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1. Biodiversity in Theodiversity
2. To Bishops on Global Warming
3. To Bishops about War on Creation
4. Social Teaching on Ecology and Environment
1. Biodiversity in Theodiversity
The terms one God and three persons suggest one God and Theodiversity, on the
other hand life on Earth with its myriad forms of life suggest one Life and Biodiversity.
Just as Christian spirituality focuses on one’s relationship with God in the Trinity, God is
revealed to the person in diverse ways. Eco-spirituality teaches that divine life extends to
all reality, and the cosmos is an integral part of God’s self-revelation. Ecology studies our
total environment and all the living or non-living creatures that dwell with us in this
cosmic house (oikos/house). Eco-spirituality studies our relationship to God as it
develops in the context of our relationships with the cosmos in its totality. While the
term, “eco-spirituality,” is a relatively new one, the psalmists sang of God’s presence in
nature and often called on the entire cosmos to join in celebration: “Let the heavens
rejoice and the Earth be glad” (Ps. 96) Theologians and contemplatives, past and present,
have experienced the hand of God in the magnificence of the cosmos.
The order that is inscribed into the very fabric of creation, reveals to us that not only is
everything God created good, but also that creation itself reflects the grandeur of God. In
the ancient tradition, the Church Fathers often spoke of nature and Scripture as two
divine books. The first shows us some of God’s attributes through traces and images of
the Creator imprinted on material things. Among these attributes are his transcendence,
sovereignty, and marvelous creative power that appear to us in the vast cosmos and the
fertile Earth with its wonderful assortment of creatures. Even some peoples prior to or
outside the influence of revelation were moved by the wonder of the world to intuitions
about its origin and how everything had been brought into being. The sheer variety of
things led them to speculate about he plentitude of their source. The order and
intelligibility they found everywhere seemed a trace of some divine reason or unitive
principle operating in all creatures. The world’s beauty and majesty spoke of some
perfect spirit at work. Stars, seas, mountains, animals, and plants visibly pointed beyond
themselves to some invisible reality hidden to mortal eyes. The biblical revelation
deepened these intuitions still further, placing them on a firmer foundation, encouraging
believers to observe ever more closely the world God had made, and leading mankind
into different kind of spiritualities. I would like to discuss four kinds of spiritualities:
dominion model spirituality; stewardship model spirituality, creation-centered approach
model spirituality; and deep ecology model spirituality.
Dominion Model Spirituality
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Dominion model spirituality sees, planet Earth as the source of all value. Therefore,
humans feel that they can rightfully exploit natural environment. The emphasis here is
that humans are not at all at home in nature. It stresses differences between humans and
the rest of nature, while we are not above the nature but with the nature. The danger is the
arrogant disdain for material world; subjugating and empowering nature and
environment, which leads to exploitation. Consequently, the monotheistic conservative
religious believers cared little for the health of our natural environment. This stereotype
goes back at least to Lynn White’s famous 1967 article in “Science” magazine, which
blamed the biblical view of man’s dominion spirituality over the environment for present
day environmental degradation. In the article, Lynn White blamed monotheistic religions
for all the catastrophes in the world: crusades, colonialism, conversions, slavery, World
War I, World War II, poaching, deforestation, exploitation of natural resources, global
warming and climate change. Although White’s argument has been refuted decisively by
religious scholars her stereotype lives on.
The biblical starting point for any discussion of the nature of religious environmental
dominion must begin with the witness the Book of Genesis: “So God created man in his
own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earth and
subdue it; and have dominion over fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over
every living thing that moves upon the Earth” (Gen. 1:27-28). In the past and in our
modern times, however, this biblical vision of the relationship between God, man, and
nature is muddled by a false view: dominating and subjugating nature. The Hebrew root,
“radah” for “dominion” means “to rule, to dominate, to exercise power.” It is variously
used in the context of crushing the grapes by the wine press (Joel 4:13), of imposing
punishment on someone (Lam. 1:13), of suppression, oppression (Lev.25:53; Is.14:6).
Besides, it serves to express in court languages the royal ideology of ruling over one’s
foes and enemies (cf.Pss.110:2; 72:8). Similarly the term “subdue” in Hebrew “kabas,” is
used to express various ideas as “to tread down, to press, to rape” (cf.Est.7:8; Mic.7:19),
to reduce someone to the status of a slave (Neh.5:5), or to bring nations under
subjugation (2 Sam.8:11).
Dominion model spirituality is the hallmark of monotheistic religions even today and
it was very prevalent in 15th and 16th centuries. This spirituality was highly recommended
by the popes through their social teachings and justified slavery, colonialism and
conversion by force. Romanus Pontifex is a papal bull written January 8, 1455 by Pope
Nicholas V to King Alfonso V of Portugal. Papal bulls were originally issued by the pope
for many kinds of communication of a public nature, but after the fifteenth century, only
for the most formal or solemn of occasions. Here is one example, fueled by dominion
model spirituality: Romanus Pontifex asserts, “...since we had formerly by other letters of
ours granted among other things free and ample faculty to the aforesaid King Alfonso—
to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans
whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms,
dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods
whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery,
and to apply and appropriate to himself and his successors the kingdoms, dukedoms,
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counties, principalities, dominions, possessions, and goods, and to convert them to his
and their use and profit.” These passages specifically granted to nations and explorers
cause to seek out lands unknown to Christians.
Portugal’s dominion over all lands were discovered or conquered during the Age of
Discovery. Henry the Navigator, who was the governor of the Order of Christ, negotiated
with the pope and offered him to propagate the Christian faith in the new countries. So
the bull was enacted, which politically protected the rights of the Portuguese. The bull
praises earlier Portuguese victories against the Muslims of North Africa and the success
of expeditions of discovery and conquest to the Azores and to Africa south of Cape
Bojador. It also repeats earlier injunctions not to supply items useful in war such as
weaponry, iron or timber to either Muslims or pagans. The papal bull Romanus Pontifex
of 1455 has served as the basis of legal arguments for taking Native American lands by
"discovery", and continues to do so today. Around 1540, King John III started the
Christian mission by sending the Society of Jesus to Goa, India. The missionaries were
supported by the colonial administration, who offered incentives for baptized Christians,
rice for the poor, good jobs for the middle class and military support for the local rulers.
It is unquestionable that there had been emigration due to harsh methods of conversion.
Some missionaries wanted to convert the Hindus by force, to the extent of even harming
them and compelling them to migrate. The most ordinary means to attract the Hindus to
conversion were charity, kindness and social service; intensive and constant preaching,
confessions, admonitions, judicial penalties, catechetical instruction and indulgences;
appeal to emotions, fantasy and senses through the relics of saints, lives of saints, hymns
and promises of eternal salvation. The missionaries were successful and spread in Asia.
Through the papal bull Sublimus Dei, Paul III publicly sanctioned slavery in Rome in
1545, the enslavement of Henry VIII in 1547 and the purchase of Muslim slaves in 1548.
The consequences precipitated by dominion model spirituality, history would never
forget the dark age of colonization, slavery, and the mass murders of Aztecs, Mayans and
Incas of South America. The members of the Society of Jesus were the principle victims
of the dominion model spirituality. Those who have seen the movie, “The Mission,” by
Warner Brothers, 1986, which deals with Jesuits who attempt to evangelize a village of
South American natives and the aftermath of terror and murder inflicted on the natives by
politics and church, would definitely understand and feel the dangers of dominion model
spirituality. Very often, dominion model spirituality, therefore, acted not as a form of
conflict-resolution but, rather, conflict-intensification. I am struck by how little anger
there is in the atrocities of religions, the era of massacres, slavery, expulsions, forced
conversions, inquisitions, excommunications, suspensions, burning at the stake, ghettoes
and pogroms. Fortunately, after the Vatican Council II, more relaxing approach towards
dominion model spirituality was added, still anthropocentric but infused with feeling of
justice, holiness and responsibility towards creation. One example is Gaudium et Spes
(1965, Vatican II): “For man and woman created to God’s image, received a mandate to
subject to themselves, the Earth and all that it contains, and to govern the world with
justice and holiness, a mandate to relate ourselves and the totality of things to him who
was to be acknowledged as the Lord and Creator of all. Thus by the subjection of all
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things to man and woman, the name of God would be wonderful in all the earth (no, 12,
33, 34).”
Reasonably, the dominion motive is depicted in the first human being naming all the
animals that God has made and led before him “to see what he would call them” (Gen.
2:19). All other creatures will be what the human beings say they are—certainly an
extraordinary statement of the power over creation given by God to humanity. But the
context of this conferral is the human hunger for companionship. The natural world is not
merely intended for subjugation by human beings but for companionship. Dominion over
the Earth and all that it contains with the command “to fill the whole Earth and subdue
it”—certainly this conveys power. Such a claim to power by human beings over all
nonhuman creation contains the possibility, all too often realized, of domination and
exploitation of the Earth. This Christian belief is erroneous and misguides policies
towards the environment. Unless, Christians along with all people change our attitudes
towards the Earth, global warming and its effects will only worsen. We need to confront
climate change because our collective wellbeing depends on the environment and
because we are called as Christians to care for the Earth, serving God's vision of shalom
throughout all of creation. Therefore, the terms “dominion” and “subduing” can permit
no license for the unbridled exploitation and subjugation of nature. It is not a dominion of
caprice or exploitation, but one of justice and benevolence patterned on God’s own
benevolent justice.
Stewardship Model Spirituality
Stewardship model spirituality sees man, as the source of all value. Humans care for
creation, which is intended to serve our needs. The emphasis is that there is a wide gap
between humans and the remainder of creation; anthropocentrism, in which the human
person is the center of creation. There is the danger of overemphasis on mastery, with
focus on conquering and controlling nature; speciesism; no sense of solidarity with other
species. Stewardship is a way of life. Stewardship is a conversion of heart. Stewardship is
a disciple’s response. Stewardship is an expression of love. Stewardship is part of our
vocation. Stewardship is an honor and an opportunity. Living as good stewards of God’s
gifts will satisfy the deepest, strongest longings of our hearts. It will fill us with joy,
happiness, satisfaction. Stewards know the meaning of life and make real sacrifices to
make the world a better place, making their own lives better in the process.
Genesis presents a radically different picture of how the world is put together. In this
account, God is the source of all values—in truth, he is the source of everything, calling it
into being out of nothing by his powerful word. Man is part of this order essentially and,
what is more, by the virtue of his created nature is placed at the head of creation as its
steward. Yet this stewardship can never be arbitrary or anthropocentric, as the old canard
goes, for this notion implies that man rules creation in God’s stead and must do so
according to his divine will. The biblical narrative speaks then of God’s solicitude and
care for man so far as “he puts the man whom he had formed” in the garden (Gen. 2:815) with the avowed purpose that he must “till it and keep it” (2:15). Work as cult
becomes a sacred mandate from God and is intrinsic to human nature. Agriculture as well
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as cult (from the Latin root ‘colere’), form an inseparable pair in the constitution of
human beings. Humans are expected not merely to till the Earth and cultivate it but guard
it, watch over it, preserve it and protect it from all damage and destruction and
decimation. Human beings must be authors of life and not proliferators of death. Hence,
stewardship model spirituality demands from us a responsibility as custodians of the
world which is God’s gift. We must indeed develop the world and we must use all the
discoveries of science and technology in doing so. We cannot, however, use the world
just for our own profit and convenience. We must “keep” the Earth, and prudently
conserve its riches, we must avoid exploitation and waste which are simply a desecration
of what God has placed at our disposal.
Many are concerned that liberty, science, and technology are more a threat to the
environment than a blessing to humanity and nature. Human understanding and control of
natural processes empower people not only to improve the human condition but also to
do great harm to each other, to the Earth, and to other creatures. As concerns about the
environment have grown in recent decades, the moral necessity of ecological stewardship
has become increasingly clear. At the same time, however, certain misconceptions about
nature and science, coupled with erroneous theological and anthropological positions,
impede the advancement of a sound environmental ethic. In the midst of controversy over
such matters, it is critically important to remember that while passion may energize
environmental activism, it is reason, including sound theology and sound science that
must guide the decision-making process. Unfortunately stewardship spirituality is also
misunderstood in the modern world, as man the steward gets the license and ethical
support for exploitation, from the religious social teachings as they place man at the
center of creation. The story of man has taken a deadly trajectory toward the imperial
and anti-ecological anthropology. As a result, exploitation of natural resources in the past
led to conflict and the enrichment of a few at the expense of many. The reason for the
problems facing mankind today appears to be over-exploitation of all the resources
around us far beyond our genuine immediate needs. Natural resources remain an
important source of income. During the 1990s 65% of all foreign direct investment was
in oil, gas and mining.
In effect of our actions, mass destruction is taking place all over the world. Water is
polluted. Air in many places is almost unbreathable. Rain forests are being hacked down
mercilessly, thus changing the weather pattern all over the globe. Population growth is
going out of control. No matter how we look at the state of affairs around the world, the
Earth seems to be a doomed planet. Man, the steward has become the natural enemy of
all living things, has been destroying it systematically and no wonder that thousands of
species of animals and plants are disappearing from the face of the Earth. We are
squandering all the natural resources without foresight. Consequently ecological
imbalances like global warming, climate change, ozone depletion, famine, cyclones, and
drought are on the rise. Every one of us is responsible for the disaster threatening the very
existence of life on Earth. The question that we have to ponder is whether it is possible
even now, although late, to salvage the planet and make it a habitable place for all living
things. Science believes in the 4.5 billion year-old-Earth, therefore, many scientists doubt
the role of man as steward, because where was man some 2 million years ago and where
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will be man in another 2 million years from now? Obviously, man as we know him,
addicted to consumption, treats Earth as a temporary gold mine exploiting its resources,
in the process he declares war on creation and leaves it wounded and bleeding. As a
result Earth is in the advanced state of exhaustion, slowly dying. What better word can
we use than “matricide” for this irresponsible stewardship destroying the entire Earth
community for human selfish interests?
Finding ways for nature and man to coexist for the benefit of all of creation will
demand great human ingenuity and effort in the coming years. Social teachings of popes
always addressed these problems in number of encyclicals such as “Redemptor hominis,”
“Sollicitudo rei socialis,” and “Centessimus annus.” In his Sollicitudo rei socialis, which
is in a sense the Catholic Church’s first encyclical on ecology, the pope has reminded us
of “the limits of available resources, and of the need to respect the integrity and the
cycles of nature and to take them into account when planning for development” (26).
Most of the encyclicals point out an inner man “the image of God,” as a steward, enabled
by spirit, consciousness, awareness, enlightenment, which is a consoling and promising
dimension of man as a steward in the future. Therefore stewardship spirituality becomes a
lifestyle, whereby we offer to God our time, talent and treasure. As an act of love, we
serve God, we help others, and we build up God’s kingdom on Earth and make a positive
difference in the world God gave us. Stewardship model spirituality finally is an
invitation to human beings to be active observers of nature and at the same time
participants who are totally involved in the cosmic symphony. It is at the same time a
challenge to decision, to be what we are, part of the created world, and be the high priests
of this universe.
Creation-Centered Approach Model Spirituality
Creation-centered approach model spirituality sees all life, as the source of value.
Humans are not so much caretakers as fully part of creation the emphasis is on intrinsic
value and sacredness of nature, so all species deserve protection; recognizes
interdependence within the web of life. The danger is in the call for sustainable
development leaves many unresolved issues! It is unclear how to balance human needs
with solidarity with other species. What is said here of the Earth applies naturally to all
the living creatures. The Lord who formed the humans “out of the dust” (Gen. 2:7), has
also made “out of the ground” (2:19), all the beasts and the birds and all vegetation (2:9).
Thus more than a rupture and a break, there seems to exist a certain similarity and
continuity and a commonality in origin among the humans and all the living beings. It is
in preserving and promoting this inter-relatedness among all creatures that the humans
reflect the image and likeness of God himself. This is biblical wisdom, this is ecological
wisdom, and this is true wisdom with regard to God, world and the humans. This again is
an invitation to the humans not to treat them as enemies and conquer, destroy and
decimate but to tender, nurture and take care of them.
Thus in a creation-centered approach model spirituality, creation calls man to render
praise and gratitude to its Creator and so man becomes the high priest. The creationcentered spiritual life moves, expands, grows, heads outward. It emphasizes ‘extroverted
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meditation’ such as art, rather than an ‘introverted meditation’ that contemplates the
individual’s psychic situation. Many Psalms, especially Psalm 104, stress only the
equality of human beings with all the created realities, especially the animals, all of
whom together depend on their creator. In other words, the hymn-singers in the Psalms
do not attempt to reach higher levels of perfection transcending temporal joys and
struggles, but move ever deeper into the life of the universe with all its variegated beauty
and riches and thus display a constant ‘engagement’ with the created order. Their way to
God is rooted in “mother Earth.” It is in the cosmos they see God’s “kabod” (glory) being
celebrated. We need very urgently creation-centered approach model spirituality, because
it has lots of potentiality to appeal humanity, as extinction rate accelerates to wipe out all
species on Earth. Time is running out! Extinction is a part of the natural order on Earth.
Species have always disappeared because of natural changes in the environment or
biological changes (like diseases). So, why save them? Dr. Stuart Pimm of the University
of Texas said that scientific evidence strongly suggests that the current rate of extinction
is much higher than the natural rate—about 1,000 times greater than before humans were
on the Earth. Most endangered species protection concentrates on "fixing" problems that
people created, not stopping natural extinctions.
When the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, the U.N said that endangered
species are of "esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational and scientific
value." So let's look at those reasons: Esthetic—this means that endangered species are
beautiful to look at. Just like a clean stream or ocean, beautiful mountains, wildflowers
and other parts of nature are to us. We would like to save beautiful things for our lifetime
and for the kids who come after us; Ecological—biodiversity is a word we came across
very often these days. It means keeping a variety of life forms in our ecosystem. Think of
all the different kinds of dog breeds there are and how many varieties of flowers we have
on the Earth. If there were only 10 types of dogs left, people would pay attention! Lack of
variety is also dangerous. New diseases show up when there is less variety and one
disease can wipe out an entire species. It is also important to have variety in ecosystems:
forests, deserts, wetlands, swamps, prairies, oceans etc. They help keep varieties of
species alive. We don't think about bacteria as very important, but bacteria in the soil
helps crops grow. Birds control pests and improve harvests. Plants and trees filter our
water and our air; Educational—all of the species are being studied by students at all
grade levels. We continue to learn from animals and the problems we create for them and
the solutions that we find for dealing with them;
Historical—we have a historical record of extinctions in recent times and the fossil
record of past extinctions. Many species play a part in our living history; Recreational—
millions of people enjoy camping, hiking, bird watching, rowing, kayaking, backpacking,
fishing, hunting, biking and other outdoor. What kind of nature do you want to enjoy?
