tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90087865614733779662024-02-07T00:26:17.837-05:00Catholic Ecology"Our duties towards the environment are linked to our duties towards the human person, considered in himself and in relation to others. It would be wrong to uphold one set of duties while trampling on the other. Herein lies a grave contradiction in our mentality and practice today: one which demeans the person, disrupts the environment, and damages society."
Benedict XVI.
<em>Caritas in Veritate</em>, June 2009.William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.comBlogger299125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-46420547288831311382014-05-22T20:12:00.000-04:002014-05-22T22:29:12.435-04:00The vine, the branches, and the Reporter's troubled editorial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I came home from a sobering <a href="http://www.antiochne.edu/innovation/climate-change-preparedness/" target="_blank">conference </a>on climate
adaptation and read the National Catholic Reporter’s May 20th editorial
“<a href="http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/editorial-climate-change-churchs-no-1-pro-life-issue" target="_blank">Climate change is church's No. 1 pro-life issue</a>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While I am about to present a few concerns with the
editorial, I want to applaud its intent and much of its content. Anthropogenic
climate change is past debating. It’s an issue that will impact—and one could
argue already is impacting—human life. As the editorial rightly observes,
“[t]his is a human life issue of enormous proportions.” And I agree with its
proposal that "[t]he Catholic church should become a major player in
educating the public to the scientific data and in motivating people to act for
change"—although I don't know why "church" is not capitalized. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And while there is much from the climate conference that
I wish to share—and will over the next few weeks—for now my attention is turned
toward my friends at the Reporter and their troubled call for us to move
forward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, let’s consider the title.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is climate change the “No. 1 pro-life issue”? The
editorial’s author doesn't say this, but the header does. Now, anyone who has
had their work in print knows that headlines are typically the work of someone
other than the author—and that someone may not understand the author’s
intent. And yet, there in large letters is the claim that climate change is
more important than all other crimes against humanity—which I suppose includes
legalized forms of murder, like abortion, which has as its aim the death of
innocents. Issues like climate change arise for reasons other than murder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus the assertion in this headline is as bold as it is wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And anyway, why are we ranking life issues? One moral
theologian I spoke with today said it was “silly” for such a choice to be
offered. I would add that such reckless assertions only cloud what should be
straightforward. For those of us who are responding to climate change in our
professions, the last thing we need is more shadow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From this problematic title we turn to a problematic
statement:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">If there is a certain wisdom in the pro-life assertion
that other rights become meaningless if the right to life is not upheld, then
it is reasonable to assert that the right to life has little meaning if the
earth is destroyed to the point where life becomes unsustainable.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In most Catholic circles that I am aware of, we take
for granted that the right to life presupposes all other rights, since no right
is of any value if one is dead. As for where the editorial takes us—the
destruction of the earth’s ability to sustain life—well, I simply ask for a
little more nuance and some sound, scientifically grounded realities. I
certainly don’t want to see what happens should our planet be subjected to
carbon dioxide levels much higher than they are today—although they probably
will go much higher. The consequences to people and ecosystems will be
terrible. But the world will adapt to such levels and human life will still be
possible even if human civilizations, as we know them today, can’t. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Practically speaking, a growing part of my job requires
me to understand what will happen to water-pollution control infrastructure at
varying projections of greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting consequences.
And it seems that we are already seeing these consequences. Already there are
conversations in my office and throughout the nation about communities
retreating and the relocation of infrastructure. Those issues are difficult
enough to tackle without hyperbole about cascading climate consequences that
will make life—even human life—impossible to exist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(I have to also note—since it is related to the above—that the editorial for some reason thinks this statement was wise to add:
“While the church has taken it on the chin for centuries-old condemnations of
scientific truths …” If this is a reference to Galileo, than the author(s)
should have read a little more about this <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2010/12/church-and-science.html" target="_blank">oft-used anti-Catholic trope</a>.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, the editorial concludes with some sound
suggestions and a glaring oversight.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Catholic high schools and colleges have the freedom to
explore these vital issues from both the scientific and ethical perspectives.
They can bring theological perspectives to bear on the issues. Educators and
students could devise ways to become active at all levels, from homes, to
communities, to states, to advocating for legal measures to offset the effects
of global warming.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span> </blockquote>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finding a fix for climate change and its potentially
disastrous consequences, particularly for the global poor, is not the work of a
single discipline or a single group or a single political strategy. Its
solution lies as much in people of faith as in scientific data, as much or more
in a love for God's creation as it does in our instinct for self-preservation.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The solution will be found in none of these things,
although many of them are necessary. To put it simply: The problem is sin. The
solution is grace</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and our cooperation with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the climate conference this week, it was clear to me
that secular voices are growing frustrated—even afraid. The good efforts of
many seem not to be helping, which is why one (very good) workshop on enlisting
the aid of psychology was standing-room only. (More on that later.) I sense
that the authors of the National Catholic Reporter editorial are similarly
frustrated at where things stand. I am, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as Catholic ecologists, we must be upfront that the
Church brings to this global symptom of human sin something more than lectures
and laws. She brings the transformative Gospel of Jesus Christ and the grace that allows this transformation to take root and flourish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Christ tells us in the Gospel from this Wednesday, “Whoever remains
in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do
nothing.” (<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/15" target="_blank">John 15:5</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What this means for ecology has been stated many times by
popes and bishops. Bishop Dominique Rey of Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon, France taught
this truth with startling clarity in his <a href="http://www.catholicenvironment.com/" target="_blank">ecological pastor letter</a>. And so to
close, here are two passages from the bishop that say what I think the National
Catholic Reporter wanted to:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are faced with a moral crises: that is to say a crisis
of human choice and human action. Hence, the root of the problem resides in
man’s heart rather than in strictly economic or industrial concerns.</span><o:p><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">In the Eucharist, we find the possibility of a renewed
understanding of the created world. The Eucharist allows us to uncover the
basis of an integral human ecology; here we find the antidote to radical
individualism and collectivism. The Eucharist allows us to find Jesus’ face in
every person, most especially the poorest. It also enables us to welcome in
creation a gift from God and to thank him continuously for it.</span></span></blockquote>
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<i><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-86720088465939282222014-05-16T06:43:00.000-04:002014-05-16T07:52:22.050-04:00Special interview: Bettering rural life with Christ. Part 2 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Our conversation with Robert Gronski of <a href="http://www.ncrlc.com/">Catholic Rural Life</a> continues. </b>Part 1 was posted on May 15th, the Feast of St. Isidore, the patron of farmers and laborers, and can be found <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/05/special-interview-bettering-rural-life.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: You mentioned some of the big issues facing
farmers today and referenced the economic crises that farmers have faced in the
past. You also brought up some environmental concerns due to industrial
agriculture. Is it accurate to say that agriculture is now facing an environmental
crisis?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Robert Gronski:</b> I would say we are headed to a crisis if we don’t
seriously address the web of connections between the production of food, use of
water and generation of energy. This is known by some as the <a href="http://www.gracelinks.org/">Food-Water-Energy nexus</a> and as you might guess ties into the
discussion about climate change. (I don’t mean the controversy waged between
proponents and denialists; I refer to those in academia, business and
insurance, city governments, military, NGOs and others who are discussing how
to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is not surprising to know that agriculture accounts
for a major share of global freshwater use, roughly 70 percent. For Catholic
Rural Life members, we take great interest in how water is used on farms and
what can be done to prevent mismanagement and pollution of streams and
waterways. Over the past couple of decades, we have also taken a great interest
in the connection between water and generation of energy. Fresh water is heavily
drawn for power generation, both for electricity and transportation needs. For
an industrialized nation like the United States, that’s a great deal of water.
For instance, large amounts of energy are required to pump water up from
underground aquifers and to pipe water from one region to another.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When it comes to agriculture, fuel energy is needed to
farm the land and transport food crops, some of which can be turned into
biofuel. That creates a dilemma as we weigh food needs against energy needs. It
is increasingly clear that freshwater resources cannot always meet the water
demands of agriculture, energy generation, public drinking water and industry.
