RURAL ROOTS - BROTHER DAVID ANDREWS, CSC
Our Search for a Moral Response

"As people of religious faith, we bishops believe that the atmosphere that supports life on earth is a God-given gift, one we must respect and protect. It unites us as one human family. If we harm the atmosphere, we dishonor our Creator and the gift of creation."

With the release of this statement in Global Climate Change: A plea for dialogue, prudence and the common good in June 2001, the U.S. bishops initiated a dialogue to better care for the future of God’s creation and the one human family. On February 19, 2005, NCRLC furthered this dialogue in a special workshop session in Washington, DC. NCRLC brought together a climate scientist, a theologian, faith-based leaders in environmental justice, and dozens of Catholic social ministers from around the country. Our charge was to consider moral responses to global climate change and its possible impacts on the future of God’s creation.

In this spring issue of Catholic Rural Life, we recreate our half-day session. Dr. Michael MacCracken, chief scientist for climate change programs at the Climate Institute, Washington, D.C., begins with the scientific evidence regarding global climate change and what the world faces in respect to impacts and public choices. It is important to understand the science of climate change before proposing a moral response. Dr. MacCracken leads us from the science of likely regional impacts to an urgent call for addressing the issues of stewardship and equity.

Drew Christiansen, SJ, is an advisor on international issues to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and associate editor of America magazine. He also initiated the bishops’ program on environmental justice in the early 1990s. In addressing climate policy, Fr. Christiansen identifies two issues to deal with: equity among nations in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sacrifice in making adjustments of lifestyle to accomplish that end. In the modern Catholic view, a global common good exists, and serving the common good is a basic responsibility of public officials. But more than this, we must all prepare for sacrifices in our lifestyles if we expect a sustainable future for all the earth.

This raises questions about U.S. leadership, both in terms of our example to the world and how our leaders are currently failing us. The inaction in the U.S. is partly a result of differing perceptions of the economic, social, and political costs of addressing climate change. Walter Grazer, director of the Environmental Justice Program at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, outlines the current political debate and explains how the bishops are calling for strong U.S. leadership. He also shows us how we, as citizens, can make our voice heard and urge political action.

Besides public policy, we need to take action in our own backyards and church communities. Cassandra Carmichael, director of the Eco-Justice Programs of the National Council of Churches of Christ, shares examples of what different congregations around the country have accomplished in their care for creation. It is also interesting to note that there are a handful of state-wide interfaith campaigns to educate congregations, parishes, and synagogues about climate change and motivate religious leaders to improve state and national policy. For those of us looking to get more involved, opportunities abound.

In the final piece, we hear from the coordinator of the Ohio Interfaith Climate and Energy Campaign, Leanne Jablonski, FMI, Ph.D. As a Marianist sister who directs the Marianist Environmental Education Center in Dayton, Ohio, Jablonski moves us even closer to personal action and change. Led by our faith, she explains how we can connect the science of climate change – what’s causing it, what impact it is having, and what can be done about it – through our own personal stories, Scripture, and our sacramental lives.

As a postscript, we reprint "God made humans the stewards of creation," the Holy Father’s catechesis at the General Audience of January 17, 2001. Here is the call for humankind to continue the Creator’s work of life. Certainly we must reorder our priorities and aspire to a new humility on how we live on God’s gift to us, the earth. Everything we have today is what we were given at the beginning of time. What are you leaving behind for future generations?


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This article was published in the winter 2004 issue of Catholic Rural Life©. No portion of this article may be reproduced without written permission from The National Catholic Rural Life Conference. To purchase the winter 2004 issue of Catholic Rural Life, please contact The National Catholic Rural Life Conference office at 4625 Beaver Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50310-2199, call (515) 270-2634, or e-mail NCRLC@mchsi.com. The cost is $2.50 an issue plus postage and handling.