Don’t Just Keep the Faith, Spread It

July 5, 2007 in catholic, education, faith, Family, God, interview, Life, Man, Right, Social, Spirituality

Father C.J. McCloskey Shares Evangelization Tips

 

CHICAGO, MAY 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Every person a Catholic meets is a potential convert to the Church, says the author of a new book on how to share the faith.

 

Father C. John McCloskey, a priest of the prelature of Opus Dei and a research fellow at the Faith and Reason Institute, is known for aiding in the conversions of p residential candidate Sam Brownback, Judge Robert Bork, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, journalist Robert Novak, publisher Alfred Regnery and economist Lawrence Kudlow, to name a few.

 

Father McCloskey recently pooled his talents and knowledge with Russell Shaw to write “Good News, Bad News: Evangelization, Conversion and the Crisis of Faith” (Ignatius).

 

In this interview with ZENIT, Father McCloskey explains how evangelization and friendship go hand-in-hand, and why the Church and faithful Catholics are attractive to would-be converts.

 

Q: Why did you decide to write this book?

 

Father McCloskey: Actually, the idea came from my collaborator, the noted journalist and author Russell Shaw, who visited me while I was the director at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C., and suggested the idea.

 

Shaw thought my experiences and those of the people whom I have assisted on their journey into the Church would be helpful to inquiring potential converts and the many priests, religious and lay faithful who are eager to share their faith in a personal manner — above all, through a strong friendship that leads to sharing one’s great joy in being a Catholic.

 

I had written some how-to articles on this subject, along with a good number of Church history pieces that help to put my ideas and experience in a historical context.

 

We are in a glorious moment of the New Evangelization, fueled by the Holy Spirit, as evidenced in the pontificates of Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI; the teachings of the Second Vatican Council are being brought to full and proper fruition.

 

Q: What is the difference between good and bad proselytism?

 

Father McCloskey: Good proselytism involves respect for the dignity of the human person and their interior freedom.

 

Bad proselytism involves pressure and some form of coercion completely contrary to the freedom that Christ won for us on the cross. The truth makes us free, but it must be freely accepted to be effective.

 

Good proselytism comes through a sincere and close friendship in which the potential convert recognizes that his friend has only his temporal and eternal happiness at heart. The person eager to share his faith as an apostle should see himself as an instrument God is using to offer this gift to his friend to be freely accepted or rejected.

 

This is a process that can last months, years or even decades. I know there are instant conversions. I have read about them but have never seen one. I have, however, seen some persons “convert” too quickly, and in some cases later fall away.

 

There is always opportunity for a comeback, though — the seals of baptism and confirmation remain, and so does God’s love for them.

 

A committed Catholic is always on the lookout to share his faith with others any way he can, but the most effective way is the means by which the Church grew in the early centuries — through the power of “personal influence,” to use a phrase coined by Venerable John Henry Newman. That entails a good attractive example of Christian virtue combined with a deep prayer and sacramental life.

 

This, along with personal one-on-one or family-to-family friendship, fueled by grace, will inevitably create a powerful evangelizing environment that can overcome any “culture of death” — whether that of the Roman Empire or that of our consumerist and sexualized society in the West.

 

It doesn’t happen overnight. God has all the time in the world.

 

Q: What can the faithful do to convert those around them?

 

Father McCloskey: On a human level, I would suggest the same tips that are helpful in making friends.

 

First of all, be an interesting person, which above all means — to the extent possible — soaking yourself in Western culture by reading, listening to and seeing all that is good in it.

 

Second, become an expert in humanity. Understand and love people the way they are, seeing both what you can learn from them and what gifts you can give them.

 

As the expression goes, to make friends, be a friend. A serious Catholic should have dozens of friends of varying degrees of closeness.

 

Also, regard every non-Catholic, without exception, as a potential convert. That is Christ’s will. He died for all, not for a few, and wants everyone to be his close and intimate friend as a part of his family, the Church.

 

On a supernatural level, as already mentioned, the more we are immersed in God through our participation in prayer, spiritual reading, the sacraments, and the teachings of the Church, the more God can work through us to bring people to him in the Church.

 

Above all, we should always be praying for our friend and helping him advance at God’s pace. We should always be asking ourselves, “What does he need next, and how can I provide it?”

 

Q: What are the key things that attract people to the Catholic Church? Is it the doctrine? or the practice? or the works of charity?

 

Father McCloskey: All potential converts, like everybody else, are seeking happiness both in this life and the next. Otherwise, why bother?