We need to more efficiently manage water supplies: there is no substitute,
except the dwindling possibility of finding or producing more fresh water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I previously made the remark above that everything begins
and ends with the land when it comes to our work on this earth. Here’s another
sweeping statement: As water goes, so goes human life! If water sources are
imperiled, then all the earth is imperiled. The warnings are there: human
activities have long-term impacts on the land, water, climate and vast
biological life that comprise the ecosystems of our planet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But despite stern warnings from scientists, we as a
society still aren’t ready to grapple with how our human activities altering
the earth for the worse. Food production is only a part of it, but it is an
essential one. We can lose many conveniences of modern life and still survive;
the bounty of food is not one we can go without.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we rightly ask: Can people of faith make a positive
contribution to preventing further destruction of our soil and water sources
and other threats to our earth? Church leaders and faith-based thinkers can
help show us how to "green" our Catholic faith. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Following the lead of
Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis promises to guide us in
valuing the goodness of creation, to use creation with gratitude and restraint,
and to live virtuously within and among God’s creation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>CE: Tell us more about how our Catholic faith
informs us about sound agricultural practices. How active are bishops and local
parish priests in the work of supporting our farms—especially family farms?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Gronski: </b>Our Board President, <a href="http://bishopsblog.dioceseofcheyenne.org/about-2/">Bishop Paul D. Etienne of the Diocese of Cheyenne</a>,
expresses the interconnections of faith, food and the environment this way:</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our starting point is foundational. God created the world
and all within it. God’s creation is fruitful and meant to sustain the family
of God placed upon the earth. … Everything upon the earth was created to
sustain life. Every plant and animal has
an inherent purpose: an internal, divine genius to live in harmony with the
rest of creation for the sustenance of all life. This vast diversity of seed,
plant and animal life is good, and it expresses God’s beauty. God’s creation
says that God is for Life!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have made it
clear in their <a href="http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/agriculture-nutrition-rural-issues/for-i-was-hungry.cfm">pastoral reflections</a> that providing food for all is a Gospel imperative, not just another policy
choice. They make it clear that they have integral concerns in how food is
produced and brought to our tables. These fall into the realm of moral and
ethical issues that the Church in the U.S. has grappled with for decades:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why does hunger persist and how can we overcome it in
the world?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How can we ensure a sustainable food supply for
generations to come?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How can we ensure a dignified life and work environment
for farm families and farmworkers? How can we help rural communities survive
and thrive?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do we sustain land, water, and other natural
resources in the service of the common good?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do we build resiliency into agricultural production
that currently depends on cheap fossil fuels and abundant water supplies?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do we prepare for impending climatic disruptions?</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I touched on some of these concerns in my comments above,
but the heart of these questions is how do we serve the least among us: the
poor, the hungry, the disregarded and the disenfranchised. The moral
justification of agriculture – the cultivation of the earth – is to feed and
serve others. When that “cultivation” tears up or disrupts the soil, water and
other natural goods of the earth, then other questions come into play. But the
primary moral justification remains steadfast: we must feed one another.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After moral justification comes social justice: Does the
structure of the agricultural industry benefit some over others? Is there a moral obligation to “save the
family farm”? <a href="http://onthehuman.org/people/gary-comstock/">Gary Comstock</a>, a
professor of philosophy and religious studies, has addressed just this question
and broke it down in parts: “Do family farmers practice better stewardship of
the land than other farmers? Are rural communities better places to live if
they are surrounded by many medium sized farms rather than a few large farms?
Are farm animals treated more humanely on family farms? Can smaller farms take
advantage of economies of scale and produce food as efficiently as larger
farms?” (Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2000, entry on “Agricultural
Ethics”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Comstock also brings up environmental ethics, pointing
out that humans – as the children of God – have duties to nature in terms of
stewardship. We can read in Psalms that the earth belongs to the Lord; this
fact should inform us that humans must not abuse soil, water, air, and animals.
Can we change our human behavior by realigning our human attitudes towards the
earth and creation? We can ponder that, but let us not neglect the role of
governments and public policies to shape a fair and just agricultural system in
accordance with an ecological spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Government policies, especially at the federal level,
must set the stage by improving ecological management and illuminating how
water-food-energy systems and processes overlap. Otherwise, a policy relevant
to a single resource might actually end up having a negative impact on the rest
of the food, water and energy nexus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqMctxRNNGVLyu5756oUbVrGC5x7DcHwHrvB_cGzV5IOK05SjkBbdcpa1yViMlC-WmktgJrb4s439KUHre72jQWSaPyhRlFWwtzEFHgCjFTX3yuYimBnb_6ZxCvbuTLsZZA33W_fS_ADs/s1600/iStock_000035945812Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqMctxRNNGVLyu5756oUbVrGC5x7DcHwHrvB_cGzV5IOK05SjkBbdcpa1yViMlC-WmktgJrb4s439KUHre72jQWSaPyhRlFWwtzEFHgCjFTX3yuYimBnb_6ZxCvbuTLsZZA33W_fS_ADs/s1600/iStock_000035945812Large.jpg" height="280" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Change can only happen if policy makers, business owners
and consumers alike better understand the interconnections of resource use,
environmental impacts, climate change, and human actions and attitudes. The
choices we make at home and at the grocery store, the decisions made by
business managers, and the policies set by elected officials will affect the
land, our waters and all of creation. This in turn will come back to affect
future generations, for better or worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>CE: What’s in store for Catholic Rural Life
this year?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Gronski:</b> We are planning a symposium entitled “Vocation of the
Agricultural Leader: Faith, Food and Environment” to be held in St. Paul,
Minn., in early November. It will cover many of the issues I mentioned above.
The idea is to bring together agricultural leaders, theologians, and
environmentalists to address the challenges facing the farming community today.
It is time to formally address the moral and ethical issues of agriculture,
both in respect to providing food for all while understanding the impacts on
the environment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jim Ennis, executive director of Catholic Rural Life, is
also working with Catholic partners in Rome to hold an international symposium
along the same lines in 2015. The outcomes and consensus that emerge from these
dialogues will be used to create a comprehensive set of resources to help
agricultural leaders around the world navigate their vocation in the shifting
landscape of the 21st century.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the academics slated to speak in November is <a href="http://www.stthomas.edu/spssod/facultystaff/ourfaculty/thompson.htm">Dr.Christopher Thompson</a>, a moral theologian who teaches at the University of St. Thomas. He also happens
to be a Board member of Catholic Rural Life. He says that a farmer is called to
be “a prudent steward of God’s creation—an incredible vocation,” but that the
Church in America hasn’t done enough to help farmers address their
responsibilities and tasks in a decidedly Catholic way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Thompson, Jim Ennis and the rest of the board and
staff at Catholic Rural Life believe this Faith, Food, and Environment
symposium and project will go a long way toward highlighting the intersection
of Catholic social thought and agriculture. There’s also hope that this is the
start of a larger, more sustained focus on the “theology of food” and
stewardship of creation, possibly including the establishment of a Pontifical
Institutes devoted to agriculture and the environment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s grist for another blog post later this year! To end
for now, let me again ask St. Isidore to pray for us and help all farmers in
their noble vocation on the land. Their trust in God and a spirit of devotion
to the land are the virtues we seek in our world today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Part 1 of the interview can be found <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/05/special-interview-bettering-rural-life.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i></span></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-38687882197860455662014-05-15T05:34:00.001-04:002014-05-16T07:48:23.978-04:00Special interview: Bettering rural life with Christ. Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On the Feast of St. Isidore, the patron of farmers and laborers, we begin a two-part interview with </b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ncrlc.com/">Catholic Rural Life</a>, looking especially at</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> the issues faced by farmers in</b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> rural America. Part 2 of the interview can be found <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/05/special-interview-bettering-rural-life_16.html">here</a>.</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Introducing us to the organization is Robert Gronski, a part-time policy
correspondent for Catholic Rural Life. His duties involve tracking federal legislation and
policy perspectives on farm, food, environmental, and rural community
issues, and helps frame these within the perspective of Catholic social
teachings. He joined the staff of CRL in 1999 after completing doctoral studies
in political economy of agriculture at the University of Missouri-Columbia,
Department of Rural Sociology. He also brings an international perspective to
