John Paul II's ecological legacy

National Catholic Reporter, June 17, 2005 by Jeff Severns Guntzel

"Humanity has disappointed God's expectations," Pope John Paul II said in 2001. "Man is no longer the creator's 'steward,' but an autonomous despot, who is finally beginning to understand that he must stop at the edge of the abyss."

Humanity as "autonomous despot" was not one of the featured philosophies in the endless pontifical recaps that followed the pope's death. In fact, John Paul II's less-known legacy of strongly-worded statements denouncing the destructive relationship of humans to their habitat and promoting the spiritual necessity of environmental stewardship were little noticed even in his lifetime.

His first steps were small, but immediate. In the first Lenten message of his papacy, John Paul II remarked: "Going without things is to free oneself from the slaveries of a civilization that is always urging people on to greater comfort and consumption, without a thought even for the preservation of our environment, which is the common heritage of humanity."

Later that same year--1979--just short of the first anniversary of his election, John Paul II proclaimed St. Francis of Assisi "heavenly patron of those who promote ecology."

By 1980, he was on to energy resources, decrying "excessive consumption" and pushing solar energy. Addressing scientists at a Vatican-sponsored conference on "Science and Humanity," John Paul II stitched an environmentalist critique to the now-familiar narrative of the industrial experiences of his previous life in Poland.

"I could see for myself the damage caused to the beauty of nature by industrial installations," he said, "which could have been located in other places or conceived in another manner.

"I have known by personal experience the suffering of the coal miners whose lungs are impregnated with dusts poisoning the mine galleries.

"I hope that from now on," he added, "that new and efficient methods for the use of conventional energy sources will be devised, thus avoiding the danger to ecology, the workers and the population."

One month later, the pope lectured 12 Nobel Prize-winning scientists: "You are the pioneers of science, and you must act as watchful sentinels on the paths of progress, denouncing any form of intervention on man or his life environment that would be seen an attack on his dignity or his inalienable rights."

For the first decade of his papacy, John Paul II persistently tied a stewardship message to his more widely covered concerns over the excessive behavior of industrialized nations, the adventures of science and the plight of the world's poor.

On New Year's Day, 1990, with his message celebrating the World Day of Peace, John Paul II marked what would be the beginning of a redoubling in his commitment to what he would come to call an "ecological conversion" happening throughout the world.

He called his dawn-of-a-decade message "Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation."

"In our day," the message began, "there is a growing awareness that world peace is threatened not only by the arms race, regional conflicts and continued injustices among peoples and nations, but also by a lack of due respect for nature, by the plundering of natural resources and by a progressive decline in the quality of life. The sense of precariousness and insecurity that such a situation engenders is a seedbed for collective selfishness, disregard for others and dishonesty.

"Faced with the widespread destruction of the environment, people everywhere are coming to understand that we cannot continue to use the goods of the earth as we have in the past. The public in general as well as political leaders are concerned about this problem, and experts from a wide range of disciplines are studying its causes.

"The earth is ultimately a common heritage," he continued, "the fruits of which are for the benefit of all. In the words of the Second Vatican Council, 'God destined the earth and all it contains for the use of every individual and all peoples.'

"Even men and women without any particular religious conviction," he continued, "but with an acute sense of their responsibilities for the common good, recognize their obligation to contribute to the restoration of a healthy environment. All the more should men and women who believe in God the creator, and who are thus convinced that there is a well-defined unity and order in the world, feel called to address the problem."

Pope John Paul II's ecological convictions also found expression in his encyclicals. In Evangelium Vitae, known for its grim warning of a "culture of death" and for its treatment of abortion, euthanasia and "morally unacceptable" sexuality, the pope also posited the question: What of the spreading of death caused by reckless tampering with the world's ecological balance?

Growing attention to ecology, the pope wrote, was a welcome sign, "especially in more developed societies, where people's expectations are no longer concentrated so much on problems of survival as on the search for an overall improvement of living conditions."