 

In the Church they find an institution that claims to be Christ’s mystical body, founded by him during his time on earth, and unashamedly teaching the truth based on divine Revelation as it comes to us through Scripture and Tradition.

 

What a joy it has been through the years to see people discover through study and prayer Christianity, which can and must be lived in order to learn that being good does make us happy.

 

At the same time, converts remember very well the type of lives they were living prior to discovering the Lord and his Church; they are deeply grateful for the grace of this found treasure and have an eagerness to share it with others. The truth did make them free.

 

I think, above all, people are attracted to the Church by their growing knowledge and love of the person of Jesus Christ. As they grow more curious in reading the New Testament and Church history, they realize that Christ did not leave his children orphans, but rather instituted a Church — his family, his body — where he resides until the second coming.

 

The Church provides the means: its Scripture, sacraments, its authoritative teaching, the example of the saints, etc., so that a new Catholic can grow in Christ and reach his goal of holiness in heaven.

 

Of course, they must see others who show by their behavior, their happiness, their practice of Christian piety and virtues, and by their practice of true Christian charity as exemplified in the spiritual and corporal works of mercies, that indeed the Church provides the means to live the Christian life fully it can be done.

 

They see this not only in canonized saints of the ancient past and more recent past, but even more importantly in their friends — the people who precisely have been God’s instrument in introducing them to Christ’s Church.

 

Q: Are there any facets of Benedict XVI’s teaching that strike a cord with would-be converts?

 

Father McCloskey: What stands out immediately is his short and potent encyclical letter on God as love.

 

The fact that a much misunderstood and maligned German cardinal became a Pope who does not throw out anathemas but rather writes on “eros” and “agape,” and speaks about the essential importance of concrete acts of charity to the poor, infirm and underprivileged — both corporately and in personal actions of each of its members — to the Church’s mission underlines the Church’s message that indeed God is love.

 

I also think it has been helpful to see the wonderfully seamless transition from two men with such a different personalities as John Paul the Great and Benedict XVI, arguably two of the most powerful intellects of the past century as, respectively, a philosopher and a theologian.

 

Remember that virtually all the converts of last 25 years never knew any Pope other than John Paul II. While the Church certainly does not depend solely on the holiness of its hierarchy, it certainly doesn’t hurt.

 

Q: How do you see the state of other religions, in the face of increasingly complex bioethical and moral issues?

 

Father McCloskey: To put it simply, no other Christian church or ecclesial community really even attempts to speak authoritatively on such questions. They simply do not have the tradition — or could we say the magisterial grace — to be able to examine these complex issues.

 

Indeed, those communities closer to the Catholic Church often simply defer to its teachings, trusting in its millennial tradition and moral theology even if they do not recognize its unique claim as the one Church founded by Christ.

 

Only the Catholic Church institutionally provides prudent and clear teachings that guard the good and dignity of the human person from conception until a natural death.

 

This role is imperative, in light of the continuing rapid progress both in scientific and medical knowledge that can be utilized for good or for evil as applied to the human person, particularly in medical-moral questions involving procreation and in the origins of life.

 

Converts see this as sign of the divine authority of the Church using its vast experience and wisdom to facilitate clear moral choices.

Elusive Religious Freedom

July 5, 2007 in God, Man, persecution, religious freedom, Right

Commission Reports on Countries of Particular Concern

 

By Father John Flynn

 

ROME, MAY 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- On May 2 the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), published its annual report together with its recommendations on which nations should be nominated “countries of particular concern” (CPC).

 

The commission was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Its annual report differs from the State Department’s extensive country-by-country analysis on religious freedom in that it only examines a limited number of countries.

 

The CPC list covers those countries where authorities engage in systematic violations of religious freedom. The commission’s recommendations for 2007 are: Burma, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

 

The actual designation of a country as a CPC depends on a decision by the State Department. In November 2006, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Sudan, Iran, Eritrea and Burma were re-designated as CPCs by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

 

There is also a watch list, consisting in countries where violations are serious, even if less grave than those in the CPC group. This year Iraq was added to this list, joining those from the previous year’s report: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria.

 

In the letter accompanying the commission list of recommendations sent to Secretary of State Rice, the commission lamented the removal of Vietnam from the CPC list last year. There were positive developments in the area of religious freedom, but the letter continued, in recent times Vietnam has renewed its persecution. Therefore, this year’s report requests the reinstatement of Vietnam in the CPC list.

