Catholic Ecology

Bulletin Column – February 23, 2020

            I am a tremendous lover of nature. Backpacking through the mountains is my vacation of choice; one of my weird hobbies is finding and enjoying edible wild foods; at a former parish (St. Mary’s in Bethel) I tapped the maple trees on the church campus and made our own maple syrup.

            But like many things in our polarized culture, the environment and nature has been the subject of two polar opposite ideologies. On one hand, there are those who elevate the environment to an almost-divine status. In making an idol out of nature, some believe that human beings are a “parasite” on the pristine, beautiful wilderness. Taken to its extreme position, many have advocated for population control through abortive and contraceptive methods in order to protect the environment.

            On the other hand, we have those who rapaciously consume nature, and see the environment as nothing more than raw material that can be used (and abused) for profit. We see this in the way our culture often emphasizes the “convenience” of disposable, single-use items, such as plastic water bottles (when we live in the country with the cleanest water in the world!). Corporations pollute endlessly, strip-mining beautiful landscapes and using exorbitant amounts of fossil fuels and resources.

            But there is a middle point between these two extremes. To quote my favorite ecologist, Samuel Thayer, “If we only view nature as a virgin or a whore, marriage will elude us!” Our Catholic Faith gives us considerable guidance to understanding the proper role of nature and our relationship with it.

            First of all, nature and creation are good. When God created the material universe, He declared it to be “good”. The world is a reflection of His glory and providence, of His might and beauty. As the great poet (and Jesuit priest) Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God!”

            We were created as part of nature. In the Second Creation Account (Genesis 2), we are clearly created from the dust of the earth – so much so that the name Adam comes from the Hebrew word “adamah” which means red clay. In a couple days, we will hear those haunting words, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” – because we are a part of nature.

            But we were created higher than nature, as well. In the First Creation Account (Genesis 1), we are created “in the Image and Likeness of God”. In essence, we are the link between God and His creation – we are partly of this earth (in our flesh) and partly like God (in our soul). As such, we are called to be the mediators between creation and God.

            For this reason, God gave man “dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth” (Gen 1:28). That word “dominion” is critical – it means that we exercise a kind of stewardship over the earth. The earth is not ours to treat how we like – we must rule it in God’s Name, bringing order out of chaos so that the harmony of nature reflects the harmony of God.

            After all, it was before the Fall that Adam was given the task of “cultivating and caring for” the Garden. God’s plan had always been for Adam to work the land, bringing it into submission through his intellect and free will, so that it might bring forth food and shelter and sustenance. This act of co-creation, of working the land and keeping the animals, gives dignity to man and makes him like God.

            So, as Catholics we must see man’s relationship to nature as one of stewardship. Nature does not belong to us – it belongs to God, and it is on-loan to us. We owe it to God to care for the earth, to keep it healthy and fruitful. At the same time, the earth was given to us for our use and enjoyment, so we needn’t see it as merely a museum. We are allowed to use animals for food, so long as we try to treat them humanely. We are allowed to extract minerals and coal from the earth, for the earth was meant to provide for our well-being, as long as it can be done in a way that respects the long-term health of the land. Nevertheless, the rights and dignity of the human person far, far supersede the rights of nature – we must never harm a human being in the interest of protecting nature, nor practice population control in any form as if human beings were a pest to be eradicated or controlled.

            All of these thoughts were percolating in my mind because of our Holy Father’s new Apostolic Exhortation Querida Amazonia, on the Church in the Amazon, which shares a dream of Pope Francis for the Amazon region. More commentary on this Apostolic Exhortation coming in future weeks!