NEIL DARRAGH explains why care for Earth is an essential part of Catholic Social Teaching and is at the centre of a larger vision of integral ecology. 

The question put to me as a focus for this article is whether care for the Earth is part of Catholic Social Teaching. And does care for the Earth have anything to do with the works of mercy that have been the theme of Tui Motu magazine issues through 2016?

Traditional Works of Mercy

The corporal works of mercy are a long established Christian tradition of love in action: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, bury the dead. But care of the Earth is not on the traditional list.

This list of works of mercy derives from the scene of the last judgement in Matthew’s gospel where people become the inheritors (or not) of the kingdom of heaven on the basis that “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me” (Mt 25:35–36).

Extending the Tradition

At some point in history “bury the dead” was added, and so Matthew’s six became the seven corporal works of mercy that are commonly used today. We might like to add “freeing the slaves” (in last month’s issue of Tui Motu) as a good modern extension of visiting the imprisoned. Pope Francis has recently proposed that care for the Earth should also be added to the list. A few decades ago we did not think we needed to care for the Earth. It was just there for us. But so much of the biosphere has been so badly damaged recently by the ruthless efficiency of human technology and the huge increase in the number of human over-consumers that we clearly do need to exercise care and “mercy” today.

Catholic Social Teaching Developing

What has come to be called “Catholic Social Teaching” is a more recent but now important Catholic tradition (with parallel traditions in other churches and in ecumenical documents). This is a collection of Christian teachings with essentially the same focus as the corporal works of mercy — love in action — but formulated in a more substantial and more structural way suited for industrialised society. Both of these are relatively short formulations of Christian beliefs put together in a package, so to speak, so that they can be easily remembered and easily applied.

Is care of the Earth part of Catholic Social Teaching then? Is it a central Christian belief that all Christians need to commit to, or is it just a green option for some? And if so, how did it get there because it wasn’t there when I first started learning about Catholic Social Teaching some decades ago?

Catholic Social Teaching was originally a body of teachings brought together as part of the Church’s response to the massive social injustices of 19th century industrialised Europe. It has grown and adjusted since then, mainly by adding more recent teachings of the popes from Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum: On Capital and Labour to Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home.

Caritas New Zealand lists the principles of Catholic Social Teaching as: Human dignity (made in God’s image), Solidarity (walking together), Preferential option for the poor and vulnerable (protecting those in need), working for the Common Good (the good of each and all), Subsidiarity (empowering communities), Participation (everyone with a part to play), Stewardship (being responsible guardians of the Earth). (See: www.caritas.org.nz/catholic-social-teaching).

“Stewardship” i.e. being responsible guardians of the Earth, is the latest addition to these principles. It barely appears at all in the documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). It appears occasionally in the official documents of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. It is central but with a changed focus in Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home.

Catholic Social Teaching, like the corporal works of mercy, is a tradition that is continually undergoing development as the church interacts with a changing world. Laudato Si’ is notable for two major changes in that tradition.

From Stewardship to Care

Firstly, the key image is no longer that of “stewardship” but “care for our common home”. This might look like a simple change of images, but is in fact a major change of attitude. The image of the steward, while it includes the sense of responsibility under God, is essentially that of “manager”, that is, human beings in charge. But human beings have already proven themselves corrupt and inadequate managers. The image of care for our common home, on the other hand, implies that humans, however powerful, are only one of the many species that make up the planet Earth and are just part of the planet’s larger eco-systems and processes. The planet is a common home for all of us. We are inter-dependent. We need to play our part with respect and restraint. We give care and we receive care from other beings in this planet.

Need for Integral Ecology

Secondly, in Laudato Si’, care for the Earth is no longer just one among a list of principles of social justice. A particular feature of this encyclical is its insistence on the close connection between environmental issues and social issues. We can’t solve one kind without the other. A decline in the quality of human life and a decline in the quality of the natural world around us go together. What is needed today is what this encyclical calls an “integral ecology” which respects all the environmental, human, and social dimensions of the planet.

Essential – not an Option

Is care for the Earth an essential element of Catholic Social Teaching then? It certainly is now. Nevertheless, we may already be moving to another stage of development where care for the Earth is no longer just part of Catholic Social Teaching. Rather, Catholic Social Teaching is itself becoming part of the larger vision of an “integral ecology” with care for our common home at its centre.

Let us not become too starry-eyed or over-enthusiastic, however, about our role of “care” or “compassion/mercy” for the Earth. Human beings kill other living beings — animals, plants, insects, living soils, living oceans, even the atmosphere — for food and shelter. We could not survive otherwise. It’s just that we have become so very good at it and so very unrestrained, that it will take a huge effort of ethics for us to control our ability to destroy other beings. Humans are probably the most ruthless and efficient predators the world has ever known. Certainly more ruthless and efficient than predatory raptors and T-Rex. We are also the most destructive herbivores. No other species or eco-system can survive our onslaught unless our compassion overcomes our self-interest.

We have learnt to practise compassion for suffering human beings through the traditions of the works of mercy and the teachings on social justice. Perhaps the most important spiritual exercise we can undertake in this age is to practise compassion for the other living species and processes of Earth. In doing so we may learn how much so many other Earth beings already care for us.

Published in Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 210 Nov 2016: 4-5.