Catholic Rural Life with his development work experiences overseas, mainly
Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Previously based at the CRL office in Des
Moines, Iowa, when he worked as the full-time policy coordinator, Robert now
works part-time from his family home in St. Louis, MO. Contact him
at </span><a href="mailto:bob@ncrlc.com" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">bob@ncrlc.com</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Robert Gronski</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: Tell us about Catholic Rural Life. When did
it form? What are its primary goals?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Robert </b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><b>Gronski:</b> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Catholic Rural Life, previously known as
the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, was founded in November 1923
during a gathering of bishops, priests and laity meeting in St. Louis,
Missouri. They shared common concerns about Catholic families in rural areas
and thereby determined it was time to form an active
organization. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Vincent_O'Hara" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most Rev. Edwin V. O'Hara</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, then director of the Rural
Life Bureau of the National Catholic Welfare Conference (which later became the
United States Catholic Conference and eventually the </span><a href="http://www.usccb.org/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">U.S. Conference ofCatholic Bishops</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">), was the energetic guide behind this
rural initiative. O’Hara saw that the rural church was underserved in terms of
priests, churches, and Catholic schools. So in its early years, Catholic Rural
Life was primarily interested in religious education for rural Catholics and
the challenge of anchoring families to the land.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Great Depression of the 1930s probably shaped the CRL
organization more than anything else during those early years. The economic
plight of farmers occupied a great deal of attention by federal government
officials, not to mention state and local ones. President Roosevelt and others
felt that prosperity for the nation would not return until farming was a decent
livelihood again. Their solution was to create government support programs to
increase the price of farm products. This was part of the much larger New Deal
programs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hard times of the Great Depression, coupled with the
environmental challenges of the Dust Bowl era, followed by the trying times of
World War II, created a strange twist: Catholic Rural Life as an organization
attracted more members than at any other time in its history. If you can
imagine life before the internet and digital communications, Catholic Rural
Life somehow maintained an active network of diocesan rural life directors. It
seems we were better known at that time throughout the countryside than we are
today!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I should mention that the most popular and well-known
leader, <a href="http://distributistreview.com/mag/2012/04/msgr-luigi-ligutti-and-distributism/">Monsignor Luigi G. Ligutti</a>,
held the reigns for Catholic Rural Life during the 1940s and 50s. He was the
first executive director by that title and established the main office in Des
Moines, Iowa. Ligutti was a great spokesman for Catholic rural life, and many
thought of him as the personal symbol of the Catholic agrarian movement. He
expressed the importance of family farms and love of the soil as the
foundations of a virtuous nation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By the way, it was also at this period of time
that <a href="http://www.ncrlc.com/page.aspx?ID=91">St. Isidore the Farmer</a> became the patron saint
of Catholic Rural Life and, of course, to all farmers and farmworkers in the
United States. Initially his feastday was celebrated on March 22, but this was
subsequently changed to May 15. St. Isidore, pray for us!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2IXhw2zUETWhOD6Ssq-Mmi2f37cnfsbvVLiks1JZ_PxjJxnEdtJ6sFE1_rbUiK0BJkCvV34AA5pzpTGL8gt97xXwquJNGHFIib4_ZzZuOUan50MNIaIXFIvFlexWk3ysBsYteorbdZjc/s1600/Saint+Isidore+the+Farmer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2IXhw2zUETWhOD6Ssq-Mmi2f37cnfsbvVLiks1JZ_PxjJxnEdtJ6sFE1_rbUiK0BJkCvV34AA5pzpTGL8gt97xXwquJNGHFIib4_ZzZuOUan50MNIaIXFIvFlexWk3ysBsYteorbdZjc/s1600/Saint+Isidore+the+Farmer.jpg" height="400" width="236" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me jump to the early 1980s: this was another rough
stretch for farm families and known by many today as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farm_crisis">farm crisis</a>. Fluctuations in the
farm economy, along with the economic and farm policies of the federal
government, took their toll on the countryside. During the 1970s, farmers were
strongly advised to expand acreage and production, which meant carrying heavy
debt loads. But then farm prices fell dramatically as the global economy
faltered and farm exports dried up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During this period, Catholic Rural Life and dioceses in
farm states groped for ways to respond pastorally to farmers who were either in
danger of losing their farms or had already lost their farms. Social action and
rural life directors started counseling programs and support groups. Efforts
were made to become more active in changing or fixing agriculture policies that
were now detrimental to farmers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Much of our work today continues to focus on
agricultural, food and environmental policies. We are part of several national
coalitions and efforts; we also connected with international groups, but try to
stay grounded by regular contacts with local groups. Like other membership
organizations that depend on annual dues and grants, we are susceptible to
economic downtowns, such as the one that hit the country in 2007-08. This
curtailed are program work and reduced our active presence for a few years now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, Catholic Rural Life is currently regrouping. Our
90th anniversary last November served as impetus: we could persevere knowing we
had made it through rough periods in the past. New staff members have come on
board this year; funding and project grants have picked up again. Many still
believe there is a need for a faith-based group like Catholic Rural Life to
bring a voice of hope to the challenges facing farmers, rural communities, the
environment and the world’s food system in a time of great changes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>CE: What are some of the most important issues
related to farming today?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Gronski: </b>This is a question that can be answered in many ways.
Farmers will look at it one way, agribusiness processors another way,
conservationists and sustainable food advocates yet another way, and even food
consumer groups will have their perspective.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We could spend a great deal of time examining the farmer
category by breaking down the different kinds of farmers or ranchers throughout
the U.S., which region of the country they operate, and whether or not they are
a working farmer on the land. (That might sound strange, but it has to do with
landowners who rent farmland and absentee farm investors.) But let’s skip over
these categories for the moment and highlight what appear to be major concerns
as expressed in the farm press and by agribusiness observers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The rising cost of industrial agriculture is
certainly near the top of the list. The ever-greater demands on fossil fuel
use, water irrigation and topsoil resources (namely synthetic fertilizers) are
making it increasingly costly to produce sufficient food for a growing
population who still want it cheap and abundant. Just imagine what will happen
– politically, socially, globally – as agricultural resources become not only
scarce, but are depleted in various parts of the country, not to mention the
world. Many further question the very nature of <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/">industrial agriculture</a> and whether its grievous impacts on the environment should be allowed to
continue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This leads to farmland management as a related
and rising critical issue. We cannot continue to drain the nutritional value of
the soil and expect to replenish it with cheap synthetic
inputs. <a href="http://sustainableagriculture.net/">Sustainable agriculture proponents</a> – and Catholic Rural Life is decidedly in this camp – are calling for a new
agrarian mindset of soil and water stewardship. Sound practices must be
renewed, such as crop rotation and use of cover crops, to help the soil
replenish its organic material. Grazing and livestock management also requires
greater attention and care; grasslands can be readily replenished under proper
land and cattle management.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me say that everything begins and ends with the land.
The opening chapters of Genesis seem to bear this out when it comes to our life
on this earth! For us in the modern world today, we need to stay aware of
preserving good farmland, particularly near cities and towns where the economic
incentives of urban sprawl tend to outweigh ecological rationality. Even in the
wide-open spaces of rural areas, we need to take care in continually plowing up
marginal lands; that means preserving grasslands that should remain as natural
habitats. Finally, we need to publicly support the stewardship of productive land
on working farms, thus protecting the soils and sustaining our agricultural
production for generations on end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A third important issue generating a great deal of
discussion is food waste. Some observers have estimated that on a global
basis, we might be wasting as much as one-third of the food coming off the
field. Some waste occurs in the agricultural production process itself; this is
followed by food loss in post-harvest handling and storage; and there is also
loss in processing and distribution. Then there is a sizeable percentage of
food waste by the consumer – you and me! We put too much on our plates and then
throw it out; we buy too much at one time and let it spoil; or we simply don’t
like the look or taste of something – and toss it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the world we live in: sufficient food for many,
yet hunger for some, obesity for others, and an inordinate amount of food waste
still to deal with. As a society, we are alarmed by the human health concerns
of malnutrition, whether too little food or too much. We should become equally
alarmed to the impacts on the environment. The industrial method of production,
the intensive use of fossil fuels and the subsequent waste along the way are
simply not sustainable for the world’s growing population.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus, Catholic Rural Life joins with those trying to
change U.S. farm and food policies. Our recent efforts in the new Farm Bill
(more descriptively, Food, Farm and Jobs Bill ) are evidence of that.