 

Mideast Minorities

 

The letter also explained why Iraq was being added to the Watch List. Even though extremist groups are behind many of the attacks, the Iraqi government has also been responsible for human rights violations. As well, the commission continued, the authorities tolerate religiously based attacks by some factions.

 

The report itself goes into more detail on Iraq, including concern over the “grave conditions” affecting Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq. In some areas, the report notes, “Christians have reportedly ceased their participation in public religious services for fear of inviting further violence.” The commission estimates that between 2004-2006 some 27 Chaldo-Assyrian churches were attacked or bombed in Baghdad and the Kurdish areas.

 

The widespread violence, together with “pervasive discrimination and marginalization at the hands of the national government, regional governments, and para-state militias,” is causing many of them to flee the country. In fact, some reports, the commission states, estimate that nearly 50% of Iraq’s indigenous Christian population is now living outside the country.

 

Neighboring Iran, also on the commission’s CPC list, came in for strong criticism in the report. Iran’s government was accused of “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including prolonged detention, torture, and executions based primarily or entirely upon the religion of the accused.”

 

Over the past year, the commission continued, this poor record has further deteriorated. One case mentioned in the report was the arrest in February last year of more than 170 members of the Sufi community in the city of Qom. The Sufi’s, a Muslim minority, were detained following a protest by over a thousand people after authorities destroyed a Sufi house of worship.

 

Those arrested were reportedly tortured and forced to sign confessions. Subsequently, in May, a court sentenced more than 50 Sufis to jail. The defendants, along with their lawyers, were sentenced to a year in prison, fines and 74 lashes.

 

Christians also face severe problems in Iran. In May 2006, a Muslim convert to Christianity, Ali Kaboli, was taken into custody in Gorgan after several years of police surveillance and threatened with prosecution if he did not leave the country, according to the USCIRF report.

 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly has called for an end to the development of Christianity in Iran, according to the commission.

 

Another country on the commission’s CPC list is Saudi Arabia. “The government of Saudi Arabia engages in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief,” the report states.

 

Among the abuses committed by authorities are: torture and cruel and degrading treatment or punishment; prolonged detention without charges; and blatant denials of the right to liberty and security of the person.

 

Non-Muslims and Muslims from minority schools of Islam make up around 10-15% of the country’s population. Nevertheless, the government vigorously maintains a ban on all forms of public expression outside the approved Hanbali school of Sunni Islam, explains the report.

 

The government even prohibits clergy entering the country for the purpose of performing private religious services for foreigners legally residing in Saudi Arabia.

 

Non-Muslims in Sudan

 

Another country singled out by the USCIRF report for its severe violations of religious freedom is Sudan. More than 2 million people were killed and 4 million driven from their homes in the North-South civil war from 1983 to January 2005.

 

Despite the signing of a peace agreement, severe human rights violations continue to be committed by the Sudanese government, states the report.

 

In government-controlled areas in the north of Sudan, Muslims are reported to receive preferential access to limited government services. They are also favored in court cases involving Muslim against non-Muslim. Moreover, the Islamic Shariah law is applied to the entire population, including Christians and followers of traditional African religions.

 

Public religious expression by non-Muslims is forbidden. One case cited by the commission took place in May 2006, when 4 Sudanese Christians, including an Episcopal priest, were detained following contact with a Muslim woman who may have been interested in converting to Christianity. Although they were released after a few days, three of them were reportedly beaten while in custody. Any converts to Christianity from Islam face such pressure that they have to flee the country.

 

Conditions in the western region of Sudan are also worrying. In the region of Darfur, government forces and militia forces have used brutal violence against civilians. So far efforts by the United Nations and the African Union to protect the population have been inadequate, judged the commission.

 

Restrictions in China

 

China is another country where the commission continues to report systematic violations of religious freedom. Legal reforms issued by the government in March 2005 “have not halted abuses and are used in some cases to justify arrests and other restrictions,” the report stated.

 

The commission noted that relations between unregistered Catholic congregations and the officially recognized Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPA) are strained due to government repression and the growing number of CPA bishops and priests secretly seeking ordination and approval of the Vatican. The ordinations last year of 3 bishops without Vatican consultation added to tensions.

 

According to the report there are at least 40 Catholic bishops or priests under arrest, imprisoned or detained, including the elderly Bishop Su Zhimin, who has been in prison, in detention, under house arrest or under strict surveillance since the 1970s.

