Safeguarding the Environment

							                Safeguarding the
                Environment                                         “A correct understanding of the
                                                                    environment prevents the utilitarian
                As per Chapter 10 of the Compendium of the
                                                                    reduction of nature to a mere object to be
                Social Doctrine of the Church, “Only man            manipulated and exploited. At the same
                and woman, among all creatures, were                time, it must not absolutize nature and
                made by God 'in his own image' (Gen                 place it above the dignity of the human
                1,27)....The biblical vision inspires the           person himself….
                behaviour of Christians in relation to their
                use of the earth, and also with regard to
                the advances of science and technology....
 In addition to their incompatibility with Catholic teaching,
                 Cardinal Rigali tells us that:

  “Discarded & excreted contraceptive drugs have been
   having harmful effects on the U.S.’s aquatic animals,
   especially fish. Like secondhand smoke, secondhand
 estrogens are being released into the environment & are
                  causing harm to wildlife.

 “In July 2007, the National Catholic Register reported on a
      study by Environmental Protection Agency-funded
    scientists at the University of Colorado that found the
creation of ‘intersex fish’ with male & female features, due
to estrogens and other hormones from birth control pills &
   patches excreted through urine into the public sewage
   system & then into streams. NFP uses no such harmful
   toxins & thus nothing is released into the environment
        which can hurt the earth or wildlife” (7/22/10)

                                                                ●   ●     ●

                             "a correct understanding of the relationship between man & the
                             environment will not end by absolutizing nature or by considering it
                             more important than the human person. If the Church's
                             magisterium expresses grave misgivings about notions of the
                             environment inspired by ecocentrism and biocentrism, it is
                             because such notions eliminate the difference of identity & worth
                             between the human person & other living things. In the name of a
                             supposedly egalitarian vision of the 'dignity' of all living creatures,
                             such notions end up abolishing the distinctiveness & superior role
                             of human beings. They also open the way to a new pantheism
                             tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man's
                             salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms"
                             (Pope Benedict XVI’s Message for the 2010 World Day of Peace)
“Christian culture has always recognized     a pretext for political and economic       recognized that demographic growth is
the creatures that surround man as also      choices that are at variance with the      fully compatible with an integral and
gifts of God to be nurtured and              dignity of the human person….              shared development….
safeguarded with a sense of gratitude to
the Creator....                              Although it is true that an uneven         “Inadequate access to safe drinking water
                                             distribution of the population and of      affects the well-being of a huge number of
“nature is not a sacred or divine reality    available resources creates obstacles to   people and is often the cause of disease,
that man must leave alone. Rather, it is a   development and a sustainable use of the   suffering, conflicts, poverty and even
gift offered by the Creator to the human     environment, it must nonetheless be        death....the right to safe drinking water is
community….                                                                                                    a    universal     and
                                                                                                               inalienable right.
“the goods of the earth were created by
God to be used wisely by all. They must be             nature is not a sacred or divine                       "lifestyles should be
shared equitably, in accordance with                                                                          inspired by sobriety,
justice and charity....
                                                       reality that man must leave alone.                     temperance,        and
                                                       Rather, it is a gift offered by the                    self-discipline      at
“The close link that exists between the                                                                       both the individual
development of the poorest countries,                  Creator to the human community                         and social levels”
demographic changes and a sustainable
use of the environment must not become