But just as important is reconnecting the general public, far removed from life
on the farm, to how their food is grown and processed. This is the beginning of
a solution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>CE: What would you like the average consumer to
know about the farms and the families who feed the rest of us?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Gronski: </b>Catholic Rural Life has for many years now tried to
create awareness among “eaters” (meaning the public) about what is happening in
farming. Our campaign called “Eating is a Moral Act” was a striking
way to engage consumers in relearning where their food came from and what important
issues they should be aware of. By the power of their eating choices, which is
to say consumer choices, they could create change in how food is produced and
who gets to stay on the land and produce that food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmLx2Q5_-ZLP6J6uo7e9U9egqmoCa4vYtPO_YVEQakPKCnXLLXvHBDhu-Q3oPHCeDATieNSZSsYrZciariFh_fX1kfVhn1YBijI45y9OhBiIT-nPACOQ2O-AdvsfobBTxYWB7SCTm67E/s1600/Thanksgiving-iStock_000000815256Small-NOT-FOR-REUSE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmLx2Q5_-ZLP6J6uo7e9U9egqmoCa4vYtPO_YVEQakPKCnXLLXvHBDhu-Q3oPHCeDATieNSZSsYrZciariFh_fX1kfVhn1YBijI45y9OhBiIT-nPACOQ2O-AdvsfobBTxYWB7SCTm67E/s1600/Thanksgiving-iStock_000000815256Small-NOT-FOR-REUSE.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So the “<a href="http://www.ncrlc.com/page.aspx?ID=9">ethics of eating</a>” (as we also refer to it) was
our way to reach out to an urban audience and to the many parishes who no
longer have strong ties – or really any ties – to farms and rural areas. But
they still have a great concern about food and the environment. Catholics, like
many other faith traditions, have always been concerned about hunger and its
primary cause, poverty. They are perplexed as to why farmers are able to
produce so much food and yet many still go hungry. This gets to the other side
of the question: what is really happening in the structure of our food system?
Why is the market failing to feed everyone? Why is the market creating
incentives to erode the ecological foundations of food production?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Farmers and ranchers will grow and produce what people
want to buy and consume. You might say, “Well, of course! Why wouldn’t they?!”
The modern structure of agriculture, however, sets a powerful “middleman”
between farmer and consumer. I’m referring to giant agribusiness corporations
that control the handling, processing and marketing of the food we eat. Farmers
and ranchers are producing for those giant firms since that is how the
structure of the agricultural system in our country works. Because these are
first and foremost business corporations, they “source” (look for, contract
with, buy from) the “most efficient” crop or livestock production – which is to
say the lowest cost at the acceptable quality – and then processing and
packaging the final food products in a way to capture the most profit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This system works fairly admirably when they are plenty
of competitors vying for the product coming off the farm and the product going
into supermarkets and other food outlets. But when those middlemen become few
and big and powerful, then we become rightfully concerned. They set industry
standards, they heavily influence federal policies, they lose any transparency
they might have had and we can only guess at what we are consuming. (A good
source to learn more about agribusiness concentration and what to do about
it: Organization for CompetitiveMarkets.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But coming back around to farmers and their families, we
already know that their numbers continue to dwindle. Technology makes that
possible, but I think it is wrong to believe it makes it inevitable. “It’s just
the way it is,” I often hear in reaction to the industrialization of
agriculture and the big getting ever bigger. I say it is the way the powerful
have shaped it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Catholic Rural Life, we believe that most farmers and
ranchers feel a vocation towards growing the best food they can for the health
and daily nutrition needs of all people. Our network of members and partners
favor the family farmer and fret over the continued loss of the family farm.
Actually, I believe we will always have family farms: some will just be very
large operations and many will be much smaller “niche” farms. The problem is
not really the size or scale of the farm; it’s whether or not we will have a
sufficient number of farm families who make rural life thrive. It’s not just
about growing food: it’s raising a family, sending kids off to school, filling
shops and churches, and building community. The values it took to make that all
work are the values a country needs to remain secure and sustainable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Family farms accomplished this in the past, so we should
not let them slip away because it’s more “efficient” to produce food on a giant
industrial corporate scale. (Fortunately we’re not there yet, but the tendency
to head in that direction clearly is.) There is a common belief that family
farmers are good stewards of the land; this was the case when one generation
planned to pass along the family farm to the next. They knew their land and
they took care of it. As today’s farmers retire, however, their children may no
longer see a future in farming; it is a capital-intensive business and the
margins are thin. It is not uncommon for the land to go into the hands of much
larger farm operations or farm investors. Maybe they will be good stewards; but
first and foremost they will be businessmen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Part two of the interview is <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/05/special-interview-bettering-rural-life_16.html">here</a>. </b></span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i></span></o:p></div>
William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-63598218526131169772014-05-11T11:09:00.001-04:002014-05-11T11:10:21.830-04:00Lessons from moms and (unhealthy) bees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzsOaHdpGL1XcyXwJu9RQybftb13KOmbSZ9VdXomlgSgP801ta_XcRLkbLkk0bs9O4m9abtRMNC1n2e0scBIF0apamja5M2d73lLDJmj9bBVWEGsSg3C_FQkelUXBFULKfbQOInPMUQgs/s1600/iStock_000038216516Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzsOaHdpGL1XcyXwJu9RQybftb13KOmbSZ9VdXomlgSgP801ta_XcRLkbLkk0bs9O4m9abtRMNC1n2e0scBIF0apamja5M2d73lLDJmj9bBVWEGsSg3C_FQkelUXBFULKfbQOInPMUQgs/s1600/iStock_000038216516Large.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During my little walk earlier to fetch my newspaper</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—among</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a Mother's Day chorus of birds and bees </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">going about their homemaking chores in a landscape of leaf, grass, and flower</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got to
thinking about a new report on a type of insecticide that is killing bees. Of course, the
death of bees will have some small or large impact on food supplies (which need
bees for pollination). And so this issue about bees is one that we should be aware of. (For the record, the work of "mother bees" is important
enough that it is noted specifically in the Church's </span><a href="http://www.potiori.com/Exsultet.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Easter Exsultet hym</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">n.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The study, “<a href="http://www.bulletinofinsectology.org/pdfarticles/vol67-2014-125-130lu.pdf" target="_blank">Sub-lethal exposure to neonicotinoidsimpaired honey bees winterization before proceeding to colony collapse disorder</a>,” is yet another alarm sounding over the often unknown effects of
manmade chemicals. The paper notes in its final discussion that the “results
from this study not only replicate findings from the previous study … but also
reinforce the conclusion that sub-lethal
exposure to neonicotinoids is likely the main culprit for the occurrence of
(colony collapse disorder).” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pi117" target="_blank">Neonicotinoids </a>are man-made. They mimic the insecticidal
characteristics of nicotine—which occurs naturally. But as science is showing
us, the use of the artificial variety in the food supply chain is causing problems
that could eventually bring great harm to the systems that feed millions. Perhaps we will soon find a version of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">neonicotinoids</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that will not come with bee-hive-collapsing impacts, but at the present this is the matter before us.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBPas0rkjgSlUQuIJRqPMxuV66y31OwtLoSVF9Q0mPAgd1j8MY3BzFWp7Uns0Nr4-H-VRoUv4f0rUGq-WI0fHQRcNsnS5UoYayf7TJUtZ-FMGbjo_mAUhLrRN0LlsqwOBkzmfeNiTmTgs/s1600/maryforbloig.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBPas0rkjgSlUQuIJRqPMxuV66y31OwtLoSVF9Q0mPAgd1j8MY3BzFWp7Uns0Nr4-H-VRoUv4f0rUGq-WI0fHQRcNsnS5UoYayf7TJUtZ-FMGbjo_mAUhLrRN0LlsqwOBkzmfeNiTmTgs/s1600/maryforbloig.png" height="400" width="262" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mother’s Day is a day devoted to the natural order of
things—to moms, who make choices to bring new life into the world, and then spend
a lifetime sacrificing for their sons and daughters so that they may someday do
likewise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What this story about neonicotinoids tells us is that
mimicking nature is not wise when we don’t think enough about the
impacts of our choices. "See where it leads," St. Augustine would say.