Probably the best one available!; Scientific—most of our medicines come from plants and
animals. Probably most of our ‘future’ medicines and cures will be found there too. What
if the species of animal or plant to disappear next is the one that would lead to a cure for
cancer or AIDS? Can we afford to take that chance?; Moral—don't we owe to future
generations to give them the same opportunities in all the areas listed above? If we have
made problems with our Earth, isn't it our job to fix them if we can? The little dwarf
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wedge mussel inhabits creek and river areas with a slow to moderate current and a sand,
gravel, or muddy bottom. These areas must be nearly silt free, which means that polluted
waterways will not support them. Their appearance, as with many endangered species,
indicates a healthy environment. The construction of dams alters these conditions.
Upstream from each dam, heavy silt deposits combined with low oxygen levels, makes
the area unsuitable for mussels. Downstream of the dams, water level and temperature
changes from water let out by power generators also hurt. In some areas below the dams,
the river banks have changed because the water flow is lower and never floods naturally
anymore so a sandy, gravel, or muddy bottom no longer exists. Who caused these
changes? We did? Who should fix them? We should!
Justitia in Mundo (1971, Synod of Bishops) – Bishops could see much ahead of their
time the environmental catastrophes which would befall on us in the third millennium.
First time, Catholic Church, takes a trajectory toward, creation-centered approach model
spirituality. They talk about Earth’s systems: lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and
biosphere. All these systems are built in a complex form of relationship and damage to
one could cause irreparable disaster to all. Justitia in Mundo definitely inspired by the
power of the Holy Spirit and one time in history I feel very proud about our bishops. We
need more synods of this type, from our pastors, if we want to accelerate the campaign
against, extinction, global warming and climate change. Creation-centered approach
model spirituality should base itself on a new grasp of God as immanent in creatures,
conserving them, coordinating them, blessing them and re-creating them. This spirituality
consciously and instinctively sees creatures as part of the Earth and not just as mere
beings on the Earth. This way of looking at the cosmos is typically oriental and Indian.
By calling the Earth ‘mother,’ our own bards bear witness to the presence of the Great
Spirit in plants and animals, in land and rivers, in seas and mountains, in stars and the
sky. The reverence given to creatures becomes worship extended to the Creator Himself.
Justice for the oppressed, option for the poor, should start with a firm choice for the
voiceless—the animals, vegetation and the Earth. This is the beginning of true worship.
Deep Ecology Model Spirituality
Deep ecology model spirituality sees, the breathe (spirit) in every life, is the source of
all value. It is the radical re-visioning of the relationships and boundaries between
humans and the rest of creation. The emphasis is on the call for revival of asceticism,
human renunciation, and mysticism; eco-theology views nature as a medium for the
mystery of the sacred, which humans must not presume to know fully. The danger is
overly romanticized view may make creation into an idol; danger of totally neglecting
legitimate human needs. Someone asked Mikhail Gorbachev, ‘What are your spiritual
beliefs?’ He answered: ‘Well, I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos.
Look at the sun. If there is no sun, then we cannot exist. So nature is my god. To me,
nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals.’ The term deep
ecology denotes a spirituality based on ecology, the word being derived from the Greek
noun ‘oikos’ which means a house, home, or hearth. Thus ecological spirituality is
concerned with Earth as our home. The cosmos as the creative blessing of God entrusted
to humans takes on the central stage in such a spirituality. There is a shift here from the
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anthropocentric to a biocentric or cosmocentric paradigm. From a profiteering and
destructive mystique we move on to a mystique of life, guardianship and fellowship. We
perceive this shift when God made a covenant with Noah after the flood: “Behold, I
establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living
creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle and every beast of the Earth with you …
never again shall all flesh be cut off … and never again shall there be flood to destroy the
Earth” (Gen. 9:8-11). All of creation itself is included in the covenant.
Shallow ecology is anthropocentric, or human-centered. It views humans as above or
outside of nature, as the source of all value, and ascribes only instrumental, or 'use', value
to nature. Deep ecology model spirituality does not separate humans—or anything else—
from the natural environment. It does see the world not as a collection of isolated objects
but as a network of phenomena that are fundamentally interconnected and
interdependent. Deep ecology model spirituality recognizes the intrinsic value of all
living beings and views human beings as just one particular strand in the web of life.
Mahatma Gandhi gave meaning to self-realization in various contexts: 'Life is an
aspiration, and its mission is to strive after perfection, which is self-realization';
commenting on the Bhagavad Gita 'Man is not at peace with himself till he has become
like unto God. The endeavor to reach this state is the supreme, the only ambition worth
having. And this is self-realization. This self-realization is the subject of the Gita, as it is
of all scriptures ... to be a real devotee is to realize oneself. Self-realization is not
something apart.' As Arne Naess, the chief proponent of “Deep Ecology” concept, notes
for Gandhi "to realize God," "to realize the Self" and "to realize the Truth" are three
expressions of the same development.
Camped out in Death Valley, California, during 1984, George Sessions and Arne
Naess draw up eight basic principles that describe Deep Ecology: First, the well-being
and flourishing of human and nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves and these
values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes;
Second, richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values
and are also values in themselves; Third, humans have no right to reduce this richness
and diversity accept to satisfy vital needs; Fourth, the flourishing of human life and
cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population and the
flourishing of nonhuman life demands such a decrease; Fifth, present human interference
with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening; Sixth,
policies must therefore be changed and these policies affect basic economic,
technological, and ideological structures and the resulting state of affairs will be deeply
different from the present; Seventh, the ideological change is mainly in appreciating life
quality rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a
profound awareness of the difference between big and great; Eight, those who subscribe
to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to try to implement the
necessary change.
Besides anthropocentric encyclicals, I always wondered, when would popes include
frogs, snakes, ants, bees, trees and microbes in their social teaching of the Church? At
last time has arrived! “Caritas in Veritate” (Charity in Truth) is a very sensational
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encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI, has satisfied some of my expectations. Most of the
eastern great faiths such as Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism have been advocating deep
ecology model spirituality for thousands of years. We have enormous amount of
potentiality in deep ecology model, not only for the ecological and environmental
benefits, ecumenical benefits as well, if we follow their path of wisdom. We may not
follow blindly the part of pantheistic notion of deep ecology; on the other hand, we can
always be justified for following our own version of panentheistic notion of deep
ecology: God in All and All in God. Caritas in Veritate is the masterpiece on social
teachings of the church. Integral human development in charity and truth is the theme of
this encyclical. It touches upon all aspects of organized and unorganized labor. It
provides moral and ethical guidelines for the welfare of the workers and promotion of
their rights all over the world. More than two years in the making, “Caritas in Veritate is
Benedict’s third encyclical, since he became pope in 2005. Filled with terms like
“globalization,” “market economy,” “outsourcing,” “labor unions” and “alternative
energy,” it is not surprising that the Italian media reported that the Vatican was having
difficulty translating the 144-page document into Latin. Benedict also called for a reform
of the United Nations so there could be a unified “global political body” that allowed the
less powerful of the Earth to have a voice, and he called on rich nations to help less
fortunate ones. “In the search for solutions to the current economic crisis, development
aid for poor countries must be considered a valid means of creating wealth for all,” he
wrote. Benedict, arguably the most environmentally conscious pope in history, wrote,
“One of the greatest challenges facing the economy is to achieve the most efficient use—
not abuse—of natural resources, based on a realization that the notion of ‘efficiency’ is
not value-free.”
Pope seems to follow the theme of John Donne, “no man is an island, entire of itself;
everyman is a piece of the continent.” We are not alone, we are all somehow connected.
The tone of Caritas in Veritate apparently looks like dominion model document, but at
depth it browses a bit with deep ecology model spirituality. The four pillars of Catholic
Social Doctrine are: human dignity, subsidiarity, solidarity and the common good.
Caritas in Veritate recommends, to place, the well-being of global humanity at the top of
their agenda. But, what being ‘human’ means has changed. Central to the new
understanding is ‘rationality’; the recognition of our inherently human social
relationships, human relationship with nature and its consequences. Caritas in Veritate
seeks to define the conditions for what it calls the ‘development of the whole man and of
all men’ and holds that this must be based upon ‘a deeper critical evaluation of the
category of relation.’ We continue to neglect our relationship with nature and God,
because homo economicus is anthropocentric and homo sociologicus is socio-centric,
there is no place in either for transcendence. Caritas in Veritate affirms that ‘one of the
deepest forms of poverty a person can experience is isolation,’ isolation from God and
nature for which man has been designed to relate. It is what St. Augustine meant by ‘our
hearts are restless’ until we realize the relationships that divine revelation offers us; with
father, mother, brother and friends and the document recommends to add, also planet,
animals, plants, environment and ecology. What Caritas in Veritate invites us to do is to
sanctify every human encounter with ‘fraternity’ and to extend this to the whole of
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humanity and whole of creation, making it one global family through ‘relational
inclusion,’ of nature and environment.
Another brilliant example of deep ecology model spirituality is also from Pope
Benedict XVI, written for the celebration of the world day of peace on 1 January, 2010.
Pope argues that the quest for peace by people of good will surely become easier if all
acknowledge the indivisible relationship between God, human beings and the whole of
creation. Benedict notes that threats to global peace just as often arise from misuse or
neglect of the Earth's resources as they do from man's inhumanity to man. Can we remain
indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change,
desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the
pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural
catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions? He argues that
responding appropriately to our ecological crisis will aid in addressing the spiritual and
moral crisis which propels over-consumption and indifference and challenges global
leaders to reconsider long-held beliefs about the role and nature of economic
development: It also advocates a "inter-generational solidarity": "Natural resources
should be used in such a way that immediate benefits do not have a negative impact on
living creatures, human and not, present and future; that the protection of private
property does not conflict with the universal destination of goods; that human activity
does not compromise the fruitfulness of the Earth, for the benefit of people now and in the
future."
Overall, Benedict seems to appreciate the global environmental crisis as something of
an opportunity to promote solidarity and address industrialized society's consumption
compulsion, call it a global deadly sin of gluttony that trickles down unpleasantly into
individual morality. "The ecological problem must be dealt with not only because of the
chilling prospects of environmental degradation on the horizon; the real motivation must
be the quest for authentic worldwide solidarity inspired by the values of charity, justice
and the common good. “It is becoming more and more evident that the issue of
environmental degradation challenges us to examine our lifestyle and the prevailing
models of consumption and production, which are often unsustainable from a social,
environmental and even economic point of view. We are all responsible for the protection
and care of the environment. This responsibility knows no boundaries. In accordance
with the principle of subsidiarity it is important for everyone to be committed at his or
her proper level, working to overcome the prevalence of particular interests."
Church leadership has done a remarkable job when it comes to the social teaching of
the popes. When it comes to the dignity of man, creation, peace and justice, undoubtedly
some of the brilliant documents are papal encyclicals. Some of these encyclicals have
shaped the political outcome in some countries and changed the course of world’s history
for good. In fact, two forces that have guided human social development through the ages
have been one is economic growth and the other, religion (spirituality). The distinction—
between religion as ‘organized’ and spirituality as involving one’s deepest moral values
and most profound religious experiences—is probably the most often cited difference
between the terms. Economy and religion are the two engines that have developed and
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forced us into where we are today, or shaped us into where we are today. However, when
it comes to ecology and environment, still, we find a bit of struggle and uncertainty in the
social teachings perhaps, due to misinformation or lack of information. But religions are
starting to play a bigger and more vocal role in talking about protecting God’s creation
and we whole heatedly welcome that engagement. If they say, “do this,” they’re going to
be listened to in a way that no government and certainly no NGO, is going to be listened
to. In my opinion, the last two models, creation-centered approach model spirituality and
the deep ecology model spirituality have a bigger scope in the future. These two models
have the ability to convince humanity, not only catholic community, but also can
influence other religions, especially eastern religions. I think it’s absolutely imperative
for anyone in a position of religious responsibility in the western world, hammer on these
models loudly and consistently as they possibly can.
Fr. Rayappa A. Kasi, Diocese of Vellore
Please Visit my Website – www.planetschaser.com
Email: soundchaser@vsnl.com
Mobile: 09443537885
2. To Indian Bishops on Global Warming
Earth is ill and it is in advanced stage of exhaustion. Man lost the connectedness with
nature. Most leading climate scientists are convinced that the climate is warming rapidly.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in 2008 that 11
out of the previous 12 years were among the warmest years since records began. Further,
the UN states, that this is being caused by the enormous levels of greenhouse gases
emitted, primarily by industrialized countries such as U.S.A, Europe and developing
countries like India and China. They are responsible for 76 per cent of the emissions
already in the atmosphere. The effects of this warming can be devastating. We are
already witnessing changes to global weather patterns including unpredictable changes to
the seasons, more frequent and severe storms, floods and droughts. In the future we can
expect a greater number of increasingly severe natural disasters to sweep across the
planet. While the issue of global warming and its effects influences all our lives, it is the
poor, those who have done least to cause the problem, who are already suffering its
consequences and will be hit the hardest. Existing levels of poverty, poor infrastructure,
the high dependence on rain-fed agriculture and the limited ability of people already
living in poverty to protect themselves from extreme weather events, mean that they are
so much more vulnerable. Religious view of God includes a most consoling affirmation
that God is active in the world and never abandons the created world in the moment of
need. The God of justice is present wherever he is needed just as no one may limit the
actions of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to shackle the gospel of peace and justice. This
is the moment of God’s intervention. To be concerned about the effect of all one’s actions
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on the fragile ecosystem is to nurture an attitude of care for others that is most consistent
with the core messages of all Christian and religious social teachings.
The current global warming is an effect of all greenhouse gases put in the atmosphere
during the last 100 years, global warming is not just caused by the greenhouse gases
emitted this year or last year! This is also one of the reasons why immediate action is
required to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, because the
effects of the greenhouse gases will last for about 100 years. A better way to understand
the issue is to concentrate on the top 12 producers of all time: US 41.17%, Russia
11.72%, China 10.98%, Germany 9.75%, UK 7.36, Japan 5.93%, France 3.76%, India
3.50%, Canada 3.13%, Australia 3.2%. In another 5 years, India and China will be
polluting 33%, moving up to third slot. The future is an opaque mirror, anyone who tries
to look into it sees nothing, but the dim outlines of an old and worried face. We know not
what future holds, but we know who holds the future! The climate crisis is, indeed,
extremely dangerous. In fact it is true planetary emergency. The voluminous evidence
now strongly suggests that unless we act boldly and quickly to deal with the underlying
causes of global warming, our world will undergo a string of terrible catastrophes. This is
not ultimately about any scientific discussion or political dialogue. It is about who we are
as human beings. It is about our capacity to transcend our own limitations, to rise to this
new occasion. To see with our hearts, as well as our heads, the response that is now
called for. This is a moral, ethical and spiritual challenge. The climate crisis also offers us
the chance to experience what very few generations in history have had the privilege of
knowing a generational mission; the exhilaration of a compelling moral purpose; a shared
and unifying cause; the thrill of being forced by circumstances to put aside the pettiness
and conflict that so often stifle the restless human need for transcendence; the opportunity
to rise above all divisions of caste, religion, race, country, color and language. When we
do rise, it will fill our spirits and bind us together.
Wealthy industrialized nations in the developed world have caused the problem of
climate change through their large-scale use of natural resources for economic gain and
they have a moral obligation to address the problems their actions have created. Sadly,
the best interests of the poor are often ignored in the political wrangling of countries
looking after their own national short-term interests. This has to stop. Industrialized
nations must commit themselves to substantial reductions in their greenhouse gas
emissions to help address the cause of the problem. Developed nations must also
contribute to the costs that developing nations incur in mitigating, and adapting to the
effects of climate change and in developing their own low-carbon economics. To achieve
this, it is estimated that a further $ 150 billion per annum will be needed in addition to
existing international aid commitments. This is a large sum. However, it is not acceptable
to deny poor countries the right to a more prosperous future when the wealthy themselves
live in relative luxury. Indeed, when compared to the $ 680 billion spent on the war in
Iraq and $ 18 trillion spent globally during the recent economic crisis, it is a small price
to pay to ensure millions of people have the hope of a sustainable and prosperous future.
God created the earth and entrusted its care to us. We have seriously neglected this
important responsibility. It is now time to restore a more sustainable relationship with our
environment, so that all human beings have the opportunity to live in dignity.
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The UN Development Program estimated that between 2004 and 2008, 262 million
people were affected by climate change-related disasters each year, with 98 per cent of
those from developing countries like India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. A report earlier
this year from the Global Humanitarian Forum headed by the former Secretary General
of the UN stated that 300,000 people were already dying each year from climate-related
causes, with a further 300 million affected. Access to food, clean water and health is
already a huge problem that will be increasingly exacerbated by global warming. While
the debate on the detailed science of climate change will no doubt continue, not acting on
the credible and widely supported scientific evidence we do have, would be, morally
reprehensible given the potential consequences. While the Church and its international
development organizations make a huge difference to the lives of some of the poorest
people in the world, their work alone is not enough, moreover, it should be done in every
diocesan level, where the evidence is very obvious among the poor. The scale of global
poverty and the way it is being exacerbated by climate change requires an urgent global
response from governments. As “Copenhagen Accord” failed to produce the expected
results, Church has a moral duty to speak out on behalf of the poor to those who have the
means and the opportunity to bring about change. Homo species seems to be planning to
double its populations again well before the end of year 2050. Many people talk of a
quintupling of economic activity, in order to allow for taking care of the additional
people and raising standards of living. Such an expansion implies an assault on global
biodiversity far beyond that already observed. Given current technologies and those that
can be foreseen, the planet could not support a quintupled level of human activity for
even a brief time.
As any banker or businessman knows, one cannot continue to spend capital at a rapid
and increasing rate for very long without going bankrupt, no matter how rich one is at the
start. But society seems unaware that it is swiftly squandering its inheritance. Worse yet,
in the process of expanding its capital, humanity is steadily degrading the systems that
supply it with income. We’re eating the goose that lays golden eggs. Not a very clever
course for a species with the hubris to call itself, Homo sapiens. Many people mistakenly
view humans as principally consumers and polluters rather than producers and stewards.