 

Unregistered Protestant groups in China also face severe problems. In the last year, at least 110 Protestant leaders were detained for a period of 10 days or more, with at least 17 of these receiving prison sentences of one or more years, according to the report.

 

As well, estimates by the State Department put at “thousands” the number of house church members who were detained for short periods in the last year. Religious freedom, the report clearly shows, is still out of reach for a large part of the world’s population.

Turning the Tide Against Euthanasia

July 5, 2007 in interview, Life, Man, Right

Interview With Father Thomas Rosica

 

TORONTO, MAY 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- One can know if a society is still Christian by the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens, according to the director of Salt and Light Catholic television network.

 

In this interview with ZENIT, Father Thomas Rosica commented on the Toronto-based network’s newest documentary: “Turning the Tide: Dignity, Compassion and Euthanasia.”

 

The documentary was released April 2, the second anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II.

 

Basilian Father Rosica was the national director of World Youth Day 2002 prior to founding Canada’s first Catholic television network. He also lectures on sacred Scripture at the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto. Since July 2006 he is a member of the General Council of the Congregation of Priests of St. Basil.

 

Q: The name of your documentary is “Turning the Tide.” How can we as a culture turn the tide away from the universal acceptance of euthanasia?

 

Father Rosica: We took the title of our documentary from the words of the great 19th-century American writer Harriet Beecher Stowe: “When … everything goes against you … never give up … for that is just the place and time … that the tide will turn.”

 

“Turning the Tide” looks at all aspects of the euthanasia and the assisted-suicide issue, from the point of view of those people who see themselves as most threatened if a law is passed allowing euthanasia.

 

When people today speak about a “good death,” they usually refer to an attempt to control the end of one’s life, even through physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia.

 

We have a responsibility to confront these actions — especially if we are to understand our moral obligation as caregivers for incapacitated persons, and our civic obligation to protect those who lack the capacity to express their will but are still human, still living, and still deserving of equal protection under the law.

 

There can be no true peace unless life is defended and promoted.

 

The best way to know if we are still in any way a Christian society is to see how we treat our most vulnerable people, the ones with little or no claim on public attention, the ones without beauty or strength or intelligence.

 

Q: What has been the role of the mainstream media in promoting euthanasia and assisted suicide?

 

Father Rosica: The mainstream media has caused great confusion about the topic of euthanasia and has been extremely deceptive in its portrayal of human suffering and compassion.

 

Most people who think that euthanasia and assisted suicide should be legal are not thinking the whole issue through. They are thinking about personal autonomy and choice.

 

They think about what it would be like to suddenly become incapacitated, and consider such a life as undignified or worthless. Perhaps they consider severely disabled people as having no quality of life.

 

Our dignity and quality of life don’t come from what we can or cannot do. Dignity and quality of life are not matters of efficiency, proficiency and productivity. They come from a deeper place — from who we are and how we relate to each other.

 

Q: Many view euthanasia as compassionate, as death with dignity. What does the Church say with regard to compassion, dignity and death?

 

Father Rosica: This issue strikes to the very core of who we are and what we believe.

 

Even when not motivated by the refusal to be burdened with the life of someone who is suffering, euthanasia must be called false and misguided mercy. True compassion leads to sharing another’s pain, not killing the person whose suffering we cannot bear.

 

What is wrong with abortion, euthanasia, embryo selection and embryonic research are not the motives of those who carry them out. So often, those motives are, on the surface, compassionate: to protect a child from being unwanted, to end pain and suffering, to help a child with a life-threatening disease.

 

But in all these cases, the terrible truth is that it is the strong who decide the fate of the weak; human beings therefore become instruments in the hands of other human beings.

 

Our society today has lost sight of the sacred nature of human life. As Catholic Christians we are deeply committed to the protection of life in its earliest moments to its final moments.

 

The Christian notion of a good death is not as a good end, but a good transition, that requires faith, proper acceptance and readiness.

 

“Turning the Tide” proposes that true compassion is the best way to handle human suffering.

 

Q: Do laws prohibiting euthanasia have a place in a free society? Is the right to die a human right?

 

Father Rosica: Currently in Canada, euthanasia is considered murder and the law provides for a maximum of 14 years in prison for cases of assisted suicide.

 

In June 2005, Francine Lalonde, a Bloc Québecois member of the Canadian House of Commons, introduced Bill C-407 that would change the Canadian criminal code and legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.

 

The bill had some initial problems and was not passed, but Lalonde, re-elected in 2006, has promised to reintroduce her bill.