It turns out that this is not just true for theology, but for sciences and
technology, too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There will be time a little later to wrestle with weighty issues. For today, let us pause on this Fourth Sunday of Easter—on this
Mother’s Day—and remember those that gave birth to us and all those who in any
way were like a mom to us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And may Mary, the mother of us all, hear in our prayers
our love for her, as she also prays for us—for our planet, too. Mary, protector
of life, pray for us!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">O Mother most merciful, Mother of compassion,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ark of Salvation, Gate of Heaven,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Refuge of sinners and those in despair,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To Thee we fly, unto Thy leaven.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">O Mother most sweet, most radiant, O Mother of mothers!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mother most pure, Mother most dear,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thee do we entreat sending up our sighs,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Thou bendest to blot every tear.</span></i></span></blockquote>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Prayer excerpt from </span><a href="http://catholictradition.org/Mary/mothers-day.htm" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">catholictradition.org</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i></span></div>
William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-1073816514901553342014-05-07T23:49:00.000-04:002014-05-10T03:57:24.426-04:00Making all things new: wrapping up a pontifical success<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFzYd9CYEWkoGemXODBbDLAyKEAFjvwpxnZY6vtmAoCptdUzt0jieh2ZmaWv2qCBYkSD2qmKaxws4vHemQ4XbQcdidIet-e-K7ZKccNKRLZy0Vq1fr-ySskGb0s1lpnVAgfrGMX0p_Ck0/s1600/VatConfGroupPicture.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFzYd9CYEWkoGemXODBbDLAyKEAFjvwpxnZY6vtmAoCptdUzt0jieh2ZmaWv2qCBYkSD2qmKaxws4vHemQ4XbQcdidIet-e-K7ZKccNKRLZy0Vq1fr-ySskGb0s1lpnVAgfrGMX0p_Ck0/s1600/VatConfGroupPicture.png" height="476" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, it’s a wrap. Or is it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/events/2014/sustainable.html" target="_blank">Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature: Our Responsibility</a>,” the Vatican super-conference of some sixty of the greatest
minds in academia, was apparently so well-received that we might have witnessed not the end of the conversation between the natural and social
sciences, but “the beginning of something, a new sort of communication across
the disciplines.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those were the words of conference organizer and
atmospheric scientist Dr. Veerabhadran Ramanathan. He was speaking during one of the
many spontaneous times of reflection during the five-day event, when it
seemed unanimous that the work of this pontifical gathering must continue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But for now, the event's organizers need to rest. And we
need to ponder all that happened and all that was shared. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What follows is a summary of summaries of conference news and commentary. There is certainly more—or at least there should be—and so if you
know of any other event coverage or commentary, please share it in the comments
below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, there is conference material from the event’s
organizers, the <a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en.html" target="_blank">Pontifical Academy of Sciences</a> and the <a href="http://www.pass.va/content/scienzesociali/en.html" target="_blank">Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences</a>. The event <a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/events/2014/sustainable.html" target="_blank">website </a>is here; the event program is <a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/dam/accademia/booklet/booklet_sustainable.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>; and
video of the proceedings can be found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_ffCrZiNPU#t=7230" target="_blank">here for Saturday</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_ffCrZiNPU" target="_blank">here for Monday</a>, and
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXS6X3P0sVU" target="_blank">here for Tuesday</a>. (Friday’s archive seems absent, but when a source is found
I’ll revise this page and add it.) Presentation documents can be found <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lq1nenatz7m0dap/9-1tDvPLAg" target="_blank">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for coverage, <a href="http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/" target="_blank">Andy Revkin of <i>The New York Times</i></a> was present during the conference and also participated in it with questions and with a final conference reflection, which can be found at about the
10:39:30 mark of this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXS6X3P0sVU" target="_blank">YouTube archive</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dan Misleh, at the Catholic Climate Covenant, who was
also an observer, has been blogging about the conference <a href="http://catholicclimatecovenant.org/dans-blog-from-rome/" target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brian Roewe at the <i>National Catholic Reporter</i> <a href="http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/vatican-hosts-five-day-sustainability-summit" target="_blank">has written about the event</a> and I would image there is more to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Commonweal’s Dominic Preziosi has <a href="https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/cardinal-casts-humanity-ethical-child-environment?utm_content=buffer0b7bd&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer#Vatican" target="_blank">this posting</a>, and John
Allen at the <i>Boston Globe</i> provides coverage towards the end of <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2014/05/03/facing-fresh-grilling-vatican-envoy-pushes-back/NcargfrZplpEuC31k2y3hK/story.html" target="_blank">this posting</a> about all things
Vatican.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And besides my blog entries (this <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/05/feeding-multitudes-vatican-conference.html" target="_blank">first one</a>, <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/05/vatican-conference-opener-stresses.html" target="_blank">this one</a>, and <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/05/vatican-conference-breaks-for-sunday.html" target="_blank">this one</a>), <i>Catholic
World Report</i> was kind enough to <a href="http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/3125/elevating_the_existing_environmental_dialogue.aspx" target="_blank">publish my analysis</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again, if you know of any other coverage, please share it
below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Photo credit: Pontifical Academy of Science. Used with permission. </span></o:p></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-10199765223622276022014-05-04T12:28:00.001-04:002014-05-05T00:05:50.043-04:00Vatican conference breaks for Sunday: “Were our hearts not burning within us?”<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgb5gfIByRxH1b4AzbS5sZOv9d0sYHJL6SVaoaGC9BoCjCCV_X-QuHtKrg3bpzo-lKhMv0iSQlAD-4zaH5KMtXHVUG8qk3KGIoNY_TZefQLId-apNZwbvCmM55x_LGentUnXmpDMswcA/s1600/vatconfsundayemmaus.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRgb5gfIByRxH1b4AzbS5sZOv9d0sYHJL6SVaoaGC9BoCjCCV_X-QuHtKrg3bpzo-lKhMv0iSQlAD-4zaH5KMtXHVUG8qk3KGIoNY_TZefQLId-apNZwbvCmM55x_LGentUnXmpDMswcA/s1600/vatconfsundayemmaus.png" height="254" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>They urged him, “Stay with us,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>So he went in to stay with them.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>And it happened that, while he was with them at table,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>he took bread, said the blessing,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>broke it, and gave it to them.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>but he vanished from their sight.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Then they said to each other,<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“Were not our hearts burning within us<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures
to us?”</i> <a href="http://usccb.org/bible/luke/24:13" target="_blank">Luke 24: 29-32</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A productive Vatican conference on global sustainability
has paused for the third Sunday of Easter—a day that offers Luke’s great
Emmaus resurrection account and the finding of Jesus in the breaking of the
bread. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This passage, read today at all Masses across the world,
has much to say about trust, doubt, hope, life, and the often unexpected place
of Christ in our lives. As it turns out, it is particularly meaningful for the
Vatican’s international gathering that is exploring life, relationships, and shared
choices. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"<a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/events/2014/sustainable.html" target="_blank">Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature: Our Responsibility</a>" (known in the Twitterverse as </span><a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SustVatican" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; color: #00858f; line-height: 18px; outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #66b5bb;">#</span>SustVatican</span></a><span style="color: #292f33;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">has wrapped up two successful days of deliberations. The event is slated
to end Tuesday evening with a talk by Enrico Berti titled “Social Ethics:
Humanity’s Responsibility Toward Nature,” followed by observations from Andy
Revkin of the New York Times, one of the few reporters covering the event. His
Excellency </span><a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/academicians/perdurante/sanchez.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, the chancellor of the Pontifical
Academy of Sciences, will then wrap things up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Summarizing this conference will be a tall order. Even at
the halfway mark, there is much to consider </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">about science, policy, hopes, and at least one “sad truth.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was particularly interested with Saturday’s discussions
on climate change. After a talk by Anil Kulkarni on the use of glaciers as
water supplies, attendees deliberated on how best to communicate the realities
of anthropogenic climate change to those who are suspicious of what science is
telling us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This led to a heartfelt, pastoral question by Bishop
Sorondo—a question that many of have asked: How do we convince others about the
reality of climate change?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Answering in context of the day’s discussions was the
panel leader Hans Joachim Schellnuber, the founding Director of the Potsdam
Institute for Climate Impact Research and Chair of the German Advisory Council
on Global Change. He noted that research on “black carbon” is concrete enough
to persuade people about localized climate change realities. But as for global
warming? “We need the overall body of evidence … the full picture that is
convincing in the end.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He then went on to say something important. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Some people will only be convinced if they’re completely
overwhelmed by the evidence, which may be too late, actually, for their own
sake. That is the sad truth.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, Bishop Sorondo’s question and Dr. Schellnuber’s answer
are the same ones asked and offered by many involved in the front lines of
ecological protection. My colleagues and I certainly wrestle with these issues.