Consequently, they ignore our potential, as bearers of God’s image, to add to the Earth’s
abundance. The increasing realization of this potential has enabled people in societies
blessed with an advanced economy not only to reduce pollution, while producing more of
the goods and services responsible for the great improvements in the human condition,
but also to alleviate the negative effects of pollution. While some environmental concerns
are well founded and serious, others are without foundation or greatly exaggerated.
Some well-founded concerns focus on human health problems in the developing world
arising from inadequate sanitation, widespread use of primitive biomass fuels like wood
and dung, and primitive agricultural industrial and commercial practices; distorted
resource consumption patterns driven by perverse economic incentives; and improper
disposal of nuclear and other hazardous wastes in nations lacking adequate regulatory and
legal safeguards. We must redirect our lives away from the ecological degradation of
technology and development, say no to consumerism and get away from the evil behavior
and attitude toward the natural world.
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I think religion is a powerful tool to exert control on Global Warming and Climate
Change and as members of Christianity we can make a difference. First, I think we need a
change of heart! We need to see ourselves in another kind of context instead of seeing
ourselves as fundamentally to use the old phrase brains on stalks, living in this artificial
world, in this bubble. We need to see ourselves as part of a system answerable to other
parts of that system and I would say also of course, answerable to God. Now, that’s
something which doesn’t come easily in the western world. I think it’s absolutely
imperative for anyone in a position of religious responsibility in the western world to
hammer on that theme loudly and consistently as they possibly can. In fact, two forces
that have guided human social development through the ages have been one is economic
growth, and the other, religion (science and religion). I mean these are two engines that
have developed and forced us into where we are today, or shaped us into where we are
today. Religion is starting to play a bigger and more vocal role in talking about protecting
God’s Creation and we whole heartedly welcome that engagement. The way religion can
contribute to environment is that it owns a lot of the planet to start with. We estimate that
the eleven major religions we live and work with, they own about 7 to 8 percent of the
habitable surface of the planet, forests, farms, parishes, churches and schools. So, when
we talk about religion, yes at one level, we can think about them preaching and teaching,
because all the faiths have immensely profound statements and teachings about how we
should treat nature. But they also are in the business of the environment. They actually
buy, they sell, they own, they control and they influence, and not only that they carry
authority. If they say “Do this!” they’re going to be listened to in a way that no
government and certainly no NGO, is going to be listened to.
All it took was a plea, from the Dalai Lama to make a dramatic change in the attitude
of Tibetan Buddhists. In his address Dalai Lama, recently in Katmandu, Nepal, said, “So,
please take this message back to all the people in Tibet that it is not good to wear animal
skins and furs, take these words from the Dalai Lama that if you wear leopard or tiger
skins, then, I am sitting here ashamed.” What happened after the speech was something
astonishing! Tens of thousands of people in response to the Dalai Lama’s message across
Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, and India have ripped their furs off their robes burnt their fox hats,
burnt fur blankets and these are extremely poor people. They have very little money. So,
it is a bit like us setting fire to our cars, because we think it’s wrong to drive cars in terms
of financial value. And they are still doing it with a huge smile on their faces and it is
really seeing humanity at their very best. They embraced the responsibility and I think
their behavior really sets the standard for everybody else in the world. We have never
seen anything like this happen before, it is absolutely staggering.
I’m intrigued to see the way now in which some of the world’s major faiths and
religions are beginning to understand that they have a serious leadership role to use their
teaching, their holy texts, their authority, infallibility and their inherent wisdom, to draw
out better messages about the responsibility of humankind in terms of acting as stewards.
Is it going to come in time? We don’t know? We could be critical about looking back at
how pathetically disengaged the world’s major religions have been. They have just stood
by and watched as our industrial juggernaut has laid waste on this astonishingly beautiful
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created world. We are glad to know that they are going to be out there, now raising their
voices in defense of our planet, our Home. Twenty five years ago as I remember very
well, the World Wildlife Fund organized a big conference of multi-faiths of Judaism,
Islam, Christianity and Buddhism. They got together and determined that all those
religions carried within them the moral precept that they ought to care for the
environment and the creatures with which we share the planet. I suppose, in a way the
problem is that the world by and large, has turned away from religions and they are
having less effect than they did.
I would hope that in relation to the whole question about the environment and
ecology, I could help to keep open some of the really big questions, the question about
what is human nature in this! It is not just a practical problem about how do we avoid
disaster, but how do we imagine our humanity freshly and I think religion has a unique
perspective to offer that. Besides religions, we need to bring in the humanities, poetry,
art, music, dance, everything and anything that will make a difference in how people
view this problem. Because, we are in a problem: It matters to our lives. It matters to our
hearts. It matters in everyway. Down the centuries, Christianity has always expressed
care and concern on natural world through social teachings. There are quite a number of
Vatican Documents that stress the importance of caring the planet and its life.
Gaudium et Spes (1965, Vatican II) - For man and woman created to God’s image,
received a mandate to subject to themselves, the earth and all that it contains, and to
govern the world with justice and holiness, a mandate to relate ourselves and the totality
of things to him who was to be acknowledged as the Lord and Creator of all. Thus by the
subjection of all things to man and woman, the name of God would be wonderful in all
the earth (no, 12, 33, 34).
Octogesima Adveniens (1971, Pope Paul VI) – Man is suddenly becoming aware that by
an ill-considered exploitation of nature he risks destroying it and becoming in his return
the victim of this degradation. Not only is the material environment becoming a
permanent menace; pollution and refuse, new illnesses and absolute destructive capacity;
but the human framework is no longer under man’s control, thus creating an environment
for tomorrow which may well be intolerable. This is a wide ranging social problem which
concerns the entire human family (no. 21).
Justitia in Mundo (1971, synod of Bishops) – Such is the demand for resources and
energy by the richer nations, and such are the effects of dumping by them in the
atmosphere and the sea that irreparable damage would be done to the essential elements
of life on earth, such as air and water, if their high rates of consumption and pollution,
which are constantly on the increase, were extended to the whole of mankind (no.11)
…the richer nations should recognize the danger of destroying the very physical
foundations of life on earth. Those who are already rich are bound to accept a less
material way of life, with less waste, in order to avoid the destruction of the heritage
which they are obliged to share (no.70).
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Redemptor Hominis (Redeemer of Man) - This is the first recent and first encyclical of
Pope John Paul II, promulgated on March 4th, 1979. As with so many of his encyclicals,
there was something here for everyone: a piercing criticism of contemporary culture, an
emphasis on human rights, on recognition of ecological responsibility, on imperatives of
ecumenism, evangelization, and much else. Here pope writes about redemption, whatever
the ambiguities of our present mode of existence, envisages the renewal of the whole of
creation. In and through Christ faith experiences; creation as brought to its fulfillment in
a way that promises to include everything and everyone. Though the present form of the
world “groans” with ambiguities and futility, Christ is its center, in living contact with
that “inward mystery” that each of us is. He is there at the “heart” of our existence.
Basically the document deals with redemption and the dignity of the human race.
Laborem Excercens – (On Human Work) - It was promulgated on September 14, 1981,
on the ninetieth anniversary of Rerum Novarum a previous document on work and
dignity of man, promulgated by Pope Leo the XIII. Through work man must earn his
daily bread and contribute to the continual advance of science and technology and, above
all, to elevating unceasingly the cultural and moral level of the society within which he
lives in community with those who belong to the same family. Man is made to be in the
visible universe an image and likeness of God himself and he is placed in it in order to
subdue the Earth.
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (1987, Pope John Paul II) – Among today’s positive signs, we
must also mention a greater realization of the limits of available resources, and of the
need to respect the integrity and the cycles of nature and to take them into account when
planning for development, rather than sacrificing them to certain demogogic ideas about
the latter. Today this is called ecological concern (no. 26, 34).
Centesimus Annus – (one hundredth yea, 9th May, 19991) - Centesimus Annus opened up
new horizons in the area of Catholic social teaching, and it’s insights into the political,
economic, and cultural dilemmas confronting the modern world. The document deals
with the subjects like entrepreneurship, subsidiary and solidarity, the role of family in the
free economy, globalization, and the environment. Equally worrying is the ecological
question which accompanies the problem of consumerism and which is closely connected
to it. In his desire to have and to enjoy rather than to be and to grow, man consumes the
resources of the earth and his own life in an excessive and disordered way. At the root of
the senseless destruction of the natural environment lies an anthropological error, which
unfortunately is widespread in our day. Man, who discovers his capacity to transform and
in a certain sense create the world through his own work, forgets that this is always based
on God’s prior and original gift of the things that are. Man thinks that he can make
arbitrary use of the earth, subjecting it without restraint to his will, as if it did not have its
own requisites and a prior God given purpose, which man can indeed develop but must
not betray. Instead of carrying out his role as a cooperator with God in the work of
creation, man sets himself up in place of God and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on
the part of nature, which is more tyrannical than governed by him (no. 37, 38).
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Caritas in Veritate (Pope Benedict XVI) – Latest encyclical from Benedict stresses, “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.”
Global warming is already estimated to have killed millions through the catastrophic
effects of climate change on living conditions that are already at the margins of
sustainability. As Cardinal O’Brien points out, it is not the worst polluters who have most
at stake, but the poorest, whose own contribution to atmospheric damage is tiny. So this
is a moral issue of justice and solidarity at a geographical level as well as at the
international level, a point made by Pope Benedict in his recent encyclical “Caritas in
Veritate.” With one billion, Church is the largest, has the capacity if they used it to
persuade members of the Government that climate change needs to be taken so seriously
that Copenhagen (UN summit in December on Global Warming and Climate Change,
2009) cannot be allowed to fail. Even though Copenhagen Accord” failed to produce the
expected results, Church could reverse Copenhagen by choosing to reduce the Christian
Carbon Footprint. But they need to do that in concert with pressure at the international
level, which is why Cardinal O’Brien and his delegation are to be congratulated for
giving the issue such a high profile. Humanity would be insane to gamble with the future
of the planet. For many years we have witnessed the suffering of people living in abject
poverty in developing countries, from India and El Salvador to the Democratic Republic
of Congo and Burma. Despite their enormous dignity and fortitude, and despite the good
work done by aid agencies to help those in need, their lives remain adversely affected by
factors beyond their control, and one of these is climate change.
Negotiations for a new climate-change treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol have run
into trouble, with the US and the European Union at loggerheads over the next move.
There could be no better time, therefore, to lobby politicians to bury their differences so
that a new treaty can emerge from the final round of talks in Copenhagen in December.
This is the cause that takes Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and
Edinburgh, to the United Nations in New York, at the head of a Catholic delegation of
senior clerics, climate-change experts and aid agencies to lobby the UN summit on
climate change. It is part of what he describes in an article (The Tablet) that this is the
“largest humanitarian and development alliance in the world”, the combined voice of
worldwide Catholic aid agencies together with Caritas. The goal of Copenhagen is an
agreement on the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions so that, while atmospheric
pollution peaks somewhere round 2015, it falls thereafter. If the reductions go far enough,
this will be sufficient to limit the total effect of global warming to under 2 degree Celsius.
There will be damage, but it can be foreseen and dealt with by the right international
efforts. But if America drops out again, as it did in Kyoto Protocol, Japan in 1994, again
failure of “Copenhagen Accord” Denmark in 2009, such prospects are remote. Two
degree will begin to look modest.
Environmental War on India
With almost 3 billion people, and it is still rising, India and China would be the biggest
polluters in the future, exerting pressure on every sector, endangering all life:
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1. In public health Sector: Unclean water, along with poor sanitation, will kill 15 million
people every year. Indian water is being sold around the world in forms of Pepsi, Coco
Cola, Sprite and other carbonated drinks. This water belongs to poor Indian farmers. Air
pollution will kill another 5 million people. Heavy metals, electronic waste and other
contaminants will also cause widespread health problems and deaths.
2. In Food supply Sector: Manmade technologies that have endured for thousands of
years are now getting rapidly corroded due to atmospheric pollution and resulting in acid
rain. Ozone contained in automobile emissions, annually reduces crop yields
significantly, sometimes as much as 20 to 30 percent of the rice and wheat production, as
the harvest is affected as ozone is harmful at ground level. Many fruit bearing trees are
affected, yielding in less quantity and quality. Will there be enough food to go around? In
64 of 105 developing countries studied by the UN, Food and Agriculture Organization,
the population has been growing faster than food supplies. Global warming has
considerably cut down the food productivity. Population pressures have degraded some 2
billion hectares of arable land, an area the size of Canada and the US. If India protects its
food security from Climate Change impacts, it could negotiate with greater confidence
climate talks. China strengthened its food security … and now they negotiated at
Copenhagen, from a positive strength. Food security and agriculture were primary
casualties of Climate Change. Already agriculture yields are down, due to the decline in
bee population. India produces less than half of China’s 500 million tones of food-grains
per year, leaving New Delhi more vulnerable than Beijing in the global negotiations in
Copenhagen. Just one degree rise in global temperatures would mean an annual loss of
six million to seven million tones, or 10 per cent, of India’s wheat production. Indian
Government has to put its energies into adapting to the impacts of Climate Change on
agriculture, droughts and floods, sea-level rise and soil salinity. We must prepare to
strengthen the climate resilience of our agriculture. All knowledge and technology is
already available in India. Steps that need to be taken, including setting up virtual centers
for climate research and risk management for each of the 127 distinct agro-climatic
zones, which could cost about Rs 100 crores. Seed banks should be set up to encourage
diversification to climate-resilient bajra, jowar and tuber crops. Training needed to be
given in starting farming below sea level.
3. In Freshwater Sector: Most of the fresh water lakes and rivers all over the world are
highly polluted. The supply of freshwater is finite, but demand is soaring as population
grows, and use per capita rises. By 2025, when world population is projected to be 8
billion, 48 countries containing 3 billion people will face shortages. Global warming is
causing glaciers melt away faster. Once glaciers have melted away, more spark, is added
to the problem. China and India are the most vulnerable targets of this problem. The
water table in India has declined by an alarming 12 meters between the year 1995-2005
and shallow water is available now only at a depth of 58 meters. Scientists blamed it on
the indiscriminate sinking of bore-wells and exploitation of river sand for constructions.
Another problem is connecting all the rivers in India! It could be an ecological disaster
for India as this could cause dangerous repercussions. Aral Sea in Russia is a good
example of this impending disaster. Besides the Himalayan Glaciers are receding fast and
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by 2020 there may not be glaciers at all. The rivers will have no more water and all those
known perennial rivers like Ganges, Yamuna, and Brahamaputra would become just
seasonal rivers. Many districts in Tamil Nadu like Vellore, Dharmapuri, Chinglepet are
on the satellite-watch-list for desertification.
4. In Coastlines and Oceans Sector: Half of all coastal ecosystems are pressured by high
population densities and urban development. Majority of poor people live along
seashores. A tide of pollution is rising in the world’s seas. Ocean fisheries are being
exploited, and fish catches are down. Half of all coastal ecosystems are pressured by high
population densities and urban development. Majority of human population lives along
seashores. A tide of pollution is rising in the world’s seas. Corals are dying along with
plankton, due to the Global Warming. Shrimp production along the sub-continent’s
coasts left the land poisonous and doomed. Ocean fisheries are being exploited, and fish
catches are down. Thousands of fish die due to the shortage of food supply in the oceans.
5. In Forests Sectors: Forests are very much essential to humans as they prevent soil
erosion, absorb CO2 and release oxygen and keep the environment cool so that rains fall
in season. Almost 75% of the Indian forests are destroyed for agriculture and settlements
for relentless growth in population, driving millions of species to the brink of extinction.
Thus without forests, no life can survive on this planet. Man, by destroying forests at an
alarming rate, is bringing his own doom. Nearly half of the world’s original forest cover
has been lost, and each year another 16 million hectares are cut, bulldozed, or burned.
Forests provide over $400 billion to the world economy annually and are vital to
maintaining healthy ecosystems. Yet, current demand for forest products may exceed the
limit of sustainable consumption by 25 percent.
6. In Biodiversity Sector: The Earth’s biological diversity is crucial to the continued
vitality of agriculture and medicine, and perhaps even to life on Earth itself. Yet human
activities are pushing many thousands of plant and animal species into extinction. Two of
every three species is estimated to be in decline. The new industries in India in the last 10
years have driven 75% all the species to the brink of extinction.
7. In Global Climate Change Sector: The Earth’s surface is warming due to greenhouse
gas emissions, largely from burning fossil fuels. If the global temperature rises as
projected, sea levels would rise by several meters, causing widespread flooding. People
living on the coastline, face with destruction and replacement. Global warming also could
cause droughts and disrupt agriculture. Recorded climate variations have caused or
contributed to ecological adaptations, migrations, catastrophes, and successes.
8. Global Population Sector: The first billion was reached a long time ago in the early
years of the 19th century. The two billion mark was reached only in 1930. The three
billion mark was reached in 1964 and four billion in 1974, while the six billion mark was
reached in 2000. We have added three billion people in a matter of just 50 years. In India
and China, for every 1 second, a baby is born with an estimated birth of 70,000 babies a
day. Since Independence (1947) “another India” has been added in numbers! Now, one
out of six people in the world is an Indian. The population growth rate in India is 2.50
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percent annually. The nation now adds 16 million people every year. An “entire
population of Australian Continent” is added every year. By the year 2050, India will
have two billion mouths to feed on this fragile planet. At this rate of increase of
population the planet Earth will not have enough food and other basic amenities for the
teeming millions. No government can do anything about it. However, much they try to
provide jobs, education, housing, clothing, food…, it looks like a futile task.
Unfortunately, India is on the path toward western technology and development,
which has already proved to be dangerous in western cultures and their lifestyles have
consistently brought crumbling alt and disastrous effects on environment and climate.
Most of the industries found in India and China, were “rejects” in their own respective
countries of origin, they would not permit there, because they were found harmful,
however, they were allowed in India and China, due to the loop-holes in the
governmental systems. Many are concerned that science, industry and technology are
more a threat to the environment than a blessing to humanity and nature.
Industrialization in India created big problems: exploiting natural resources in
“Lithosphere”, polluting drinking water in “Hydrosphere”, damaging animal habitats in
“Biosphere”, and poisoning the air we breathe in “Atmosphere.”
