, environmental ecology also benefits. ... If there is a lack of respect for the right to life and to a natural death, if human conception, gestation and birth are made artificial, if human embryos are sacrificed to research, the conscience of society ends up losing the concept of human ecology and, along with it, that of environmental ecology. ... The book of nature is one and indivisible: it takes in not only the environment but also life, sexuality, marriage, the family, social relations: in a word, integral human development."
Excerpt from Pope Francis' Laudato Si' (On Care for Our Common Home, 119 & 120):
"If the present ecological crisis is one small sign of the ethical, cultural and spiritual crisis of modernity, we cannot presume to heal our relationship with nature and the environment without healing all fundamental human relationships. ... Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion." |
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Care for God's Creation Videos
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In a 3-minute video on Care for Creation, Fr. James Martin, SJ (editor at large of America magazine), Dr. Carolyn Woo (president & CEO of Catholic Relief Services), and Cardinal Peter Turkson (president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace) discuss this principle of Catholic Social Teaching (CST). "CST 101" is a video series presented by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) on Catholic social teaching. Find all the videos at https://youtube.com/catholicrelief
Created in collaboration with Caritas Catholic International humanitarian aid organizations, including Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Laudato Si videos provide a quick summary of Pope Francis' letter Laudato Si'. The encyclical is addressed to every person on this planet and asks all of us to protect our common home, the earth. Pope Francis speaks openly about the devastating damage that has been done to the planet and how it most hurts the poor and vulnerable around the world. He asks us to remember that creation is "a common good, belonging to all and meant for all." Laudato Si' - CRS Elementary School Animation (4 minutes) Laudato Si' - CRS High School Animation (5 minutes) |
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Amoris Laetitia - The Joy of Love
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In his new apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), released April 8, Pope Francis notes that "no family drops down from heaven perfectly formed; families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love. ... All of us are called to keep striving towards something greater than ourselves and our families, and every family must feel this constant impulse. ... What we have been promised is greater than we can imagine."
The exhortation also addresses the different challenges families face around the world, whether fleeing conflict in Syria, gang violence in Latin America, or failing crops in East Africa. Pope Francis issues the rallying cry, "may we never lose heart because of our limitations, or ever stop seeking that fullness of love and communion which God holds out before us...let us make this journey as families, let us keep walking together."
The apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia is the culmination of a Synod called by Pope Francis. The Synod of Bishops met in October 2014 on the theme "The pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization." In October 2015, the Synod of Bishops built on the first synod by examining the theme "The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world." Bishops, clergy, religious and lay people at both synods, together with Pope Francis, addressed a wide array of topics that concern marriage and family life today.
The Washington State Catholic Conference (WSCC) is the public policy voice of the Catholic Bishops of Washington State. |
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