 

The notion that euthanasia and assisted suicide could be a reality for us in Canada should come as a wake-up call to all Canadians, not just because of the notion that all life is sacred from conception to natural death, but simply because of whom such a law would affect most, the most vulnerable.

 

This includes the chronically ill, who are a strain on the health care system; the elderly who have been abandoned and who have no one to speak on their behalf and who feel they may be a burden to others; and the disabled who have to fight every day to maintain their own integrity and dignity.

 

If we look at how the system has gone in the Netherlands, Belgium and in the state of Oregon in the United States, we can see that legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide will not be the solution.

 

Consider the following statistics:

 

In 1984, in the Netherlands, euthanasia was declared legal when certain conditions were met.

 

Even though about 2,400 cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide are reported each year, the Dutch government conducted a study in 1991 that found that there were up to 12,000 cases that year.

 

Of these, about half the patients did not request or consent to being killed. One of the doctors explained that it would have been “rude” to discuss the matter with the patients, as they all “knew that their conditions were incurable.”

 

Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002. That year, 204 people were reported to have been killed. In 2006, 444 people were reported to have been killed. In 2005, the Belgian government acknowledged that approximately half of all euthanasia deaths are not reported.

 

In Oregon, physician-assisted suicide was legalized in 1997. In 1998, there were 16 reported assisted suicide deaths. In 2005, there were 36.

 

In view of what has happened in other countries, it is time to turn the tide before all Canadians have to start fighting for our lives.

 

Q: What can the world learn from the way Pope John Paul II lived his death?

 

Father Rosica: John Paul II showed us true dignity in the face of death.

 

Rather than hide his infirmities, as most public figures do, he let the whole world see what he went through in the final phase of his life.

 

Before the cameras, John Paul II taught that although science can ease discomfort, palliative care should not be used as a cloak to hide the fact of dying.

 

As the curtain was about to fall, nothing made him waver, even the debilitating sickness hidden under the glazed Parkinsonian mask, and ultimately his inability to speak and move.

 

Pope John Paul has become a living “argument” for the appeal to respect the most frail and vulnerable, who he upheld during his pontificate.

 

Who can say his life was not fruitful, when his body was able to climb snow-capped summits or vacation on Strawberry Island in Lake Simcoe in 2002, during World Youth Day in Canada?

 

Who didn’t feel the paradoxical influence of his presence, when his voice was muted?

 

In our youth-obsessed culture, Pope John Paul II reminded us that aging and suffering are a natural part of being human.

 

Where the old and infirm are so easily put in homes and forgotten, the Pope was a powerful reminder that the sick, the handicapped and the dying have great value.

 

John Paul II taught us how to live, to suffer and to die. May he watch over us now and strengthen us as we turn the tide in our time.

Nature, Man and God

July 5, 2007 in Environment, God, Man, Right, Social

Vatican Seminar Debates Climate Issues

 

By Father John Flynn

 

ROME, MAY 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The worlds of science and faith had a chance to meet during a seminar held in the Vatican on the subject of climate change. On April 26-27 the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace hosted a gathering of scientists, politicians, theologians and bishops on the theme “Climate Change and Development.”

 

Cardinal Renato Martino, the council’s president, opened the proceedings by reading a telegram from Benedict XVI, signed by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state. The Pontiff thanked the participants for coming together to discuss climate change. The short message then went on to mention the importance of the principle of social doctrine of the universal destiny of goods, and the need to adopt a lifestyle and way of producing and consuming that respects creation and sustainable development.

 

In his opening address Cardinal Martino explained that the purpose of the seminar was above all a listening exercise to gather information in order to help the Church in formulating an ethical and pastoral response to the matter of climate change.

 

In reference to some of the theological issues involved, Cardinal Martino commented that the first chapters of the Bible demonstrate that the reality created by God exists for the use of mankind. “The dominion of man over creation, nevertheless, does not have to be a despotic dominion and domination; on the contrary, he has to ‘cultivate and take care of’ the goods created by God,” he observed.

 

The scientific angle

 

The first day was dedicated to the scientific aspects of climate. Laurent Stefanini, French ambassador for the environment, spoke of the historical background of climate change. He also gave a run-down of some of the meetings held in recent years on the issue.

 

The British environment minister, David Miliband, stressed the urgency of acting on climate change. He also augured that the Vatican would lend its weight to the campaign on issue, just as it has been active in matters related to economic development for poorer nations.