Whole creation is crying out for renewed moral attention as the “Noosphere” senses
the disconnection with nature that resulted from human activities. Air in many parts of
India is un-breathable. Mass destruction is taking place all over India. Rain forests are
being hacked down mercilessly for new factories and new settlements, thus changing the
weather pattern all over India. Population growth is going out of control, in spite of
thousands of Catholic priests and Catholic nuns who practice the vow of celibacy. No
matter how we look at the state of affairs around the world, India seems to be on a
collision course with nature. The new technology and development is destroying India
systematically and no wonder that thousands of species of animals and insects are
disappearing. We are squandering all the natural resources without foresight. Concern
about Global Warming and Climate Change due to carbon emissions and greenhouse
effects is only the most dramatic of many campaigns geared to promote awareness and
change in human behavior. This represents a set of urgent challenges that can no longer
be ignored by individual or groups. They belong to social organizations, religions and
faith-based non-profit organizations. With two million plus Christians in India, we have
bigger force at our disposal for any change.
It is very important that we should do something about it! Indian Bishops need an
urgent environmental plan: we can’t just sit and watch the assault, orchestrated on the
poor and the helpless, perpetrated by the rich and the new governmental policies of
economic growth. People in India are facing a new kind of war. New plans of economic
growth, new technology and development have declared war on India. Right now we are
under attack. Innocent people are wounded and bleeding! It is our land that is under
attack! It is our air that is poisoned! It is our water that has been depleted! It is our
ecosystems and biodiversity on decline! And it is our generation, our grand children and
their great grand children, who are under attack! India has an estimated 45,000 species
of plants, 33 percent of which are native. There are 15,000 flowering plant species, 6
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percent of the world’s total. About 3,000 to 4,000 of the total number of plant species are
believed to be in danger of extinction. This land has produced great souls like Rama,
Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira, Sankara, Ramanuja, Gandhi, and endemic animals like, the
endangered snow leopard, white Rhino, Bengal Tiger, King Cobra, dhole and rare plants
like neem, jujubes, teak, magnolia, giant rhododendrons and birds like peacock, heron,
parrot, and kingfisher.
Besides, India’s most natural resources which include mineral resources like coal, Iron
ore, manganese, copper, and rivers like Indus, Sutlej, Ganges, Brahamaputra, and
rainforests like, Western Ghats, Himalayan forests and national Parks like, Gir National
Park, Kanha National Park. The Gangetic Plain, which was formed by the alluvial
deposits of the Ganges and its tributaries, is one of India’s most fertile regions, and the
black and red soils of the Deccan Plateau, although not as thick as the Gangetic Plain
alluvium, are also fertile. The Indian Peninsula is bordered by mostly fertile seashore,
West Coast to Malabar Coast and the East Coast’s broad alluvial plains, stretching from
the Kaveri River delta in the south to the Mahanadi River delta in the north, are intensely
farmed. Unfortunately, all the above mentioned ecosystems are polluted, stripped,
exploited, decimated, pillaged, plundered, destroyed and disappeared. The land and the
worker both are perilously wounded and bleeding. Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea face
the problem of Marine-Over-Harvesting. Baby sharks, baby crabs, baby king fish are the
targets of the consumer market. Gandhi wrote, “Earth has sufficient for everyone’s need
but not for everyone’s greed.” Almost 80 percent of fish species are decimated. Future
generations, if they are fortunate, would be able to see few of these species of fish, only
in museums.
Remember Genesis 6: 5-7, where God despises all human activities in nature and
decides to destroy everything, he created. We, in India, do require profound changes:
cultural, social, spiritual and religious transformations. We should be powerful advocates
of conservation. Ethics of dominant society is utilitarian and anthropocentric. Being
ethical, demands a sense of limitation in human desires. This is the matter of priority!
Hence, we must redirect our lives away from the ecological degradation of technology
and development. We attempt to undo the damage done to ecosystems, transforming and
strengthening their relationships with the rest of nature. It is an attempt to bring back the
dignity and the beauty of the Earth, which was lost, due to our irresponsibility. All
organisms, plants, animals, have the right to exist and coexist with us and with other
beings, since they have existed for millions of years before us on this beautiful land. All
biotic and abiotic beings have right to present and future.
My appeal should be to the logic: of saving this holy land: also to the sentiments. I
think the secular world need the logic, because sentimentality is not a winner in politics.
Only, religion has the ability to combine logic and sentiment, can become a powerful tool
to bring an irresistible change in people and politics. This too, is a moral and spiritual
moment. It is about what humans can do, joined with religion? New spirituality is a
joyous pursuit of life in a reverent and gentle relationship with all other beings. There got
to be new approach, stressing the importance of stopping, thinking and changing the way
we interact with nature. In the image of God, man has the ability to play savior and
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redeemer. Man can create, conserve, preserve, protect, prosper, renew, and relive with
this beautiful and bountiful planet. Equipped with this awareness, a new species is rising
on the planet. It is arising now in you. Whether humans have logic or sentiment, it is their
ability that has enabled them to survive in the constant cultural changes and force them to
dominate such vast areas of planet Earth and make humans the greatest of all.
Some of the Little Things we can do!
1. At Home: By saving energy at home, while traveling and at work, we can reduce
the impacts of energy production and use on the environment, and reduce the
amounts of greenhouse gases that are released into the atmosphere. Using energy
wisely at home can help to reduce the impacts of energy use on our climate
through Global Warming. Choose energy efficient appliances. Switch to energy
efficient light bulbs. Turn the lights off in rooms that aren’t being used. Choose
low energy rating appliances for cooking, washing and refrigerating. Turn of the
appliances at the power point or pull away the plug from the outlet. Install photovoltaic panels. Have a solar water heater. Have insulation. Save water and
electrical energy. Do not use machines to wash and dry your clothes. Don’t use
serial bulbs for any decorations like birthday celebrations or any festivities. Get
out of the house during the day time. Cook less and reduce heat emissions. Make
a habit of enjoying nature thereby cutting down your television time. Reduce
using fire crackers during Deepavali. Switch to green power, solar panels, wind
power, hydro power. Save rain water.
2. Travel: Get around less. Best travel is walking, bicycling. Use public transport
like bus, train. Keep full air in your tires. Switch to fuel efficient cars like, hybrid
and electric. Don’t forget car pooling. Reduce emissions from cars, use catalytic
converters. Use alternative fuel like bio-diesel and biogas. Telecommute from
home. Consume less and conserve more. Single representation for cultural
celebration like wedding, birthdays, anniversaries and festivals, instead of whole
family attending. Flying consumes enormous amount of energy and reduce your
air travel.
3. Doing Something: Go for renewable energy like wind energy, solar energy,
geothermal energy, hydro energy … etc. Pre-cycle, Recycle cans, plastic and
glass. Do not burn the trash and leaves, make mulch. To reduce methane
emissions, eat less meat and fish. Reduce shopping and use a cloth bag, say no to
plastics. Cancel all your junk mail. Have no more than one child. Buy fresh food,
not frozen. Buy vegetables and groceries from a local shop. Have a habit of going
to farmer’s market. Use recycled paper and save forests. Advice religious leaders
and political leaders not to use extravagant decorations during the festivals or
campaigning, reducing serial bulbs, illuminations and sound horns who contribute
to noise pollution.
4. Be a Catalyst: Talk about Global Warming in your school, workplace and market.
Encourage friends to spread the message of stopping Global Warming. Be strong
and force yourself to do something good for environment. Select politicians who
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care for environment. Learn more about Global warming and Climate Change
from television programs or libraries. Persuade religious leaders to have their
Sunday celebrations, outside the church and use acoustic musical instruments,
saving electricity and noise pollution.
5. Moving Toward Sustainable Development: Sustainable Development is defined as
a process of change in which, the exploitation of natural resources, the orientation
of investments, and the paths of technological and institutional changes are in
accordance with current and future needs. Unfortunately, no matter which terms
are tagged into such development, whether self-sustaining or self-generating, it
never gets away from its economic origins, namely, rising productivity,
accumulation and technological innovation.
6. New Ethics: We need new ethics? Ethics are moral standards that guide right and
wrong conduct. Ethics are framed in terms of rights and duties. Being ethical
demands a sense of limitation in human desires. It demands the generational
solidarity, respecting future folks not yet born. Ethics demands acknowledging
other beings have relative autonomy; they also have right to exist and coexist with
us and with other beings, since they have existed for millions of years before us.
All life has right to present and future. Do people have a moral duty to conserve
resources for future generations? Do animals have rights to be protected from
extinction? What if cutting trees will later bring death to others as healthy land
turns to desert. Differences over ecological ethics often can be reduced to the
question of whether humans have greater rights than other living beings. A thing
is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic
and abiotic community, it is wrong when it tends to do otherwise. New spirituality
is a joyous pursuit of life in a reverent and gentle relationship with all other
beings.
7. Eco Protection Force (EPF): Every village can start Eco-Protection Group (or
Force) that can persuade younger kids to take charge on the persisting ecoenvironmental problems in the village. The group can also cooperate with the
projects supported by local governmental and NGO groups. The group should be
aware of their local ecosystems like, lakes, ponds, rainforests, marsh lands,
woodlands and wetlands, local biodiversity such as bees, frogs, ants, fish, snakes,
monkeys, and local plants, and local environmental problems such as
deforestation, erosion, water pollution and pollution of air. The group also can
play a major role in preserving and conserving the local endemic species of
animals, plants and their environment, providing a healthy planet for all.
8. Last but not the least: Keep population down. Plant trees, especially on your
birthday. Grow your own vegetable garden. Talk very often about environment.
Start environmental group in your village, street or area.
Bishops Go Green
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Go green means to become actively interested in environmental issues and support
environmental causes. With 2 million Christians in India, if we act right, we could reduce
significant amount of carbon emissions. If Christian Carbon Emissions go far enough we
could reduce 0.25 degree Celsius by 2015. This would be a greatest achievement for
Christianity in India. The goal of Copenhagen is an agreement on the reduction of
greenhouse-gas emissions so that, while atmospheric pollution peaks somewhere round
2015, it falls thereafter. If the reductions go far enough, this will be sufficient to limit the
total effect of global warming to under 2 degree Celsius. There will be damage, but it can
be foreseen and dealt with by the right international efforts.
1. Charity begins at home, hence we start in the Bishop’s House, reduce water
usage, electricity usage, no plastics, go for renewable energy, install energy
efficient lighting and appliances. Recently Vatican installed solar panels for green
energy. Have a vegetable garden and produce your own vegetables in the
Bishop’s House. Buy green stocks, fly green, and support green NGO groups.
2. Bishops could go for fuel efficient, hybrid, battery operated and hydrogen fuel
cell smaller cars. Those bishops who could push the environmental issue to the
most extreme, use public transport. Insist on vegetarian food as cattle, sheep and
poultry production increase the methane level in the atmosphere, which has 23%
Global Warming Potential in relation to CO2 which has 1% Global Warming
Potential. Oceans are exploited, plundered and 70% of fish species is decimated.
Whales, dolphins, sharks and other predatory fish is dying due to starvation, they
don’t have enough fish to eat.
3. Any visit to the parishes or other institutions, make a habit of planting trees with
the community. Recommend to start an environmental protection group in each
parish and also in diocesan level if bishop feels it important.
4. Remember it takes 1 kilogram of coal to produce 2 units of electricity. One
refrigerator uses 2 units of electricity per day. Now, we can imagine how much
coal is being burnt every single day, and India depends almost 70% on coal based
technologies. Bishops could suggest having all the liturgical and cultural
celebrations outside, perhaps under the trees or under tent. Hence all these visits
require day time trips. Recommend using acoustic instruments in praise and
worship stressing the need to save energy and reducing adverse effects of noise
pollution. Sound is good, but noise is bad. Recently Vatican installed “Bose
Speaker System” which reduces noise and enhances sound in low decibels. Ban
all the fire crackers and explosives.
5. If bishops prefer to have liturgical and cultural celebrations indoors and during
night time, urge to cut down powerful lights, for example, bring down to 5 tube
lights where there are 10, bring down to 5 fans where there are 10, and discourage
people from energy hungry decorations and illuminations with extravagant
displays of serial bulbs and noise polluting public horns. Each effort we take in
reducing energy consumption will result in saving vital resources for future
generations.
6. Bishops could stress in sermons on ecological and environmental themes, the
importance and the urgency of saving the world and its biotic and abiotic natural
heritage for future generations. Stress the importance of thinking, caring, saving,
26
preserving, and conserving species. Convince people somehow to take it easy and
make a positive commitment to the population reduction.
Written by, Fr. Rayappa A. Kasi, a 55 year old Catholic priest from the diocese of
Vellore, India, ordained on 09.12.1982, spanning 28 years a priest, served mostly in the
poorest sections of humanity but in the richest sections of biodiversity.
Email: soundchaser@vsnl.com
Mobile No: 09443537885.
December, 2009, Vellore.
Mailing address = Bishop’s House, 34. Officers’ Line, Vellore – 632 011
3. Letter to the Bishops of India About War on Creation
An Appeal to save Life on Earth
Our civilization, in future from where you are, is in peril, in fact, it is already upon us.
God created man on Earth where our primary purpose was to create and preserve Earth
and life. Our planet is a most miraculous place, unique in existence because life can be
manufactured here, which is one reason it is attractive. Coupled with reverence,
compassion, and inspiration, we can make all the difference. We are not here because we
have nothing else to do. We are here to assist the transformational process that is
beginning to bubble and create steam around the planet. In the past few years, multitudes
have awakened, remembering a grand and significant purpose of life. It involves
incarnating as a human, thinking you are a human, evolving yourself into something
more than a human, and then realize that you were more than human in the first place!
Humans are considered by some in this universe to be priceless, though in actuality we
ourselves have no idea of the value stored in the human body. “Wake up man, and
recognize the high estate of your human nature. Remember you are made in God’s image
…” wrote, Pope St. Leo the Great (461). Therefore, human body is the most valuable
thing you will ever own and encounter. We are priceless and this specialness compels us
to understand the specialness and intrinsic value in biotic and abiotic world. The greatest
teaching brought to the planet was the ideal that all humans are created in equality and
that life is to be honored in all forms. There were, of course, who were to honor the rocks,
trees, ants, bugs, flies, animals and humans. God designed Planet Earth exclusively for
life and life in abundance, known as “Biodiversity” in modern biology. Creation story is
the story of “biodiversity.” There are believed to be between 3 and 100 million species of
plants and animals on Earth. Estimates vary not only because experts use different
methods of classification, but also because of considerable ignorance about just how
many types of living things are in the world, and how they are connected. Scientists
continue to discover new plants and animal species. There are five Kingdoms of Life:
1. Kingdom Bacteria (Prokaryotae, Procaryotae, Monera)
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2.
3.
4.
5.
Kingdom Protoctista or Protits
Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Plantae
Kingdom Animalia
A Kingdom of God is Under Attack – Mass Extinctions
Jesus Christ was the proponent of this new vision for the universe. Christians believe
that Jesus Christ first brought his kingdom to light when he came to Earth as a man. He
healed the sick. He raised the dead. We will see and understand his kingdom to light
when he comes again in glory. Although the kingdom of God does not appear on any
map, it is a real place. The whole world is the kingdom of God, comprising the biotic and
abiotic world, from tiniest of atom to largest sun. Religions offer a very anthropocentric
view of natural world, concerning mostly about human needs and lives, excluding all
other biotic and abiotic strata. No matter what version of Jesus you accept, the goal of a
Christian life is to reach the Kingdom of God. There is just as much evidence in the
gospels that reaching the Kingdom of God means arriving at a higher level of
consciousness. Only inner transformation could bring about Christ’s vision of the
Kingdom of God on Earth, which was the Messiah’s ultimate mission. As is so often the
case, you can read scripture many ways. But I think the argument for higher
consciousness is by far the most persuasive. Christian tradition paints the Kingdom of
God as paradise, a place of sharing between humans, animals and plants; a banquet hall
for the starving presided over by a smiling Father; in mundane terms, it’s the warm home
that the master welcomes his workers into after a hard day tending the vineyard; modern
life may be more comfortable, but still we yearn for this place of refuge and rest.
Also, Christianity has always focused on the weak and poor whose longing for rest
and relief certainly hasn’t changed since Jesus’ time. When Jesus said that the Kingdom
of God is within, he meant within everyone, biotic and abiotic world; God in all and All
in God. I think the only way to solve the riddles posed by the Kingdom of God is to say
that God exists in different place depending on your level of consciousness. The
Kingdom of God is not something “up there”, or “out there”, or beyond the beyond; a
release into an eternity, or as the ancient sages experienced, a merging into the
transcendence. It is our ability to recognize God in everything we see. Therefore, God’s
presence could be seen in all the five kingdoms of life, Bacteria, Protoctista, Fungi,
Plantae and Animalia, and this is the Jesus’ vision of “Kingdom of God.” All we have to
do is to realize that the whole Kingdom of God is built on relationships. We are all with
the nature not above or over or out of the nature. In fact, more and more we are
compelled to do so because the human mind alone can no longer resolve the ever more
complex problems of the world, because our state of the mind is connected with the state
of the natural world, through the power of the Spirit.
And, this Kingdom of God is under attack. Man has declared war on creation.
Humanity has declared war on biodiversity. Continued biodiversity loss threatens the web
of life upon which humans depend: Global life support systems and biodiversity
coevolved. The very atmosphere which makes the Earth capable of supporting complex
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life forms was itself generated by plants and microbial organisms. Biodiversity depends
on a complex interplay not only between living things and the natural world, but also
amongst living creatures of varying forms and types, in ways we understand only
vaguely. Ecosystem services provided by these complex global systems are essential for
our quality of life as well as our survival. Biodiversity is essential for ecosystems to
thrive and adapt to changing pressures from human activities. The less biodiversity there
is and the more its natural composition is disrupted, the more the human enterprise is at
risk. The world is now undergoing the fastest mass extinction in its entire history,
according to seven out of ten biologists interviewed for a poll taken by the American
Museum of Natural History in New York. The scientists said that the biodiversity loss the
planet is now experiencing is more serious than global warming or pollution. One out of
three of the scientists polled believe that half of all species now on Earth will die out by
2028. The survey is a “wake-up call” to all of us “that we are facing a serious threat not
only to the health of the planet but also to humanity’s own well-being and survival”, says
Ellen V. Futter, the museum’s president. As a result of human activity, millions of
species are driven to the edge of extinction and 40 percent of life on Earth has already
extinct. If no action is taken to reduce species loss, 20 years out, species loss will
severely threaten Earth's ability to sustain life.” If Earth is now heading into a sixth, and
worst ever, period of mass extinction, we humans with our mushrooming world
population may well be the cause. The word extinct comes from the Latin “stinguere” (to
quench), which is the verb of choice for killing the flame. The evolution of life has been
punctuated by several mass extinctions, specially five big ones, known as “Mass
Extinctions,” that have, at times, wiped out more than half of all living organisms.