With my work at the Department of Environmental Management increasingly focused
on how natural hazard from climate change will increasingly impact the Ocean State, I have
become aware that while many people and communities in Rhode Island understand
the dangers they face, others don’t, and some scoff at the very notion of
climate change. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To help authentically communicate the realities of
climate change—and to do so before it is too late—my office is adding public
and media outreach to an upcoming series of vulnerability assessments of
wastewater infrastructure. The hope is that we can use this opportunity to
present what science is showing us by working with the media and others on
outreach throughout a narrow study of vital and low-lying
infrastructure. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The goal will not be to speak down to others, but to
speak with them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_L71hrKDX3Mn3x0lNs6qkIJbedet1P9qmRe8EowJmyzYe4GjtGSAvc7YVFppE7Oa4GrLAZzMfWehZNGa80z4uIdxfvUqGOCYDcdRRH_dEruwNcoNlBGYN7shhKS9_41zB5Z681L6RXE/s1600/emmaus-blog.jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik_L71hrKDX3Mn3x0lNs6qkIJbedet1P9qmRe8EowJmyzYe4GjtGSAvc7YVFppE7Oa4GrLAZzMfWehZNGa80z4uIdxfvUqGOCYDcdRRH_dEruwNcoNlBGYN7shhKS9_41zB5Z681L6RXE/s1600/emmaus-blog.jpg.jpg" height="400" width="327" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This same point was made yesterday when the story of
Emmaus entered into the homily at my God Daughter’s First Communion. Listening
to the pastor—who is also a friend of mine—it occurred to me that this gospel has
something to say about communicating climate change. Speaking mostly to the
adults, the pastor
stressed that on the road to Emmaus Christ entered into relationship and
listened to the disciples before He tried to teach them anything. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Teachers sometimes think that they can just teach
without first getting to know the student,” the pastor said. “But no one is
going to listen to you if you don’t listen to them first.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like Pope Francis, this pastor is known for his humble
demeanor, his “journeying with,” and his desire to listen to the stories of
others before he lays out in no uncertain terms the truths of the gospels. And
so bringing Christ to others and others to Christ in the Eucharist was at the
center of his homily—because true communication comes when people are
first in an authentic communion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the ecological and social realms, the goal of our
encounters with the public and our environmental educational efforts must similarly be this
communion. Providentially, this is precisely the work taking place by all those attending the Vatican's sustainability conference. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two disciples journeying to Emmaus were busy
discussing the problems of the day when they unknowingly met the Risen Lord and
later recognize Him in the Eucharist. Their experience was similar to St.
Paul’s on his road to Damascus. In encountering and dialoguing with the risen One in their
journeys, their hearts and minds opened and their lives were changed forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This, then, is a model for all of us engaged in
ecological protection. <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/05/vatican-conference-opener-stresses.html" target="_blank">As noted by Cardinal Maradiaga at the conference opening</a>, authentic education must be focused on the whole person if it is going
to transform lives, lifestyles, and thus protect the planet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so on this Sunday—as we pause and consider our own
journeys, stories, troubles, and hopes—let us continue our prayers for this
important gathering hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Science and the
Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With faith in the transformative grace of God</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who is not at all
satisfied with letting others journey alone when night falls around them</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">may
the truths spoken at this conference be passed throughout the Church and
through the work of others. May these truths thus be made available to all who
journey in the twilight of an age facing difficult choices. And may minds be opened and hearts set on fire so that worry over sad truths
may be quickly replaced with confidence in happy ones.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-69709132780908542812014-05-02T23:48:00.001-04:002014-05-03T15:01:34.380-04:00Vatican conference opener stresses “values education”<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Image of Cardinal Maradiaga: </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: right;">Flicker/</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: right;"> </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/muellergirod/" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-align: right;" target="_blank">Christoph Müller-Girod</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, SDB, of
Honduras today opened the Vatican’s sustainability conference, "<a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/events/2014/sustainable.html" target="_blank">Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature: Our Responsibility</a>," by echoing every
social encyclical issued by a pope in over a century. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He said that to tackle today’s ecological
and economic crises we must bring about</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">an education on environmental values that encourages a
culture of vitality, healthiness, respect and responsibility, and that builds
individuals endowed with a discerning and participative conscience. As long as
it is not addressed in this manner, environmental education will do no more
than supply knowledge on the natural world, overlooking one of its principal
roles: encouraging a change in perception that may be conducive to the
emergence of new values. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In other words, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">our modern woes are reminding us of the dangers when we disconnect our sciences and technologies from a genuine love of neighbor</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. The question becomes, then, how does a culture
encourage in its members something as transcendent as love?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The failure to embrace brotherly love—which quite often
coincides with a rejection of God and His grace—has been a perennial concern of
the Church. Leo XIII is especially known for his expression </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in the nineteenth century </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of these
concerns. Since then, every pope and a host of bishops,
priests, religious, and lay people have in one way or another underscored the
same exhortation to love, respect, and tend to one’s neighbor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If only the world would listen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, some in the world are doing just that—most
especially this morning in Rome when a roomful of noted scientists gathered
from around the globe to consider the ecological and economic problems of our
age. That their
conversations would be opened with—and thus illuminated by—the words of
Cardinal Maradiaga (who heads up the Vatican's charitable arm <a href="http://www.caritas.org/" target="_blank">Caritas</a>) is something we should not overlook.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nor should we ignore that Leo XIII himself can place into perspective this twenty-first century sustainability conference and the cardinal’s
opening talk:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the Church does her utmost to teach and to train men
… The instruments which she employs are given to her by Jesus Christ Himself
for the very purpose of reaching the hearts of men, and drive their efficiency
from God. They alone can reach the innermost heart and conscience, and bring
men to act from a motive of duty, to control their passions and appetites, to
love God and their fellow men with a love that is outstanding and of the
highest degree and to break down courageously every barrier which blocks the
way to virtue. (<i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum_en.html" target="_blank">Rerum Novarum</a></i>, 26)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These words, written in 1891, underscore a pithy
statement made this morning by Cardinal Maradiaga: “Nowadays man finds himself
to be a technical giant and an ethical </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">child.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so the question: what is the solution to this
imbalance between our technical and ethical abilities? Cardinal Maradiaga’s
answer takes the form of an education that brings us into contact with a certain kind of
truths. The problem is, these truths may lead us to where we may not wish to
go—to a life of routine temperance and sacrifice. Or, in Christian parlance,
to the Cross. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This gets us to a central point of the cardinal’s opening
talk to the gathered scientists. To fully engage our ecological crises we must
encounter a kind of value system that ultimately transcends the scientific
method and economic theories.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my view, our primary environmental strategy should be
environmental education: this is a pressing and ongoing requirement, because
through an education on the environment, individuals, societies and states will
become aware of<i> the transcendent meaningfulness of the world around us</i>.