 

An overview of the data and projections regarding climate was given by Stefan Rahmstorf, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. He defended the accuracy of the reports published by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

 

Some of the other speakers questioned the validity of these reports, or whether climate change will be disastrous. Italian physicist and president of the World Federation of Scientists, Antonino Zichichi, drew attention to problems with the mathematical models used to predict climate change.

 

“There is a need to do more work, with a lot more rigor, to better the models being used,” he argued in a 60-page written paper that accompanied his speech to the seminar.

 

The consequences of higher carbon dioxide levels was addressed by Craig Idso, head of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change, based in Arizona, United States.

 

He argued that increased carbon dioxide would stimulate plant life, both increasing agricultural productivity and strengthening plants to resist the adverse consequences of higher temperatures.

 

The political aspects of the debate were also examined. Among the speakers on this issue was Argentina’s ambassador for international environmental issues, Raúl Estada Oyuela. Opening his remarks Estrada was critical of some of the views expressed during the opportunities for discussion in the seminar that had called for limiting economic growth to avoid ecological damage. He also defended the international agreements on climate matters and called on richer nations to take the brunt of the costs in addressing the problem.

 

Theology and ecology

 

The second day of the seminar saw a number of addresses on the theological and pastoral aspects of climate and ecology. E. Calvin Beisner, of the Interfaith Stewardship Alliance, located in Virginia, United States, offered an interpretation of some Biblical texts. Using a more literal exegetical method, that did not meet with a favorable reaction among many of the seminar’s participants, he called for greater confidence in God’s providence regarding possible ecological problems.

 

Auxiliary Bishop Bernd Uhl of Freiburg, Germany, spoke about Catholic social teaching as related to climate issues. One of the points he raised was the need to talk of creation, rather than environment. Creation, he continued, embodies value and reminds us of God. “Without a belief in God’s creation, there is a danger that nature or the earth will be made into a god,” he warned.

 

Elias Crisostomo Abramides, head of the climate change program for the World Council of Churches, urged greater responsibility in caring for creation. He was also critical of what he termed the “destructive over-consumption” in developed nations.

 

Bishop Christopher Toohey of Wilcannia-Forbes in New South Wales, Australia, and in charge of ecological matters for the Australian episcopal conference, addressed some of the pastoral issues.

 

In orienting people over ecological questions it is important to keep in mind, Bishop Toohey, explained, that we move people’s hearts, not just their minds. We need to remind all of the wonder and beauty of God’s creation. Moreover, action in the area of climate must be accompanied by a deep contemplation and awareness of the divine presence and richness of the Church’s teachings.

 

Our vocation as stewards of creation is not just something accidental, but stems “from the reality of God and the truth about ourselves,” Bishop Toohey stated. He also urged the seminar’s participants to look upon the concern over environmental issues as an opportunity to evangelize.

 

A complex discussion

 

Prefacing his remarks with the qualification that he was not expressing an official position by the Church or the pontifical council he heads, in his concluding address Cardinal Martino noted that the term most used during the proceedings was “complex.” In reference to disagreements among some of the participants, he thanked all for their contributions, that in their variety allowed a lively debate over the issues.

 

Cardinal Martino stated that: “Nature is for man, and man is for God.” Therefore, we must avoid both the error of making nature an absolute, and also the mistake of reducing it to a mere instrument.

 

Developing this idea Cardinal Martino argued that the human person has an “unarguable superiority” over creation and, by virtue of possessing an immortal soul, cannot be put on the same level as other living beings. Likewise, it is a mistake to consider the human presence as disturbing the natural ecological equilibrium.

 

At the same time we have the responsibility of conserving and developing nature within the framework of the principle of the universal destiny of goods, and of a concern for the welfare of the poor.

 

Cardinal Martino also warned of the danger of “modern forms of idolatry of nature that lose sight of man.” Referring to debates in past years over demographic concerns he noted the danger of policies that seek to limit population, with a view to saving the environment, by using abortion and sterilization.

 

The Church has a “realistic” view of matters, the cardinal continued, with confidence in the human capacity to find solutions to problems — a capacity that proves wrong the frequent forecasts of catastrophe.

 

Concluding his address, Cardinal Martino pointed out that the issue of ecology is above all an ethical one. Pope John Paul II, he noted, used the term “human ecology,” meaning that we must respect nature not only in natural ways, but also by means of a upright moral life. At its roots the ecological problem is both anthropological and theological.

 

The way we relate to nature in fact depends on how we relate to other persons, and how we relate to God. Useful orientations to guide Christians in a complex debate.