Ordovician-Silurian Mass Extinction: 439 million years ago – When the Ordovician
Period started 505 million years ago, animal life was found only in the sea. The
Ordovician Mass Extinction probably caused by a lowering of the oceans, technically
known as “Ice Age,” because water became locked up as glacial ice and killed off
numerous marine species. Later, sea levels rose as the glaciers melted and changed the
environment again. Death toll: 85 percent of marine organisms became extinct.
Late Devonian Mass Extinction: 364 million years ago – By the Devonian period, fish
were a common part of the marine biological communities. Culprit was the Plate
Tectonic upheaval. The glacial deposits have been found in northern South America
which was located over the pole in the late Devonian period. Death toll: about 80 percent
of marine life perished. Nothing is known about extinctions of life on land.
Permian-Triassic Mass Extinction: 251 million years ago – Roughly 251 million years
ago, life on Earth nearly ceased to exist—as much as 90 percent of marine life and 70
percent of terrestrial life died out. The culprit was Volcanoes. At around the same time, a
vast up swelling of magma covered between one million and four million cubic
kilometers of what is now Siberia. The eruption continued off and on for about a million
years, with basalt lava and poisonous gases seeping up through cracks in Siberia’s
mantle. The Permian Extinction has been called “The Great Dying.” It has also been
called “When Life Nearly Died.” Permian Extinction was the extinction that wiped out
vast quantities of life.
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Triassic Mass Extinction, 206 million years ago – Another Mass Extinction occurred in
the late Triassic Period, only 37 millions after the “Big One.” This one wiped out half the
recovered and new species. Culprit was volcanism combined with plate tectonic activity.
During the span of nearly 200 million years, CO2 levels were 5-10 times higher than they
are now with temperatures as much as 10 degrees Celsius higher than today. Earth’s flora
and fauna succumbed to the Triassic Mass Extinction at 200 million years ago. Deadly
global warming may have followed and contributed to the extinctions. Death toll: more
than 50 percent of all species were wiped out in less than 10,000 years, a mere tick on the
geological clock.
Cretaceous-Tertiary Mass Extinction: 65 million years ago – The famous extinction that
is now thought to have contributed to the death of the dinosaurs. Strong evidence points
to a major impact by a comet or asteroid. The impact created a gigantic crater, the
Chicxulub Crater. The Chicxulub Crater is an ancient impact crater buried underneath the
Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is located near the town of Chicxulub, after
which the crater is named. Almost 75 percent of life on Earth perished and at last with the
disappearance of dinosaurs, the way is cleared for mammals to rule the planet Earth.
Sixth Mass Extinction – Man’s War on Creation
All the above five mass extinctions happened before the arrival of Homo. Natural
causes leading to the climate change was the culprit in every one of the mass extinctions.
But the sixth mass extinction on the other hand is induced by human activity and the
culprit is “the culture.” Harvard University biologist Edward O. Wilson says we need to
know three things to tell if there is a mass extinction crisis: first, the natural extinction
rate; second, the current rate of extinction; and third, how fast the present rate seems to
be speeding up and has reached a crisis.” According to Edward O. Wilson, the leading
authority on biodiversity, 1 to 10 percent of all species may die out every ten years, which
amounts to at least 27,000 species a year. According to Norman Myers, author of the
1979 book “The Sinking Ark”, 40,000 species die out each year. According to the
American Museum of Natural History’s Michael J. Novacek, “we may have lost as much
as 60 percent of all species by the year 2050.” These numbers can become confusing
considering that different experts come up with numbers that often do not agree, from
rate of species extinctions, to the number of extinctions being caused by human activity.
We may be driving living organisms to extinction at a rate of about a hundred species a
day. If we assume a low total number of species of 10 million, then that means, we are
eliminating 0.2 to 0.6 percent of the planet’s species every year. As evidence of a serious
decline in species, the voices of gloom point not only to the percentage of species
considered threatened, but to species known to have become extinct. In the past hundred
years alone, 40 of about 950 fish species in North America have become extinct.
Southern Africa has about 8,500 plant species found only in that region. Thirty-six have
recently become extinct, and another 618 appear threatened. Worried scientists point out
that such a rate of species loss is more rapid than replacement of new species by
evolution, and hence means a rapid loss of biodiversity. Medicinal plants are destroyed
30
and coral reefs which are responsible producing 40 percent of oxygen in the atmosphere,
in many parts of the world also seem to be in great danger.
Kingdom of God is Dying – Biodiversity Loss
1. Biodiversity refers to the variety of life from the molecular to the ecosystem level. It
has to do with the number and variety of species, ecological systems, and the genetic
variability they contain. It includes genetic differences within each species—for example,
among varieties of crops and breeds of livestock. Genetic materials determine the
uniqueness of each individual and each species. At the broadest level of biodiversity the
major varieties of ecosystems are known as biomes, and include tundra, deserts, forests,
woodlands, oceans, and grasslands. In each ecosystem, living creatures, including
humans, form what is called a community, interacting with one another and with the air,
water, and soil around them. It is the unique combination of biodiversity interacting with
the rest of the environment that has made our planet capable of supporting human life.
2. Biodiversity plays at least Two Roles in Maintaining Natural Systems:


It provides the natural units through which materials and energy flow, giving
ecosystems and biomes their functional properties. These types of biodiversity
confer stability on ecosystems, and contribute to their effective functioning in
mildly fluctuating and predictable conditions. For example, salmon returning to
their spawning grounds to die there also serves to return important nutrients to the
lands of the headwaters.
Very different kinds of biodiversity are needed to provide resilience when
unusual surprises occur; volcanic eruptions, meteor impacts, major fires, disease
outbreaks, etc. For example, in extreme droughts, some grassland species thrive,
which otherwise remain dormant in wetter conditions. This diversity maintains
the grassland ecosystem under a wide range of climate conditions. These types of
biodiversity are less involved with efficient flows of materials and energy, and
contribute to ecosystems’ survival and the establishment of a new equilibrium in
response to these unpredictable surprises. Upsetting the balance between these
different, but still poorly understood types of biodiversity, represents one of the
major threats of biodiversity loss.
3. Life is an Improbable Occurrence: The conditions for life are a rare, if not unique,
event in the universe. Both the evolution and maintenance of life depends on an unusual
blend of the rare and the common, which allow an organism to survive. One of the most
important and indispensable of these conditions is climate—predictable ranges of
temperature and humidity; another is the availability and flow of certain organic and nonorganic nutrients. Without a trace of the rare element phosphorus, for example, protein
(based on abundant nitrogen) and carbohydrate polymers would not be possible. Without
these proteins complex life forms as we know them would not exist. Biodiversity is an
expression of how living systems make effective use of these varied elements across the
full spectrum of complexity, from genes to biomes. It is biodiversity that allows one life
form or another to thrive across most surfaces of the planet, and even survive the most
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extreme conditions on land, sea and in the atmosphere. Biodiversity is thus an expression
of nature’s problem solving capacities, demonstrating how to survive under varied
conditions. A remarkable array of mechanisms has evolved allowing various life forms to
flourish. Just a few examples include:
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Insects combine small size to populate specialized niche subdivisions,
metamorphism to allow different life stages to occupy different niches at different
times, herbivore to take advantage of abundant food supplies, and the capacity for
relatively rapid mobility, to facilitate dispersal and colonization of empty niches.
These characteristics have allowed insects to become one of the most prolific
species on the planet, linking plants and the rest of the food chain, and recycling
both organic and inorganic materials. "If one could conclude as to the nature of
the Creator from a study of his creation it would appear that God has a special
fondness for stars and beetles," wrote J.B.S.Haldane.
Mutualisms, whereby two or more organisms co-evolve and develop a mutual
dependency that benefits all parties involved, are likely one of the most common
links in the biosphere. Pollination mutualism among insects, birds and bats and
flowering plants is one of the best known examples of rewarding symbioses.
Bees, for example, are responsible for pollinating more than 70% of the world’s
top 100 crops. Bacteria in the human gut make digestion possible.
Examples of maintaining various types of stability are abundant. Both sharks and
bacteria demonstrate constancy, staying essentially unchanged; grasslands
through cycles of flood and drought demonstrate resilience, bouncing back to a
reference state; ferns indicate persistence through time; various fire resistance
gum trees show resistance, remaining the same in spite of disturbances.
A number of regularities regarding species size, metabolic rates and energy flows can
be identified across species. But there is still debate about the role of biodiversity in
terms of biomass productivity, a major indicator of species success. In some biomes
biodiversity is associated with greater productivity (e.g. tropical rain forests), and in other
biomes with less; for example, some extensive and ancient boreal forests, bogs and
wetlands are not species rich but highly productive. In still others there seems to be little
if any relation. Functional characteristics of the dominant species is sometimes more
important than diversity, as with certain grasslands. In short, there is much we still do not
know about the role of biodiversity in providing ecosystem services.
4. Biodiversity Provides a Large Number of Goods and Services that Sustain our Lives.
The Benefits of Biodiversity Include:
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Direct economic benefits; for example, by providing selected crops or animals; or
by providing new pharmaceutical compounds in medical sector.
Indirect economic benefits; for example, a wide variety of ecosystem services
such as pollination, decomposition of organic material, and nutrient transfers in
soil.
Scientific value, helping us understand how nature works, and by providing
models for many devices used by humans, from Velcro to jet engines
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Psychological and aesthetic values by providing items and areas that stimulate all
our senses, appeal to our ideals of beauty, and contribute to our sense of well
being.
Cultural value by providing items and places which become interwoven with a
group’s social and spiritual beliefs and practices.
Options or insurance value, by providing opportunities for survival in changing
environments. Biodiversity makes adaptation possible. The options value is of
special significance as human activities alter many aspects of the natural world,
including climate. Greater adaptability is going to be required because of these
global changes, at a time when adaptability is declining due to biodiversity loss.
5. The Current Mass Extinction, the only one induced by human activities, is believed to
be approaching the largest in the history of our planet. It is also occurring faster than
any previous mass extinction, measurable in decades rather than in millions of years. We
are currently loosing between 100 and 1000 times more species per year than the
background extinction rate. Most extinctions occur as background extinctions, occurring
throughout time. These extinctions are not caused by major catastrophes or horrendous
climatic changes, but by small changes in climate or habitat, depleted resources,
competition, and other changes that require adaptation and flexibility. On average, one
extinction happens somewhere on Earth every 20 minutes. If present trends continue, one
half of all species on the planet will be extinct in less than 50 years.
6. The major causes of species loss are urbanization, agriculture, invasive species,
pollution, outdoor recreation/tourism, hunting, livestock and ranching activities, mining,
industrial/military activity, water diversions, logging, harvesting/collecting, roads,
genetic problems, wetland drainage/filling and aquifer depletion, and disease. Many of
these causes are interconnected, and almost all can be traced to human economic
activity. The same causes threaten biodiversity from the molecular to the ecosystem level.
7. Some of the new threats to biodiversity are coming from human-induced global change
processes such as climate change and atmospheric ozone depletion. Recent studies
suggest that by the middle of the century as many as one quarter of the species on the
planet today, representing at least one million species, will be jeopardized by changes in
climate stability already underway, unless climate change is reversed.
8. In addition to losses through extinctions, major reductions in population size are also a
serious threat to biodiversity. Significant reductions in population size reduce the
opportunity to reproduce, genetic variability, and ecosystem function. Fewer numbers
and reduced genetic variability in turn affect the species’ ability to survive changing
environmental conditions. Species reduced to near their minimum viable populations may
not ever recover.
9. Existing species can go extinct rapidly, but new species evolve at a very slow rate.
Scientists have calculated from the fossil record that during periods of normal, or
background, extinction, species loss occurs at an average of one every four years. It can
take millions of years for new vertebrate species to emerge. By what we do or don't do in
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the next few decades, we will determine the future of evolution in terms of biodiversity
composition for at least the next five million years, and in some respects, the next 10-15
million years.
10. Many species have thrived and survived for millions of years due to their abilities to
out perform competitors in certain niches, such as some crocodile and shark species. Due
to the tremendous breadth of the human niche, which expands with technological
progress, the scale of the human economy is now expanding to the competitive exclusion
of increasing numbers of other species. The current high rate of biodiversity loss is
evidence of this human induced competitive exclusion. Competitive exclusion principle
means: no two species can occupy the same niche, at the same time.
11. Some Examples of Actual Species Loss Include:
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At least 816 species are known to have gone extinct in the wild over the past 500
years due to human activities, although the true number is thought to be far
higher.
Of the 128 recorded species of extinct birds, 103 are known to have become
extinct since 1800. Sixteen species of albatross are threatened now compared to
just three in 1996 as a direct result of long-line fishing.
Some 2,000 species of Pacific Island birds and about 15 percent of the world total
have gone extinct since human colonization.
Roughly 20 of the 297 known mussel and clam species have perished in North
America in the past century.
Many varieties of basic food sources such as wheat, corn, potatoes and apples
have gone extinct due to modern farming practices. Rice species such as “IR8,
Adu Durai, Kichidi Samba” have gone extinct in India. These are the particular
names of rice in Indian Tamil language. These varieties of rice were very
common in the 1950s and 1960s, when organic farming was practiced, throughout
India and especially in the southern Tamil Nadu.
In Indonesia, 1500 local rice varieties have become extinct in the last 15 years.
12. In Addition to Species that have already gone Extinct, both the numbers of Species at
Risk, and their level of Risk, are Increasing. Some Examples Include:
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The total number of animal species officially listed as endangered has grown from
7,205 species in 2006 to 9,435 species over a six year period. The total number of
officially listed endangered animals and plants stands at 11,046.
Several mammalian species, including most of our closest relatives from the
primate family are endangered.
About 12 percent of the world’s 9,900 bird species are at risk of extinction, and
species across the globe are showing increasing signs of distress.
One plant species in eight worldwide is threatened with extinction.
An estimated 30% of freshwater fish species worldwide may be extinct by the
year 2020.
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More than 8,000 tree species, 10 percent of the world’s total, are threatened with
extinction, and the situation has grown worse over the past five years.
Alien invasive species, species that invade or are introduced to an area or habitat
where they do not naturally occur, are a significant threat, affecting 350 (30
percent) of all threatened birds, and 361 threatened plant species (15 percent).
Over half of the some 1,200 variety of bamboo are threatened.
13. Some of the Ecosystem Services Lost due to Species Extinctions Include:
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Some 3,000 whole bush land ecosystems in Australia which are disappearing,
taking more than 1,500 species with them.
Over-hunting of mountain lions and wolves led to a dramatic increase in the deer
population of the Kaibab Plateau in northern Arizona. The deer’s over browsing
of shrubs and grasses increased the erosion of soil on the plateau.
The cutting down of tropical rain forests in India, Indonesia, Brazil, and
Philippines, has resulted in loss of carbon sequestration services, contributing to
climatic changes on a regional and global basis.
Scientists and conservationists worldwide have been raising the alarm in recent
years about the impacts of high sea trawlers on the deep ocean habitats, in which
millions of species are estimated to live. A recent report stresses that some of
these species, such as corals and sponges are slow-growing and long-lived, which
make them particularly sensitive to disturbance. It points out that deep sea fish
such as Orange Roughy and Patagonian toothfish, which can live for up to 150
years and sometimes reach reproductive maturity only after 30 years of age, are
particularly vulnerable to over fishing.
The tundra’s sequestration of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is diminishing
due to increased temperatures in the higher latitudes
Loss of riparian habitat and wetlands due to a wide range of human activities in
many parts of the world has led to a loss of flood control
14. Various Governments and International Bodies have Attempted to Address
Biodiversity Loss:
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The Convention on “biological diversity” was agreed to in 1992 by the majority of
the world’s nations. One of its goals is the preservation of biological diversity.
CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora) has also been endorsed by most countries, seeks to protect some
30,000 species involved in international trade from going extinct. CITES came
into force in 1975, and to date not a single species protected by CITES has gone
extinct as a result of trade. Various national governments have enacted legislation
to protect species within their borders.
The United Nations treaty known as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, or the
Biosafety Protocol, is the first treaty that formally protects biological diversity
from the potential risks posed by genetically modified organisms. Adopted by
various governments in 2000, the Biosafety Protocol seeks to protect biological
diversity from potential risks that may be posed by Living Modified Organisms
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(LMOs), also known as Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), resulting from
modern biotechnology. Numerous international agreements cover a range of
specific species or ecosystems such as whales, migratory birds, and wetlands.
15. The Many National and International Agreements have been of Questionable
Usefulness in Protection overall Biodiversity to Date:
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Despite numerous international agreements and national programs biodiversity
loss continues at an increasing rate.
Like most international treaties, the Convention on Biological Diversity is a
voluntary agreement and contains no international enforcement agency.
The international notification system under the Biosafety Protocol does not
replace national biosafety legislation. Various environmental groups have warned
that enacting stricter national legislation on biosafety is still needed.
India has not supported the Biosafety Protocol, and has major differences in its
approach to genetically modified life forms than countries that have endorsed the
Protocol.
Recent reports from the International Union for Conservation and Natural
Resources indicates that global extinction is worse than previously believed, with
dramatic declines in populations of many species, including especially reptiles
and primates.
Since the last assessment in 1996, Critically Endangered primates increased from
13 to 19, and the number of threatened albatross species has increased from 3 to
16 due to birds drowning after accidentally being caught on hooks set by long-line
fisheries. Freshwater turtles, heavily exploited for food and medicinal use in Asia,
went from 10 to 24 Critically Endangered species in just four years. A species is
classed as threatened if it falls in the Critically Endangered, Endangered, or
Vulnerable categories.
The number of Critically Endangered mammals has increased from 169 to 180;
Critically Endangered birds increased from 168 to 182.