Education will thus enable us to constructively absorb the skills, the
experience, the values and the determination that will prompt us to work to
solve both present and future problems in this realm and address them as
challenges pertaining to our responsibility for the sustainability of both the
environment and mankind. (Emphasis added)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can find the full text of Cardinal Maradiaga’s
opening <a href="http://catholicclimatecovenant.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/RODRIGUEZ-MARADIAGA-Sustainable-Humanity-English.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. The conference program is <a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/dam/accademia/booklet/booklet_sustainable.pdf" target="_blank">here </a>and the vast majority of the conference’s talks and presentations can
be found <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lq1nenatz7m0dap/9-1tDvPLAg" target="_blank">here</a>. And if you haven’t already visited his blog, <a href="http://catholicclimatecovenant.org/dans-blog-from-rome/" target="_blank">Dan Misleh of the Catholic Climate Covenant is posting updates from Rome</a>. So is <a href="http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/" target="_blank">Andrew Revkin of The New York Times</a>. And Brian Roewe at the National Catholic Reporter <a href="http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/vatican-hosts-five-day-sustainability-summit" target="_blank">has also posted on the conference</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there’s lots of ringside coverage for sure. For my
part—when not attending to family needs here at home this weekend—I’ll keep
posting from the perspective of a former atheist and environmental regulator
who has been writing on the Catholic perspective of ecology for now over ten
years. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As such, you might imagine that I am delighted at what the <a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en.html" target="_blank">PontificalAcademy of Science</a> and the <a href="http://www.pass.va/content/scienzesociali.html" target="_blank">Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences</a> are doing—how
they are continuing the thoughts and mission of Leo XIII and his successors so that we today may reverse the often unbridled destruction of so much
of God’s life-giving creation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More tomorrow. For now, may Almighty God bring rich
blessings to the conference presenters and to all those listening in and
reporting out. May this gathering be very fertile and may its benefits multiply in abundance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Catholic Ecology Home</i></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-64772753549757685242014-05-02T01:28:00.000-04:002014-05-02T01:46:36.643-04:00Feeding the multitudes: Vatican conference focuses on science<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjukw8r78IWGh0NUF2h8zKuAvA7k-TF7oehVhQT4qs-MD469CH0ZTSOqNT3Dv5eVYrjSGfL_qXMoN5wOnQk6JOFhyNFoJd9KFx_gACJyj_tCZLIBnFoy829y3jrdbmsirNhXnQmP0IM064/s1600/Vatican+conf+opens.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjukw8r78IWGh0NUF2h8zKuAvA7k-TF7oehVhQT4qs-MD469CH0ZTSOqNT3Dv5eVYrjSGfL_qXMoN5wOnQk6JOFhyNFoJd9KFx_gACJyj_tCZLIBnFoy829y3jrdbmsirNhXnQmP0IM064/s1600/Vatican+conf+opens.png" height="200" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now
there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five
thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed
them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the
fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted."</i> <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/6" target="_blank">John 6:10-12</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given Pope Francis’s repeated criticism of a widespread
“<a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2013/06/pope-francis-culture-of-waste-requires.html" target="_blank">culture of waste</a>”—a term he often uses to connect critiques of ecological and social
ills—today’s Gospel sets the stage perfectly for a big event kicking off at the
Vatican: the long-awaited conference on the intersection of human desires and
nature’s limits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The conference, <a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/events/2014/sustainable.html" target="_blank">Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature: Our Responsibility</a>, is the joint work of the <a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en.html" target="_blank">Pontifical Academy of Sciences</a> and
the <a href="http://www.pass.va/content/scienzesociali/en.html" target="_blank">Pontifical Academy of Social Science</a>. What makes this event so special is
not that the Holy See’s intellectual engines are examining the subject of
sustainability. This is not news. The Church has a strong track
record in the eco-sustainability department.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What makes the gathering special is the cooperation it is fostering between two academic fields (the natural sciences and social sciences) that speak to each other less than they should. The hope is that in bringing together leaders in these respective fields, the subsequent
dialogue will encourage new and bold insights about how we all might live in
sustainable, healthy, and environmentally friendly ways.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to the event’s advance publicity, the
pontifical academies seek to offer this inter-disciplinary dialogue in large
part because of the ineffectiveness of recent attempts at finding solutions to
growing ecological crises. Conference organizers note in particular the United
Nation’s Rio+20 Summit on biodiversity preservation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Rio+20 conference failed in many respects because it
fostered “no collective endeavour among natural and social scientists,” the
Vatican announcement notes. “That is why we are proposing a joint PAS-PASS
workshop on Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Vatican’s goal in doing so, then, is simple:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Our idea is not to catalogue environmental problems. We
propose instead to view Humanity's interchanges with Nature through a triplet
of fundamental, but inter-related Human needs
– Food, Health, and Energy – and ask our respective
Academies to work together to invite experts from the natural and the social
sciences to speak of the various pathways that both serve those needs and
reveal constraints on Nature's ability to meet them.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In other words, the pontifical academies are offering the world's academicians a platform to gather, share, and listen to
each other—and thus to better understand how their individual efforts can, when
brought together, create a symphony of the sciences that can shore up human dignity and the
common good (two aims mentioned by Pope Francis is a recent Tweet).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This focus on the sciences explains why some observers
have expressed concern that there seems to be little place for faith within <a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/dam/accademia/booklet/booklet_sustainable.pdf" target="_blank">the conference agenda</a>. (A word search of the event program for “faith” shows no
results. The same goes for "grace" and there is only one notation of "Christ," in the biography of a participant.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But fear not. This focus on
human reason makes perfect sense. Conference participants will be from a variety of
faiths or have no faith at all. The event should thus not be about how scientific questions intersect with the Christian Creed or sacramental
grace—although given the location, that will be hard to
ignore. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those who know me may be surprised at my acceptance that this focus on science is the proper path to take for this gathering. While I continually stress
grace and holiness as the preeminent solutions to our ecological woes, one should not
invite guests to dine and discourse and then demand that they speak of a particular topic, especially when that topic is the host's confession of
faith. This is a gathering for some of the world’s top scientists, so we should let science be science (and scientists be scientists) while trusting that the
Spirit will move the conversations where they ought to go—whether they be
external dialogues or the more important internal ones. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As conference organizer Veerabhadran Ramanathan noted in
<a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/02/vatican-sustainability-conference.html" target="_blank">an interview with me in February</a>, “[at a 2011 Vatican conference on climate
change] I realized our political leaders need help from religious leaders to
exercise moral authority to ask people to protect the air and the water. […]
The world urgently needs religious leaders with moral authority like Pope
Francis and the Dalai Lama.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so let us pray fervently as this most important and
special gathering begins today. May the conference organizers, participants,
and guests be inspired to share and listen, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">so </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that what unfolds over the next
four days may be blessed, distributed, and shared widely to feed a great
multitude across the globe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stay tuned for much more as news comes in from Rome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home </a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-29118648840907932522014-04-26T01:23:00.000-04:002014-04-29T19:28:13.121-04:00Celebrating the sainted<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qtMeHjBUBopz-oRbqhyphenhyphenIswFBjVnZLi___8vwe0ocGkJayzkCITqQDqwL_DzoMZOiJtaDdt42_w-C_NBKzI-LIF29SGuwI8WFlqZHTYCLWeqlVmI_LsP9le2o4TrXy7MQ81FM2rqsYYs/s1600/Jp2J23.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qtMeHjBUBopz-oRbqhyphenhyphenIswFBjVnZLi___8vwe0ocGkJayzkCITqQDqwL_DzoMZOiJtaDdt42_w-C_NBKzI-LIF29SGuwI8WFlqZHTYCLWeqlVmI_LsP9le2o4TrXy7MQ81FM2rqsYYs/s1600/Jp2J23.png" height="282" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the Church looks forward this weekend by embracing its past, you and I are called to reflect while we celebrate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II connects
the lives of two popes who, in their service to the Church, reminded us of our
mission as disciples of Jesus Christ: to sanctify the world by going into it</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a
task we can only achieve when strengthened by the grace of God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the message of the modern popes—particularly
Paul VI and Benedict XVI, and especially Pope Francis. But it is John Paul II
and John XXIII that we acknowledge this Sunday of Divine Mercy, and so those of
us who seek to enter the world to protect it should pay particular attention to
what </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">all</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this means.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>John Paul the Great (Environmentalist)</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrkhWVMmnvqiMvPMhwo0ErIdzYIKI5Iv8vOpndMBNLUmDBabSWft2NO-h4tD7nemoPq8MOWzOJG1Pr6vywU2e4VakZuXVp4KPG0GkKE6oOnRF-1OBYmgmFNOxSxsVnRRVbTPD8In17QDk/s1600/Karol-Wojtyla-actor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrkhWVMmnvqiMvPMhwo0ErIdzYIKI5Iv8vOpndMBNLUmDBabSWft2NO-h4tD7nemoPq8MOWzOJG1Pr6vywU2e4VakZuXVp4KPG0GkKE6oOnRF-1OBYmgmFNOxSxsVnRRVbTPD8In17QDk/s1600/Karol-Wojtyla-actor.jpg" height="320" width="244" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine what Karol Wojtyla witnessed during World War II
and what he saw in Communist regimes in the years after. Imagine the filth
poured upon so many remnants of Eden—the filth of war and atheistic,
industrialized madness. For a man with a soul like Karol Wojtyla’s, this must
have made painfully clear the damage that humanity can do when we shun the
grace and the Gospel of God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so when he was elevated to Supreme Pontiff of the
Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II did something that made perfect sense.