Twenty four percent (one in four) of mammal species are threatened.
Although the overall percentage of threatened mammals and birds has not greatly
changed in four years, the magnitude of risk, shown by movements to the higher
risk categories, has increased.
16. Recognizing the Importance of Biodiversity: The difficulties inherent in preserving
biodiversity, some groups have asked the question "which species are most important to
save?” Various approaches have emphasized protection for keystone species, endangered
species, or what are known as biodiversity hotspots—specific areas with exceptionally
high densities of biodiversity. The dangers of attempting to set priorities for preservation
efforts is that we are largely ignorant of the values any particular species provides to the
web of life or the options value it might provide in a rapidly changing global
environment.
Marine Over-harvesting – The Massacre of the Innocents
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The use of over-efficient fishing technology, the lack of sufficient scientific data
regarding the oceans, the ignorance and apathy of humanity towards this oceanic crisis,
and insufficient implementation of existing maritime agreements are resulting in a
decrease in the biodiversity of the ocean, changes to ocean chemistry, changed in the
genetic composition of marine species, disturbances to the food web and ecosystem,
collapse of fish stocks, and irreparable damage to marine ecosystems and to the fishing
industry, including all people dependent on fish for sustenance, income, and cultural
value. The problem has not arisen overnight. Historically, fishermen believed that the
ocean could support unlimited fishing. As stocks began to collapse, however,
international limits and regulations on fishing were implemented. Many nations,
however, have cultural and economic ties to the fishing industry that impede the
implementation of fishing regulations. Currently, the United Nations is working to
control over-fishing, enforce fishing regulations, and resolve international fishing
disputes. Examples of the outcomes from over-fishing exist in areas such as the North
Sea of Europe, the Grand Banks of North America, East China Sea of Asia, Arabian Sea
and the Bay of Bengal of India. In these locations, over-fishing has not only proved
disastrous to fish stocks but also to the fishing communities relying on the harvest. Like
other extractive industries such as forestry and hunting, fishery is susceptible to
economic interaction between ownership or stewardship and sustainability, otherwise
known as the tragedy of the commons. The FAO scientists publish a two yearly report
(SOFIA) on the state of the world’s fisheries and aquaculture. The report is generally
rather conservative regarding the acknowledging of problems but does show the main
issues: 52% of fish stocks are fully exploited; 20% are moderately exploited; 17% are
overexploited; 7% are depleted; 1% is recovering from depletion. This information
details that over 25% of all the world’s fish stocks, are either overexploited or depleted.
Another 52% is fully exploited these are in imminent danger of overexploitation and
collapse. Thus a total of almost 80% of the world’s fisheries are fully to over-exploited,
depleted, or in a state of collapse. Worldwide about 90% of the stocks of large predatory
fish stocks are already gone. In the real world all this comes down to two serious
problems—we are losing species as well as entire ecosystems. As a result the overall
ecological unity of our oceans are under stress and at risk of collapse; we are in risk of
losing a valuable food source many depend upon for social, economical or dietary
reasons.
Our Generational Mission – Conservation of Biodiversity
Humanity is 6 million years old, a mere tick on the geological clock, already facing its
own extinction due to biodiversity loss, global warming and climate change. These crises
also offer us the chance to experience what few generations in history have had the
privilege of knowing a generational mission; the exhilaration of compelling moral
purpose; a shared and unifying cause; the thrill of being forced by circumstances to put
aside the pettiness and conflict that so often stifle the restless human need for
transcendence; the opportunity to rise. When we do rise, it will fill our spirits and bind us
together. The human assault on biodiversity has been recognized, though not its scale,
extent, and imminent threat. In 1922 the world coalesced around a framework for action
to protect biodiversity in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
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The objectives of the treaty are described as “the conservation of biological diversity, the
sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits
arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.” The treaty, at its core, calls on
countries to take appropriate actions to conserve biological diversity. The rich countries
promised additional financial resources to this effort. The following wide range of
conservation action was envisaged.
1. Reduce the rate of biodiversity loss, including, biomes, habitats and
ecosystems, species and populations; and genetic diversity.
2. Promote sustainable use of biodiversity.
3. Address the major threats to biodiversity, including those arising from
invasive alien species, climate change, pollution, and habitat change.
4. Maintain ecosystem integrity, and the provision of goods and services
provided by biodiversity in ecosystems, in support of human well being.
5. Protect traditional knowledge, innovations, and practices.
6. Mobilize financial, technical and religious resources for implementing the
convention and the strategic plan, especially for developing countries.
Indian bishops need an urgent environmental plan to steer the government in right
direction. I think, Indian bishops have lot of potentiality to offer to the nation and to
future generations, saving biodiversity in India. It is time to include bees, frogs, bugs and
plants in the social teachings of pontiffs, who need to be saved, too. Great religions
Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism always cared for them. As Dr. Roy Lazar puts it,
“religion which aims at ultimate union and communion of all beings, both sacred and
profane, needs to recognize the values of the other religions; otherwise it will be a source
of intolerance and religious bigotry” ( from “Transforming Religions,” edited by Felix
Wilfred). Religions can help achieve by 2015 a significant reduction of the current rate
of biodiversity loss at the global, regional, and national level as a contribution to poverty
alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth. This target was also adopted at the 2002
World Summit on Sustainable Development and was incorporated by the UN General
Assembly as a target under the Millennium Development Goals. Alas, the commitment to
slow the loss of biodiversity by 2010 must be regarded as the best-kept secret on the
planet. The goal was set to at least modest fanfare but has now disappeared from the
world’s radar screen entirely. There are many reasons, all relating to a lack of political
leadership in all parts of the world. The goal has been eclipsed by war, short-term crises,
and pervasive neglect, and also by a blindingly misguided debate over the CBD itself.
The world’s nations ended up focusing much of their debate, and ire, on the question of
how to share genetic riches for commercial use and on who would own those resources.
Countries like India, China, and Brazil, with their exploding populations, continue to
exploit remaining natural resources in industrialization, modernization of technology and
development, thereby endangering the ecosystems and biodiversity. I think, 2 million
Christian people in India, are looking for a strong environmental leadership from their
bishops, to stop carnage in India.
Biodiversity Hotspots – Nature’s Gift to Future Generations
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There are 35 “Biodiversity Hotspots,” in the world including two from India. The
distribution of species on Earth is quite uneven. Some places, such as the Arctic tundra,
are native territory to very few species. Tropical rain forests—in Indonesia, the Amazon,
or Hawaii—are home to the highest density of species. Most land-dwelling species have
small ranges. A great part of those land-dwelling species—around half of land plants and
two fifths of land-dwelling vertebrates—are concentrated in small areas that together
make up only a tiny portion of Earth’s surface. These regions, called “Biodiversity
Hotspots,” are dotted around the world from Indonesia to Ecuador. The term
“Biodiversity Hotspot” was introduced by Norman Myers in 1988. He designated ten
tropical forests as hotspots of biodiversity. However, in the use of the term hotspot Myers
meant more than just that they were sites of high species that were found nowhere else
(endemic) but he also defined them in terms of how threatened they were. So instead of a
“hotspot” being a term for high species richness, merely describing a natural pattern,
from its inception it was wedded to conservation and identifying conservation priorities.
Most references to hotspots in the scientific literature follow Myer’s usage. In fact,
there is now a formal definition of hotspot in that it must be an area which contains at
least 1500 species of plant and must have lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat.
Hotspots tend also to be defined using larger organisms such as mammals, birds and
plants. Hot spots use to constitute nearly 12 percent of Earth’s land, but they have been
logged and built on and degraded by human populations until they now constitute only
2.3 percent of Earth’s land surface, an area about the size of India. This too is a moral
moment, a crossroads. This is not ultimately about any scientific discussion or political
dialogue. It is about who we are as human beings. It is about our capacity to transcend
our own limitations, to rise to this new occasion. To see with our hearts, as well as our
minds, the response that is now called for. This is a moral, ethical and spiritual challenge.
Our responsibility compels us to save these pristine places, the last strongholds of the
wild; it is our moral duty and our obligation we owe to our future generations. Recent
inventories of hotspots identified 25 to 35 different regions worldwide. While these
hotspots once covered about an eight of our planet’s surface, an area roughly the size of
Russia and Australia combined. The following are more or less 35 hot spots around the
world:
1. New Zealand; 2. New Caledonia; 3. Polynesia-Micronesia; 4. East Melanesian;
5. Southwest Australia; 6. Wallacea; 7. Philippines; 8. Japan; 9. Sundaland;
10. Indo-Burma; 11. Indian Western Ghats; 12. Himalayas; 13. Tropical Andes;
14. Sundaland; 15. Mountains of South-Central China; 16. Mountains of Central Asia;
17. Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands; 18. Horn of Africa; 19. Irano-Anatolian;
20. Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany; 21. Cape Floristic Region; 22. Succulent Karoo;
23. Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa; 24. Eastern Afromontane; 25. Caucasus;
26. Mediterranean Basir; 27. Atlantic Forest; 28. Sri Lanka;
29. Chilean Winter Rainfall Valdivian Forest; 30. Cerrado; 31. Caribbean Islands;
32. Tumbes-Choco-Magdelena; 33. Mesoamerica; 34. Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands;
35. California Floristic Provionce.
Sacrifice – A Key to Conservation
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When it comes to ecology and environment, sacrifice is the key to sustainable
development. Are you willing to sacrifice? And what will you sacrifice to save the
planet? Change is fundamentally about sacrifice. How many people are willing to give up
car, motor bike, a front loading fridge freezer, a dishwasher, extra televisions, game
consoles, extra computers, multiple telephones, bug zappers, power tools, toasters,
resistance heaters, electric water heaters, air conditioners, curling irons, uncurling
irons, power washers, air compressors, excessive lighting, electric towel dryers, power
showers, etc, etc, etc ... Would our lives be richer without all that crap? Certainly our
bank accounts would be fatter, not only for not having bought it all but also for not
having paid the utility to power it. We could work less because we'd be spending less.
What would we do with all our time if we didn't have gadgetry to buy and spend time
with; quality family time, get to know the neighbors, grow food, cook food, read a book,
watch the sunset, feel the evening breeze, make love, teach our children, keep bees, raise
chickens, get enough exercise, get enough sleep, etc, etc, etc ... Oh I'm sorry, I was
supposed to be talking about sacrifice ... "There's nothing older or wrong about last year's
car, cellphone, motorbike or television". We still seem to need to upgrade our cell phone
once a year and have a shiny car. What we really need is a healthier attitude which will
show us that we can reduce consumption and actually feel better about ourselves. That
does not have to mean huge changes either.
Sacrifice is a surrender of something of value as a means of gaining something more
desirable or of preventing some evil. Our Planet's future hangs in balance. Among the
multi various trials and tribulations, the most serious danger is Climate Change.
Environmentalists calculate that within the next ten years environmental catastrophes will
become the order of the day. There is an urgent need on the part of the Nations of the
world to reduce their carbon emissions, especially in India and China. The Conference of
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in
Copenhagen did not achieve any tangible outcome as no agreement could be arrived at.
Nations across the world refused to cooperate. What is the reason? Prevailing persistent
unemployment! Wonder how is unemployment related to carbon emission? Economies
are sagging everywhere. The only solution for the nations is to increase their industrial
activity to create employment and in the process burn more coal. Countries have to take
care of their citizens’ welfare; they neither have time nor patience to turn down their
carbon emissions. In such “a never before bad situation”, issues related to Environment
naturally take the back seat. Then how can we reduce our Carbon Emissions? Here
comes Humanity’s only solution, “Voluntary Sacrifice”, a new role and responsibility for
the people of all Nations. People and countries have to do “Voluntary Sacrifice” of
certain simple things, for their own welfare and that of their children. Certainly the
Governments will follow the footsteps of their people. Do “voluntary sacrifice” today to
save our “planet.” Voluntary Sacrifice movement declares the 3rd World War. The first
two world wars were between countries. The 3rd World War will be fought and will have
to be fought together by the Nations of the world and Peoples of Countries, sinking all
their differences, fights, quarrels and wars, because if they don’t do it now, they will not
be there even to fight between themselves. The enemy is now not any caste, religion,
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language, color, race and nation, but ‘Speeding up of Global Warming’ & other
catastrophes.
Conservation – A Good Investment for Future Generations
Biodiversity is one of nature’s support services. Through biodiversity, natural systems
grow stable, yet are resilient enough to withstand most disturbances that nature can throw
at them, from disease to ice to fire. The genetic and ecological diversity existing in
Earth’s environments today took billions of years of evolution to develop. Like other
ecosystem services, biodiversity provides these enormous benefits free of charge. It is up
to humans to learn to perceive biodiversity not as just a fascinating display of nature’s
weird and wonderful imagination, but as the safety net that will keep our species alive
and well through eons to come. Studies show that investing in the environment is a good
way to fight poverty around the world. Environmental sustainability is an essential part
of ending global poverty, according to the United Nations, which has made sustainability
one of the top priorities for reducing global poverty. Education, health, clean water, and
drip irrigation—investments in all these areas can help fight poverty in a way that
reinforces the importance of healthy ecosystems. Investment in antipoverty development
should involve local people who will be affected. Environmental restoration,
conservation and preservation should be part of any economic development plan.
Agricultural investment should support biodiversity and improved soil, not only new crop
varieties. Investment in infrastructure, such as wells, communications, and roads, should
support change that is ecologically sustainable. Investment in new energy sources is
essential for economic growth in developing countries, but carbon levels in the
atmosphere must be controlled. A village that can cook with solar ovens will have no
reason to cut down its surrounding forests for firewood.
Preserving biodiversity hotspots is crucial to avoiding major species loss in coming
decades. Poor people who live in or near endangered places must have a way to earn a
living that does not involve degrading or destroying the land. Conservation money, rather
than trying to keep people away from sensitive lands, can be spent on creating jobs and
teaching methods of land management that help people to value their local ecology.
Meanwhile people in the richest countries must change behaviors and policies that are
causing long-term damage to Earth’s climate and ecosystems. Sustaining the planet’s lifegiving ecosystems a chance of survival—which are threatened by construction,
agriculture, deforestation, mining, and other activities of modern man—is as important as
preserving species. Lowering carbon emissions by burning fewer and cleaner fossil fuels
is just one place to start. It is inner spirituality, connectedness to all creatures, call for
preservation and conservation. Without animals and plants, our place would resemble
hellish. The same breath of God would give rise to humans, is present in all animals and
plant kingdoms. Religion gives value and credibility to philosophies and assumptions.
Religion is a powerful tool in conservation. Our “spirit-spirit” relationships are not only
extrinsically meaningful they are intrinsically valuable for they connect us to other
persons and to the Transcendent. As Buber nicely put it: “As soon as we touch a “You,”
we are touched by a breath of eternal life … the lines of relationships intersect in the
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Eternal You.” But I want to go beyond this conclusion about meaning and value to make
a point about metaphysics: the interconnected web of personal relations is part of the
fundamental structure of the universe. As Nammalvar, the ninth-century CE Indian poetsinger, writing about Krishna, says: “My little girl says:
‘I’ve no relatives here and everyone here is my relative.
I’m the one who makes relatives relate,’ she says.
Can it be the Lord of illusions beyond all relations has come and taken her over?”
One ought to take the religious point of view, if he wants to be effective; it is the path
of wisdom, because taking the religious point of view will give ultimate value for life, for
to do so one has to integrate the self through integration with the structure of reality: this
is the root notion of following the dharma in all religions. This argument leads to the
metaphor of Cosmic Christ, which also concerns with the responsibility of preservation,
conservation and restoration. The world in our thinking is the sacrament of God, the
visible, physical, bodily presence of God. The Cosmic Christ metaphor suggests that
Jesus’ paradigmatic ministry is not limited to the years 1-30 CE nor to the Church, as in
the model of the Church as the mystical body of Christ, but is available to us throughout
nature. It is available everywhere, it is unlimited—with one qualification—it is mediated
through bodies. The entire cosmos is the habitat of God, it is the kingdom of God, but we
know this only through the mediation of the physical world. The world as sacrament is an
old and deep one in the Christian tradition, both Eastern and Western. The sacramental
tradition assumes that God is present not only in the hearing of the word, in the preaching
and reading of scripture, and not only in the two (or seven) sacraments of the Church, but
also in each and every being in creation. The Christian tradition is rich and powerful,
epitomized in a sensibility that sees God in everything and everything full of the glory of
God: the things of this Earth are valuable principally as vehicles for communication with
the divine. A different sensibility is evident in this Navajo chant, describing human
nature relationship: The Navajo are one of the largest tribes in the United States: “May it
be delightful in my house; From my head may it be delightful; To my feet may it be
delightful; Where I lie may it be delightful; All above me may it be delightful; All around
me may it be delightful.”
It is uplifting when you read Fr. Francis Vineeth Vadakethala CMI, a prominent
Indian philosopher writes on the relationship of nature and man with the Ineffable:
“Created in God’s own image and placed on this Earth, human beings are called to
combine the divine and the earthly, the visible and the invisible, the tangible and the
Ineffable. The Ineffable shines forth in and through everything and everyone in creation.
When human beings, through their untiring search, learn to integrate the outer layers in
their own innermost depth, where the Ineffable abides, the entire universe becomes
splendid with the light and delight of the Ineffable, they all become one, as Jesus, the
visible face of the Ineffable prayed: “May they be one, just as you are in me and I am in
you.” (from the book “New Horizons of Indian Christian Living,” edited by Fr. Saju
Chackalackal CMI) Finally, man stands on the Earth, more perfect than any other.
Intelligent, self-aware, he alone among all creatures has the curiosity to ask: How did I
come into being? What forces have created me? And, guided by his scientific knowledge,
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he comes to the realization that he was created by all who came before him, through their
struggle against adversity, and we are the last inheritors of Earth. Inheritors have to work
hard for inheritance through conservation, preservation and restoration. This inheritance
is not ours, but we just borrowed from our children and from their great grandchildren.
Let me conclude with the statement, from my mentor Edward O. Wilson, “may we take
possession of this land that God has provided and let it drip with milk and honey into our
mouths, forever.” May our attention at this Christmas, focus more on the biodiversity in
the crib which symbolizes the fragility of our Natural Heritage. Happy Christmas! 2010.
I would like to make the same appeal to your Priests as well, if you could
arrange with me a proper time and date in advance. I need minimum one hour,
maximum 4 hours. Mobile: 09443537885. My Email: soundchaser@vsnl.com
Please Check my Website and you can download all my 7 Books absolutely Free.
If you Want to Buy all the 7 Books in a Store, it would cost you Rs. 1,200.
Please Inform to Priests, Sisters and People about my Websites. It is very Urgent!
www.planetschaser.com and www.globethics.net
This appeal is written by Fr Rayappa A. Kasi, a Catholic priest from the Diocese of
Vellore, India. He also conducts retreats, seminars and workshops. Mailing Address:
Rayappa A. Kasi, A.Kattupadi Post, Vellore – 632 011
4. Social Teachings of Pontiffs on Ecology and Environment
An "encyclical" in Latin refers to a "circulating letter," commonly referred to as
"Catholic Social Teaching." Papal encyclicals began with Benedict XIV’s “Ubi Primum
(1740), and since the pontificate of Pius IX (1846-78) has become the standard means for
exercising the pope’s ordinary teaching authority. Encyclical is a formal pastoral letter
written by, or under the authority of, the pope concerning moral doctrinal, or disciplinary
issues addressed to the universal church. Some of them are social encyclicals, which are,
specially concerned on the social teachings of pontiffs, with matters of social justice,
human rights, and peace. Catholic Social Teaching is grounded in the values and
principles of Judeo-Christian religious experience, which are reflected in the Christian
scriptures and the Church's lived tradition. It has evolved as each generation has
attempted to live in society with reflective fidelity to those values and that religious
vision. An active commitment to social justice is now recognized as essential to authentic
Catholic faith. Before the advent of encyclicals, some of them known as “bulls.” Pope’s
social teachings sometimes, not often deal with ecology and environment; they can be
grouped under four models: Dominion Model; Stewardship Model, Creation-centered
Approach model; and Deep Ecology Model.
Dominion model
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Humans feel that they can rightfully exploit natural environment. The emphasis here is
that humans are not at all at home in nature. It stresses differences between humans and
the rest of nature, while we are not above the nature but with the nature. The danger is the
arrogant disdain for material world; subjugating and empowering nature and
environment, which leads to exploitation.
Dominion Model social teachings known as ‘papal bulls’ were, very prevalent in 15 th
and 16th centuries. Romanus Pontifex is a papal bull written January 8, 1455 by Pope
Nicholas V to King Alfonso V of Portugal. Papal bulls were originally issued by the pope
for many kinds of communication of a public nature, but after the fifteenth century, only
for the most formal or solemn of occasions. Here is one example, based on Dominion
Model teaching: Romanus Pontifex asserts, “...since we had formerly by other letters of
ours granted among other things free and ample faculty to the aforesaid King Alfonso—
to invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and pagans
whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ wheresoever placed, and the kingdoms,
dukedoms, principalities, dominions, possessions, and all movable and immovable goods
whatsoever held and possessed by them and to reduce their persons to perpetual slavery,
and to apply and appropriate to himself and his successors the kingdoms, dukedoms,
counties, principalities, dominions, possessions, and goods, and to convert them to his
and their use and profit.” These passages specifically granted to nations and explorers
cause to seek out lands unknown to Christians. In 1493 Pope Alexander VI issued Inter
Caetera stating one Christian nation did not have the right to establish dominion over
lands previously dominated by another Christian nation, thus establishing the Law of
Nations. Together, the Dum Diversas (1452 by Pope Nicholas V), the Romanus Pontifex
and the Inter Caetera came to serve as a justification for the Discovery Doctrine and the
Age of Imperialism.
Portugal’s dominion over all lands were discovered or conquered during the Age of
Discovery. Henry the Navigator, who was the governor of the Order of Christ, negotiated
with the Pope and offered him to propagate the Christian faith in the new countries. So
the bull was enacted, which politically protected the rights of the Portuguese. Along with
encouraging the seizure of the lands of "Saracens, pagans ... and other enemies of Christ",
it repeated the earlier bull's permission for the enslavement of such peoples. The bull's
primary purpose was to forbid other Christian nations from infringing the King of
Portugal's rights of trade and colonization in these regions. The bull praises earlier
Portuguese victories against the Muslims of North Africa and the success of expeditions
of discovery and conquest to the Azores and to Africa south of Cape Bojador. It also
repeats earlier injunctions not to supply items useful in war such as weaponry, iron or
timber to either Muslims or pagans. The Papal bull Romanus Pontifex of 1455 has served
as the basis of legal arguments for taking Native American lands by "discovery", and
continues to do so today. The logic of the rights of conquest and discovery were followed
in all western nations including those that never recognized papal authority. They were
also early influences on the development of the slave trade of the 15th and 16th centuries,
even though the papal bull Sublimus Dei of 1537, by Pope Paul III, which was on the
enslavement and evangelization if South American Indians, forbade the enslavement of
non-Christians. Scholars note that the executive brief for Sublimus Dei was withdrawn by
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the Pope after protests by the Spanish monarchy. Paul III publicly sanctioned slavery in
Rome in 1545, the enslavement of Henry VIII in 1547 and the purchase of Muslim slaves
in 1548. The consequences precipitated by Dominion Model teachings, history would
never forget the dark age of colonization, slavery, and the mass murders of Aztecs,
Mayans and Incas of South America.
The members of the Society of Jesus were the principle victims of the Dominion
Model based social teachings of popes. The pontificate of Clement XIII (1758-69) was
dominated by the Jesuit issue. He was under heavy pressure from Portugal, and then
France, Spain, Naples and Sicily, to dissolve the Jesuit order and he summoned a special
consistory to discuss the matter but died the day before it met. The Jesuits had been
expelled from Brazil (1754), Portugal (1759), France (1764), Spain and its colonies
(1767) and Parma (1768). Those who have seen the movie, “The Mission,” by Warner
Brothers, 1986, which deals with Jesuits who attempt to evangelize a village of South
American natives and the aftermath of terror and murder inflicted on the natives by
politics and church, would definitely understand and feel the dangers of anthropocentric
Dominion Model. Very often, Dominion Model teachings therefore, acted not as a form
of conflict-resolution but, rather, conflict-intensification. I am struck by how little anger
there is in the Dominion Model atrocities of religions, the era of massacres, slavery,
expulsions, forced conversions, inquisitions, excommunications, suspensions, burning at
the stake, ghettoes and pogroms.
In the early 15th century the Portuguese were competing for a sea route to India to
participate in the spice trade and they also brought with them the Dominion Model
evangelization. As a first step Prince Henry the Navigator launched expeditions to
explore the West Coast of Africa. The expeditions needed long years and were expensive.
The Portuguese expected, that a later profit need to be shared, because other European
countries could use the new sea route, too. After Vasco da Gama found the sea route to
India in 1498, the Portuguese practiced just trading for four centuries. Portuguese clerics
were only responsible for the needs of the Portuguese, and clerics of other nations were
not allowed to operate in Portuguese India. In Goa envoys of the Pope were arrested and
sent back. So the Catholic Church threatened to open the East for all European Catholics.
Around 1540 King John III started the Christian mission by sending the Society of Jesus
to Goa. The missionaries were supported by the colonial administration, who offered
incentives for baptized Christians, rice for the poor, good jobs for the middle class and
military support for the local rulers. It is unquestionable that there had been emigration
due to harsh methods of conversion. Historians Simao Botelho, Vedor da Fazenda of
Portuguese India, wrote to the king in 1552 saying that some missionaries wanted to
convert the Hindus by force, to the extent of even harming them and compelling them to
migrate. The most ordinary means to attract the Hindus to conversion were charity,
kindness and social service; intensive and constant preaching, confessions, admonitions,
judicial penalties, catechetical instruction and indulgences; appeal to emotions, fantasy
and senses through the relics of saints, lives of saints, hymns and promises of eternal
salvation. The missionaries were successful and spread in Asia.
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The encyclicals written before Vatican Council II, as I noted earlier, most of them fall
under Dominion Model: very anthropocentric approach, very rigid and arrogant, placing
man at the very center and he is the hero of creation. “Qua Primas,” encyclical written by
Pope Pius XI and promulgated on 11, December, 1925 is one example of it. Similar
teaching is contained in Pope Leo XIII's encyclical "Rerum Novarum" (May 15, 1891),
Pope Pius Xl's "Quadragesimo Anno" (1931), Pope John XXIII's "Mater et Magistra"
(1961). Reasonably, the dominion motive is depicted in the first human being naming all
the animals that God has made and led before him “to see what he would call them”
(Gen. 2:19). All other creatures will be what the human beings say they are—certainly an
extraordinary statement of the power over creation given by God to humanity. But the
context of this conferral is the human hunger for companionship. The natural world is not
merely intended for subjugation by human beings but for companionship. Dominion over
the Earth and all that it contains with the command “to fill the whole Earth and subdue
it”—certainly this conveys power. Such a claim to power by human beings over all
nonhuman creation contains the possibility, all too often realized, of domination and
exploitation of the Earth. This Christian belief is erroneous and misguides policies
towards the environment. Unless, Christians along with all people change our attitudes
towards the Earth, global warming and its effects will only worsen. We need to confront
climate change because our collective wellbeing depends on the environment and
because we are called as Christians to care for the Earth, serving God's vision of shalom
throughout all of creation. Another recent example of Dominion Model Encyclical is
“Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth) of Pope John XXIII, promulgated on 11 April, 1963
before the council. I quote from the document, “But the progress of science and the
inventions of technology show above all the infinite greatness of God, Who created the
universe and man himself. He created all things out of nothing, pouring into them the
abundance of His wisdom and goodness, so that the holy psalmist praises God in these
words: O Lord our master, the majesty of thy name fills all the Earth. Elsewhere he says:
What diversity, Lord, in thy creatures! What wisdom has designed them all! God also
created man in His own image and likeness, endowed him with intelligence and freedom,
and made him lord of creation, as the same psalmist declares in the words: Thou hast
placed him only a little below the angels, crowning him with glory and honor and bidding
him rule over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all under his dominion.”
Fortunately, after the Vatican Council II, more relaxing approach towards creation
was added, still anthropocentric but this time, popes suggested more feeling of justice,
holiness and responsibility towards creation, on the part of man. One example is
Gaudium et Spes (1965, Vatican II): “For man and woman created to God’s image,
received a mandate to subject to themselves, the Earth and all that it contains, and to
govern the world with justice and holiness, a mandate to relate ourselves and the totality
of things to him who was to be acknowledged as the Lord and Creator of all. Thus by the
subjection of all things to man and woman, the name of God would be wonderful in all
the earth (no, 12, 33, 34).” Laborem Exercens, of Pope John Paul II, on Human Work,
issued on September14, 1981, is explicitly based upon the record of man's creation in
God's own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-28), and hence of great interest to modern
biblical creationist Christians of all branches of Christendom. The contents of this
encyclical are closely connected with and intended to elaborate upon traditional Roman
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Catholic teaching in the area of human labor and social relations. Through work man
must earn his daily bread and contribute to the continual advance of science and
technology and, above all, to elevating unceasingly the cultural and moral level of the
society within which he lives in community with those who belong to the same family.
Man is made to be in the visible universe an image and likeness of God himself and he is
placed in it in order to subdue the Earth.
On Human Work, Pope sees man's work as an essential ingredient of man's likeness to
God in that it differentiates man from the rest of creation: "Work is one of the
characteristics that distinguish man from the rest of creatures, whose activity for
sustaining their lives cannot be called work" (p.1). Man's creation mandate to subdue the
Earth is itself part and parcel of man's created likeness to God: "Man is the image of God
partly through the mandate received from his creator to subdue, to dominate, the Earth.
In carrying out, this mandate every human being reflects the very action of the creator of
the universe" (pp. 9-10). Because man is made in the image and likeness of God, man,
like God Himself, is a person, "that is to say, a subjective being capable of acting in a
planned and rational way, capable of deciding about himself and with a tendency to selfrealization" (p. 13). Precisely what is meant here by "self-realization" is not spelled out.
As a person man is and must be the subject (not the object) of work (p.14). God's
fundamental and original intention with regard to man, whom he created in his image and
after his likeness, was not withdrawn or canceled out even when man, having broken the
original covenant with God, heard the words: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat
bread." These words refer to the sometimes heavy toil that from then onward has
accompanied human work; but they do not alter the fact that work is the means whereby
man achieves that "dominion" which is proper to him over the visible world.
The reliance of Pope John Paul II upon the Genesis record of man's creation in God's
own image and likeness is remarkable and praiseworthy, Acknowledging and building
upon the foundation of biblical creation, he confidently offers advice on labor and social
relations not only to Christians but also to contemporary government and social leaders at
large. Whatever reservations we might have about this or that specific inference derived
by him in “On Human Labor” from the biblical creation record, we must unconditionally
applaud his explicit faith in that record as the infallible, true, incontrovertible, forever
valid, absolute revelation by God of His creation and purpose for man. It is a very
brilliant document indeed from Pope John Paul II. The document still recognizes the
importance of man and definitely it is anthropocentric: his image, his dignity and his
dominion. The encyclical points out, that man has to work hard to earn these honors, in
contrast to the earlier teachings that they were bestowed absolutely free, by God. Man’s
work and progress should enhance human relationships with the society, economy,
nature, and environment. The human characteristics mentioned by pope are all valuable
to humans. They are essential to the preservation and enrichment of our civilization and
culture. Clearly it is from the human standpoint that they are being judged to be desirable
and good. Humans are claiming human superiority from a strictly human point of view,
that is, from a point of view in which the good of humans is taken as the standard of
judgment.
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Stewardship Model
Humans care for creation, which is intended to serve our needs. The emphasis is that
there is a wide gap between humans and the remainder of creation; anthropocentrism, in
which the human person is the center of creation. There is the danger of overemphasis on
mastery, with focus on conquering and controlling nature; speciesism; no sense of
solidarity with other species.
Stewardship is a way of life. Stewardship is a conversion of heart. Stewardship is a
disciple’s response. Stewardship is an expression of love. Stewardship is part of our
vocation. Stewardship is an honor and an opportunity. Living as good stewards of God’s
gifts will satisfy the deepest, strongest longings of our hearts. It will fill us with joy,
happiness, satisfaction. Stewards know the meaning of life and make real sacrifices to
make the world a better place, making their own lives better in the process. Many are
concerned that liberty, science, and technology are more a threat to the environment than
a blessing to humanity and nature. Human understanding and control of natural processes
empower people not only to improve the human condition but also to do great harm to
each other, to the Earth, and to other creatures. As concerns about the environment have
grown in recent decades, the moral necessity of ecological stewardship has become
increasingly clear. At the same time, however, certain misconceptions about nature and
science, coupled with erroneous theological and anthropological positions, impede the
advancement of a sound environmental ethic. In the midst of controversy over such
matters, it is critically important to remember that while passion may energize
environmental activism, it is reason, including sound theology and sound science that
must guide the decision-making process. Elsewhere in the creation story we see that
"God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it" (Genesis
2:15). Here God presents the world as a garden and people as its gardeners, carefully
tending it. Acting as a steward, or "gardener" of God's creation means, living in a way in
which we recognize that every-thing belongs to God. We are not to use the Earth as we
please, but care for it as God intended.
Exploitation of natural resources in the past led to conflict and the enrichment of a few
at the expense of many. The reason for the problems facing mankind today appears to be
over-exploitation of all the resources around us far beyond our genuine immediate needs.
Natural resources remain an important source of income. During the 1990s 65% of all
foreign direct investment was in oil, gas and mining. In effect of our actions, mass
destruction is taking place all over the world. Water is polluted. Air in many places is
almost unbreathable. Rain forests are being hacked down mercilessly, thus changing the
weather pattern all over the globe. Population growth is going out of control. No matter
how we look at the state of affairs around the world, the Earth seems to be a doomed
planet. Man, the steward has become the natural enemy of all living things, has been
destroying it systematically and no wonder that thousands of species of animals and
plants are disappearing from the face of the Earth. We are squandering all the natural
resources without foresight. Consequently ecological imbalances like global warming,
climate change, ozone depletion, famine, cyclones, and drought are on the rise. Every one
of us is responsible for the disaster threatening the very existence of life on Earth. The
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question that we have to ponder is whether it is possible even now, although late, to
salvage the planet and make it a habitable place for all living things. Science believes in
the 4.5 billion year-old-Earth, therefore, many scientists doubt the role of man as steward,
because where was man some 2 million years ago and where will be man in another 2
million years from now? Obviously, man as we know him, addicted to consumption,
treats Earth as a temporary gold mine exploiting its resources, in the process he declares
war on creation and leaves it wounded and bleeding. As a result Earth is in the advanced
state of exhaustion, slowly dying. Social teachings of popes always addressed these
problems in number of encyclicals. Most of the encyclicals point out an inner man “the
image of God,” as a steward, enabled by spirit, consciousness, awareness, enlightenment,
which is a consoling and promising dimension of man as a steward in the future.
Octogesima Adveniens, (A Call to Action), an apostolic letter from Pope Paul VI, was
promulgated in 1971. Pope Paul VI begins this letter by urging greater efforts for justice
and noting the duties of local churches to respond to specific situations. The pope then
discusses a wide variety of new social problems which stem from urbanization. “Man is
suddenly becoming aware that by an ill-considered exploitation of nature he risks
destroying it and becoming in his return the victim of this degradation. Not only is the
material environment becoming s permanent menace; pollution and refuse, new illnesses
and absolute destructive capacity; but the human framework is no longer under man’s
control, thus creating an environment for tomorrow which may well be intolerable. This
is a wide ranging social problem which concerns the entire human family (no. 21).” Pope
appeals to the stewards of the Earth and he calls them for action. These issues include
women, youth, and the ‘new poor.’ He stresses the need to ensure equality and the right
of all to participate in society. Clearly the claim to power must be balanced by the call to
responsibility, the traditional appeal to stewardship. The relationship between humanity
and the rest of creation has often been cast in the Jewish and Christian traditions as that
of a caretaker, one charged by God with the maintenance of the Earth. This belief about
the environment can't be further from the truth. Christians should, and need to confront
global warming because God calls us to. We hear this theme occurring from the very
beginning of time, when God created the Earth and "saw that it was good." It is clear that
we are stewards of the Earth, as God entrusted Adam, Eve, and their descendents to care
for the Earth and to have "dominion" over it (Genesis 1:26, 28). People often interpret the
word dominion as being similar to domination. Those that interpret it this way see the
Earth as having a lower status than people, and existing only for our own use. Another
occurrence of "dominion" clarifies its meaning in terms of a king's responsibility to serve
his people (Psalm 72). A king's role is not to dominate over others, but is to care for and
protect those in his care: “a kind steward.”
Redemptor Hominis: (Redeemer of Man) - This is the first encyclical of Pope John
Paul II, promulgated on March 4th, 1979. As with so many of his encyclicals, there was
something here for everyone: a piercing criticism of contemporary culture, an emphasis
on human rights, on recognition of ecological responsibility (stewardship), on
imperatives of ecumenism, evangelization, and much else. Here pope writes about
redemption, whatever the ambiguities of our present mode of existence, envisages the
renewal of the whole of creation. In and through Christ, faith experiences; creation as
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brought to its fulfillment in a way that promises to include everything and everyone.
Though the present form of the world “groans” with ambiguities and futility, Christ is its
center, in living contact with that “inward mystery” that each of us is. He is there at the
“heart” of our existence. Basically the document deals with redemption and the dignity of
the human race. The document appeals to the moral sensibility of the steward of the
Earth, while making some suggestions on progress and development. I quote from the
document: “The development of technology and the development of contemporary
civilization, which is marked by the ascendancy of technology, demand a proportional
development of morals and ethics. For the present, this last development seems
unfortunately to be always left behind. Accordingly, in spite of the marvel of this
progress, in which it is difficult not to see also authentic signs of man's greatness, signs
that in their creative seeds were revealed to us in the pages of the Book of Genesis, as
early as where it describes man's creation, this progress cannot fail to give rise to
disquiet on many counts. The first reason for disquiet concerns the essential and
fundamental question: Does this progress, which has man for its author and promoter,
make human life on Earth "more human" in every aspect of that life? Does it make it
more "worthy of man"? There can be no doubt that in various aspects it does. But the
question keeps coming back with regard to what is most essential--whether in the context
of this progress man, as man, is becoming truly better, that is to say more mature
spiritually, more aware of the dignity of his humanity, more responsible, more open to
others, especially the neediest and the weakest, and readier to give and to aid all.”
Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (Concern about Social Things), is an encyclical written by
Pope John Paul II on 30 December 1987. Pope John Paul II's seventh encyclical letter,
marking the twentieth anniversary of “Populorum Progressio,” Pope Paul VI's encyclical
on the development of peoples. John Paul II presents a series of reflections on the
requirements of authentic human development, the international duty of solidarity, the
role of stewardship, and the social responsibility of the church. In considering the
relevance of the earlier document's themes for the present era, the pope aims both to pay
homage to his predecessor and to set forth the tradition of Catholic social teaching (nos.
1–4). The pope begins by characterizing Populorum Progressio as an application of the
teachings of the Second Vatican Council, and in particular the social tenets of the
Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, to the problem of the development of peoples
(nos. 5–7). I quote from the document, “Among today’s positive signs, we must also
mention a greater realization of the limits of available resources, and of the need to
respect the integrity and the cycles of nature and to take them into account when
planning for development, rather than sacrificing them to certain demagogic ideas about
the latter. Today this is called ecological concern (no. 26, 34).
Creation-Centered Approach Model
Humans are not so much caretakers as fully part of creation the emphasis is on
intrinsic value and sacredness of nature, so all species deserve protection; recognizes
interdependence within the web of life. The danger is in the call for sustainable
development leaves many unresolved issues! It is unclear how to balance human needs
with solidarity with other species.
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We need very urgently Creation-centered Approach model of social teaching, because
it has lots of potentiality to appeal humanity, as extinction rate accelerates to wipe out all
species on Earth. Time is running out! Extinction is a part of the natural order on Earth.
Species have always disappeared because of natural changes in the environment or
biological changes (like diseases). So, why save them? Dr. Stuart Pimm of the University
of Texas said that scientific evidence strongly suggests that the current rate of extinction
is much higher than the natural rate—about 1,000 times greater than before humans were
on the Earth. Most endangered species protection concentrates on "fixing" problems that
people created, not stopping natural extinctions. When the Endangered Species Act was
passed in 1973, the U.S. Congress said that endangered species are of "esthetic,
ecological, educational, historical, recreational and scientific value." So let's look at
those reasons: Esthetic—this means that endangered species are beautiful to look at. Just
like a clean stream or ocean, beautiful mountains, wildflowers and other parts of nature
are to us. We would like to save beautiful things for our lifetime and for the kids who
come after us; Ecological—biodiversity is a word we came across very often these days.
It means keeping a variety of life forms in our ecosystem. Think of all the different kinds
of dog breeds there are and how many varieties of flowers we have on the Earth. If there
were only 10 types of dogs left, people would pay attention! Lack of variety is also
dangerous. New diseases show up when there is less variety and one disease can wipe out
an entire species. It is also important to have variety in ecosystems: forests, deserts,
wetlands, swamps, prairies, oceans etc. They help keep varieties of species alive. We
don't think about bacteria as very important, but bacteria in the soil helps crops grow.
Birds control pests and improve harvests. Plants and trees filter our water and our air;
For Selfish Reasons—be selfish about endangered species! Problems with species are
often the first sign that there are problems with people. The bog turtle's problems indicate
water quality problems. The bald eagle's problems with thin egg shells was an early sign
of DDT (a chemical insecticide) getting into our water and food chain. So protect them to
protect yourself!; Educational—all of the species are being studied by students at all
grade levels. We continue to learn from animals and the problems we create for them and
the solutions that we find for dealing with them; Historical—we have a historical record
of extinctions in recent times and the fossil record of past extinctions. Many species play
a part in our living history; Recreational—millions of people enjoy camping, hiking, bird
watching, rowing, kayaking, backpacking, fishing, hunting, biking and other outdoor.
What kind of nature do you want to enjoy? Probably the best one available!; Scientific—
most of our medicines come from plants and animals. Probably most of our FUTURE
medicines and cures will be found there too. What if the species of animal or plant to
disappear next is the one that would lead to a cure for cancer or AIDS? Can we afford to
take that chance?; Moral—don't we owe to future generations to give them the same
opportunities in all the areas listed above? If we have made problems with our Earth, isn't
it our job to fix them if we can? The little dwarf wedge mussel inhabits creek and river
areas with a slow to moderate current and a sand, gravel, or muddy bottom. These areas
must be nearly silt free, which means that polluted waterways will not support them.
Their appearance, as with many endangered species, indicates a healthy environment.
The construction of dams alters these conditions. Upstream from each dam, heavy silt
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deposits combined with low oxygen levels, makes the area unsuitable for mussels.
Downstream of the dams, water level and temperature changes from water let out by
power generators also hurt. In some areas below the dams, the river banks have changed
because the water flow is lower and never floods naturally anymore so a sandy, gravel, or
muddy bottom no longer exists. Who caused these changes? WE DID? Who should fix
them? WE SHOULD!
Justitia in Mundo (1971, Synod of Bishops) – Bishops could see much ahead of their
time the environmental catastrophes which would befall on us in the third millennium.
First time in the history of Catholic Church, they take a Creation-centered Approach
model. They talk about Earth’s systems: lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and
biosphere. All these systems are built in a complex form of relationship and damage to
one could cause irreparable disaster to all. Justitia in Mundo definitely inspired by the
power of the Holy Spirit and one time in history I feel very proud about our bishops. We
need more synods of this type, from our pastors, if we want to accelerate the campaign on
Global Warming and Climate Change. I quote from the document, “Such is the demand
for resources and energy by the richer nations, and such are the effects of dumping by
them in the atmosphere and the sea that irreparable damage would be done to the
essential elements of life on earth, such as air and water, if their high rates of
consumption and pollution, which are constantly on the increase, were extended to the
whole of mankind (no.11) …the richer nations should recognize the danger of destroying
the very physical foundations of life on earth. Those who are already rich are bound to
accept a less material way of life, with less waste, in order to avoid the destruction of the
heritage which they are obliged to share (no.70).
Centesimus Annus – (one hundredth year of Rerum Novarum) – Encyclical written by
Pope John Paul II, it was promulgated on 1st of May 1991. Centesimus Annus opened up
new horizons in the area of Catholic social teaching, and it’s insights into the political,
economic, and cultural dilemmas confronting the modern world. The document deals
with the subjects like entrepreneurship, subsidiary and solidarity, the role of family in the
free economy, globalization, and the environment. Equally worrying is the ecological
question which accompanies the problem of consumerism and which is closely connected
to it. Pope John Paul II brilliantly takes the Creation-centered Approach Model to make
an appeal to save life on Earth, by emphasizing on the intrinsic value of all life. I quote
from the document, “In his desire to have and to enjoy rather than to be and to grow,
man consumes the resources of the Earth and his own life in an excessive and disordered
way. At the root of the senseless destruction of the natural environment lies an
anthropological error, which unfortunately is widespread in our day. Man, who discovers
his capacity to transform and in a certain sense create the world through his own work,
forgets that this is always based on God’s prior and original gift of the things that are.
Man thinks that he can make arbitrary use of the Earth, subjecting it without restraint to
his will, as if it did not have its own requisites and a prior God given purpose, which man
can indeed develop but must not betray. Instead of carrying out his role as a cooperator
with God in the work of creation, man sets himself up in place of God and thus ends up
provoking a rebellion on the part of nature, which is more tyrannical than governed by
him (no. 37, 38).
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Deep Ecology Model
It is the radical re-visioning of the relationships and boundaries between humans and
the rest of creation. The emphasis is on the call for revival of asceticism, human
renunciation, and mysticism; eco-theology views nature as a medium for the mystery of
the sacred, which humans must not presume to know fully. The danger is overly
romanticized view may make creation into an idol; danger of totally neglecting legitimate
human needs.
Shallow ecology is anthropocentric, or human-centered. It views humans as above or
outside of nature, as the source of all value, and ascribes only instrumental, or 'use', value
to nature. Deep ecology does not separate humans—or anything else—from the natural
environment. It does see the world not as a collection of isolated objects but as a network
of phenomena that are fundamentally interconnected and interdependent. Deep ecology
recognizes the intrinsic value of all living beings and views human beings as just one
particular strand in the web of life. Mahatma Gandhi gave meaning to Self-realization in
various contexts: 'Life is an aspiration, and its mission is to strive after perfection, which
is self-realization'; commenting on the Bhagavad Gita 'Man is not at peace with himself
till he has become like unto God. The endeavor to reach this state is the supreme, the only
ambition worth having. And this is self-realization. This self-realization is the subject of
the Gita, as it is of all scriptures ... to be a real devotee is to realize oneself. Selfrealization is not something apart.' As Arne Naess, the chief proponent of “Deep
Ecology” concept, notes for Gandhi "to realize God," "to realize the Self" and "to realize
the Truth" are three expressions of the same development. Camped out in Death Valley,
California, during 1984, George Sessions and Arne Naess draw up eight basic principles
that describe Deep Ecology: First, the well-being and flourishing of human and
nonhuman life on Earth have value in themselves and these values are independent of the
usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes; Second, richness and diversity of
life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves;
Third, humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity accept to satisfy vital
needs; Fourth, the flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial
decrease of the human population and the flourishing of nonhuman life demands such a
decrease; Fifth, present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and
the situation is rapidly worsening; Sixth, policies must therefore be changed and these
policies affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures and the resulting
state of affairs will be deeply different from the present; Seventh, the ideological change
is mainly in appreciating life quality rather than adhering to an increasingly higher
standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and
great; Eight, those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or
indirectly to try to implement the necessary change.
Besides anthropocentric encyclicals, I always wondered, when would popes include
frogs, snakes, ants, bees, trees and microbes in their social teaching of the Church? At
last time has arrived! “Caritas in Veritate” (Charity in Truth) is a very sensational
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encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI, has satisfied some of my expectations. Most of the
eastern great faiths such as Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism have been teaching Deep
Ecology for thousands of years. We have enormous amount of potentiality in Deep
Ecology Model, not only for the ecological and environmental benefits, ecumenical
benefits as well, if we follow their path of wisdom. We may not follow blindly the part of
pantheistic notion of Deep Ecology; on the other hand, we can always be justified for
following our own version of panentheistic notion of Deep Ecology: God in All and All in
God. Integral human development in charity and truth is the theme of this encyclical.
Caritas in Veritate is the masterpiece on social teachings of the church. It touches upon
all aspects of organized and unorganized labor. It provides moral and ethical guidelines
for the welfare of the workers and promotion of their rights all over the world. More than
two years in the making, “Caritas in Veritate,” or “Charity in Truth,” is Benedict’s third
encyclical, since he became pope in 2005. Filled with terms like “globalization,” “market
economy,” “outsourcing,” “labor unions” and “alternative energy,” it is not surprising
that the Italian media reported that the Vatican was having difficulty translating the 144page document into Latin. Benedict also called for a reform of the United Nations so
there could be a unified “global political body” that allowed the less powerful of the
Earth to have a voice, and he called on rich nations to help less fortunate ones. “In the
search for solutions to the current economic crisis, development aid for poor countries
must be considered a valid means of creating wealth for all,” he wrote. Benedict,
arguably the most environmentally conscious pope in history, wrote, “One of the greatest
challenges facing the economy is to achieve the most efficient use—not abuse—of natural
resources, based on a realization that the notion of ‘efficiency’ is not value-free.”
Everyone thought this pope could lead us all, back to the times of pre-Vatican, but he has
shown us a new promised land where milk and honey flows.
Pope seems to follow the theme of John Donne, “no man is an island, entire of itself;
everyman is a piece of the continent.” We are not alone, we are all somehow connected.
The tone of Caritas in Veritate apparently looks like Dominion Model document, but at
depth it browses a bit with Deep Ecology Model social teaching. The four pillars of
Catholic Social Doctrine are: human dignity, subsidiarity, solidarity and the common
good. Caritas in Veritate recommends, to place, the well-being of global humanity at the
top of their agenda. But, what being ‘human’ means has changed. Central to the new
understanding is ‘rationality’; the recognition of our inherently human social
relationships, human relationship with nature and its consequences. Caritas in Veritate
seeks to define the conditions for what it calls the ‘development of the whole man and of
all men’ and holds that this must be based upon ‘a deeper critical evaluation of the
category of relation.’ We continue to neglect our relationship with nature and God,
because homo economicus is anthropocentric and homo sociologicus is socio-centric,
there is no place in either for transcendence. Caritas in Veritate affirms that ‘one of the
deepest forms of poverty a person can experience is isolation,’ isolation from God and
nature for which man has been designed to relate. It is what St. Augustine meant by ‘our
hearts are restless’ until we realize the relationships that divine revelation offers us; with
father, mother, brother and friends and the document recommends to add, also planet,
animals, plants, environment and ecology. What Caritas in Veritate invites us to do is to
sanctify every human encounter with ‘fraternity’ and to extend this to the whole of
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humanity and whole of creation, making it one global family through ‘relational
inclusion,’ of nature and environment.
Another brilliant example of Deep Ecology Model document is also from Pope
Benedict XVI, written for the celebration of the world day of peace on 1 January, 2010.
Pope argues that the quest for peace by people of good will surely become easier if all
acknowledge the indivisible relationship between God, human beings and the whole of
creation. Benedict notes that threats to global peace just as often arise from misuse or
neglect of the Earth's resources as they do from man's inhumanity to man. Can we remain
indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change,
desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the
pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural
catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions? He argues that
responding appropriately to our ecological crisis will aid in addressing the spiritual and
moral crisis which propels overconsumption and indifference and challenges global
leaders to reconsider long-held beliefs about the role and nature of economic
development: The Jan. 1, celebration of the world day of peace address also advocates a
"inter-generational solidarity": "Natural resources should be used in such a way that
immediate benefits do not have a negative impact on living creatures, human and not,
present and future; that the protection of private property does not conflict with the
universal destination of goods; that human activity does not compromise the fruitfulness
of the Earth, for the benefit of people now and in the future." Overall, Benedict seems to
appreciate the global environmental crisis as something of an opportunity to promote
solidarity and address industrialized society's consumption compulsion, call it a global
deadly sin of gluttony that trickles down unpleasantly into individual morality. "The
ecological problem must be dealt with not only because of the chilling prospects of
environmental degradation on the horizon; the real motivation must be the quest for
authentic worldwide solidarity inspired by the values of charity, justice and the common
good. “It is becoming more and more evident that the issue of environmental degradation
challenges us to examine our lifestyle and the prevailing models of consumption and
production, which are often unsustainable from a social, environmental and even
economic point of view. We are all responsible for the protection and care of the
environment. This responsibility knows no boundaries. In accordance with the principle
of subsidiarity it is important for everyone to be committed at his or her proper level,
working to overcome the prevalence of particular interests."
Church leadership has done a remarkable job when it comes to the social teaching of
the popes. When it comes to the dignity of man, creation, peace and justice, undoubtedly
some of the brilliant documents are papal encyclicals. Some of these encyclicals have
shaped the political outcome in some countries and changed the course of world’s history
for good. In fact, two forces that have guided human social development through the ages
have been one is economic growth and the other, religion. I mean, these are the two
engines that have developed and forced us into where we are today, or shaped us into
where we are today. However, when it comes to ecology and environment, still, we find a
bit of struggle and uncertainty in the social teachings perhaps, due to misinformation or
lack of information. But religions are starting to play a bigger and more vocal role in
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talking about protecting God’s creation and we whole heatedly welcome that
engagement. If they say, “do this,” they’re going to be listened to in a way that no
government and certainly no NGO, is going to be listened to. In my opinion, the last two
models, Creation-centered Approach Model and the Deep Ecology Model have a bigger
scope in the future. These two models have the ability to convince humanity, not only
catholic community, but also can influence other religions, especially eastern religions. I
think it’s absolutely imperative for anyone in a position of religious responsibility in the
western world, hammer on these models loudly and consistently as they possibly can.
Footnote: Bull - Today, the bull is the only written communication in which the Pope
will refer to himself as episcopus servus servorum Dei, meaning "Bishop, Servant of the
Servants of God." For instance, Benedict XVI, when he issues a decree in bull form, will
begin the document with Benedictus, Episcopus, Servus Servorum Dei. While it used to
always bear a metal seal, it now does so only on the most solemn occasions. It is today
the most formal type of letters patent issued by the Vatican Chancery in the name of the
Pope.
Fr. Rayappa A. Kasi, Diocese of Vellore
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