He included ecology into the great teaching document of a pope, an encyclical. He wrote of ecology in his first encyclical, in fact. And he spoke of the topic rather profoundly. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Paul VI had also expressed grace displeasure at
what disordered consumption can do to creation. But John Paul II elevated the
topic well into the heavens.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Written in 1979—a year after his election—John Paul II’s
first encyclical <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_04031979_redemptor-hominis_en.html" target="_blank">Redemptor Hominis</a></i>, “Redeemer of Man,” offers a sweeping
introduction to the Person around whom all history is centered. In particular,
early in the encyclical the Holy Father calls attention to the Incarnation in
light of the Book of Genesis, especially as seen through Saint Paul’s language
that creation is groaning. The pontiff makes a particularly striking jump to
modern forms of this groaning—to sin’s conquest of a good creation that, now
fallen, requires redemption:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does not the previously unknown immense progress—which
has taken place especially in the course of this century—in the field of man’s
dominion over the world itself reveal to a previously unknown degree that
manifold subjection “to futility”? It is enough to recall certain phenomena,
such as the threat of pollution of the natural environment in areas of rapid
industrialization, or the armed conflicts continually breaking out over and
over again, or the prospectives of self-destruction through the use of atomic,
hydrogen, neutron and similar weapons, or the lack of respect for the life of
the unborn. The world of the new age, the world of space flights, the world of
the previously unattained conquests of science and technology—is it not also
the world “groaning in travail” that “waits with eager longing for the
revealing of the sons of God”? (<i>Redemptor Hominis</i>, 8)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later in <i>Redemptor Hominis</i>, we again see the interweaving
of both a damaged ecology and a damaged person, which is a theme that will be
continued by John Paul II’s predecessors:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This state of menace for man from what he produces shows
itself in various directions and various degrees of intensity. We seem to be
increasingly aware of the fact that the exploitation of the earth, the planet
on which we are living, demands rational and honest planning. At the same time,
exploitation of the earth not only for industrial but also for military
purposes and the uncontrolled development of technology outside the framework
of a long-range authentically humanistic plan often bring with them a threat to
man’s natural environment, alienate him in his relations with nature and remove
him from nature. Man often seems to see no other meaning in his natural
environment than what serves for immediate use and consumption. Yet it was the
Creator’s will that man should communicate with nature as an intelligent and
noble “master” and “guardian”, and not as a heedless “exploiter” and
“destroyer”. </span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (Redemptor Hominis, 15)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After <i>Redemptor Hominis</i>, Pope John Paul II continued to
weave ecology into his encyclicals and into other forums. We find the natural
environment in his second and third encyclicals, <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30111980_dives-in-misericordia_en.html" target="_blank">Dives in Misericordia</a></i>, “Rich
in Mercy,” (1980), and <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091981_laborem-exercens_en.html" target="_blank">Laborem Exercens</a></i>, “Engaging in Labor,”(1981), issued for
the ninetieth anniversary of Leo XIII’s <i>Rerum Novarum</i>. He again discusses
ecology in <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30121987_sollicitudo-rei-socialis_en.html" target="_blank">Sollicitudo Rei Socialis</a></i> “Solicitude of Social Reality,”(1987),
issued on the twentieth anniversary of Paul VI’s<i> Populorum Progressio</i>, as well
as in <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_07121990_redemptoris-missio_en.html" target="_blank">Redemptoris Missio</a></i>, “Mission of Redemption,” (1990). And then on May 1, 1991,
John Paul II issued <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus_en.html" target="_blank">Centesimus Annus</a></i>, “The One-Hundredth Year,” to call
attention to the centenary of <i>Rerum Novarum</i>. In it, we read that</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">[e]qually worrying is the ecological
question which accompanies the problem of consumerism and which is closely
connected to it. In his desire to have and to enjoy rather than to be and to
grow, man consumes the resources of the earth and his own life in an excessive
and disordered way. At the root of the senseless destruction of the natural
environment lies an anthropological error, which unfortunately is widespread in
our day. Man, who discovers his capacity to transform and in a certain sense
create the world through his own work, forgets that this is always based on God’s
prior and original gift of the things that are. Man thinks that he can make
arbitrary use of the earth, subjecting it without restraint to his will, as
though it did not have its own requisites and a prior God-given purpose, which
man can indeed develop but must not betray. Instead of carrying out his role as
a co-operator with God in the work of creation, man sets himself up in place of
God and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on the part of nature, which is more
tyrannized than governed by him. (Centesimus Annus, 37, emphasis original.)</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is of course much, much more. His 1990 message for
the <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/peace/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_19891208_xxiii-world-day-for-peace_en.html" target="_blank">World Day of Peace</a>, for instance, states his ecological thoughts most
clearly outside of his encyclicals. It is a highly accessible and brief text
that leaves no ambiguity about the Catholic approach the natural environment.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The complexity of the ecological question is evident to
all. There are, however, certain underlying principles, which, while respecting
the legitimate autonomy and the specific competence of those involved, can
direct research towards adequate and lasting solutions. These principles are
essential to the building of a peaceful society; no peaceful society can
afford to neglect either respect for life or the fact that there is an integrity
to creation. (1990 World Day of Peace Message, 7). </span></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or, as Pope John XXIII put it, “[t]he world will never be
the dwellingplace of peace, till peace has found a home in the heart of each
and every man, till every man preserves in himself the order ordained by God to
be preserved.” (<i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_xxiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_11041963_pacem_en.html" target="_blank">Pacem in Terris</a></i>, 165).</span></div>
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<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>John XXII, Offering the Gospel to a New Age</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6VOdHn9_JhxYnSmg-WSWtJFmkyP9Jmhvt9bEV44orJUHbnxuRBauPBQYx9YaG-SYAnlEKtePgmxUk1HcbX0ErTw-bHGIgzAs_QertJKnkxmzp3xkYvhtmYqV3JodblmT5dJbU9x-3Uw/s1600/89jkk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6VOdHn9_JhxYnSmg-WSWtJFmkyP9Jmhvt9bEV44orJUHbnxuRBauPBQYx9YaG-SYAnlEKtePgmxUk1HcbX0ErTw-bHGIgzAs_QertJKnkxmzp3xkYvhtmYqV3JodblmT5dJbU9x-3Uw/s1600/89jkk.jpg" height="320" width="257" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some might ask if John XXIII should be ranked among the
Green Popes. After all, if John Paul II is the pope that first placed ecology
profoundly within Catholic thought, does that mean his predecessors said
nothing of consequence on the matter?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hardly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must remember that even without direct mention of
ecological terminology—which in the early 1960s was not yet part of the
vernacular of secular or Catholic moral theology—it was nevertheless the
inspired activity of John XXIII that provided an opening from which future
popes could encounter the globalization of sin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was John XXIII that could and did orient the Church
away from the smoldering ruins of World War II and toward the coming of a new
century—an age that brought much promise but that also fostered giddy and false hopes in unaided human progress. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As pope and pastor, John XXIII surveyed the world and
recognized that the Church must engage this conviction in secular
progress. As is always her mission, this engagement was intended
to position the Church to be with the world when things went sour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council,
among other efforts to offer grace to human history. While the subject of the
Council is of course too great to even offer a brief review here, one point should be made: even if the vision of John XXIII was often clouded in
practice by too much optimism of too many within the Church (as Joseph
Ratzinger would later suggest), given what we now know of the (often
ecological) damage done when human activity is stripped of God, the Church had
no choice but to follow close by those blinded by the notion of human-induced
utopia. The People of God had to consider how to be in the new world, but not
of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consider, if you will, the words of John XXIII in what I
find to be one of his most poignant and prophetic encyclicals—<i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_xxiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_15051961_mater_en.html" target="_blank">Mater et Magistra</a></i>
(“Mother and Teacher”).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been claimed that in an era of scientific and
technical triumphs such as ours man can well afford to rely on his own powers,
and construct a very good civilization without God. But the truth is that these
very advances in science and technology frequently involve the whole human race
in such difficulties as can only be solved in the light of a sincere faith in
God, the Creator and Ruler of man and his world. (Mater et Magistra, 209).</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sound familiar? It should, because these words are
foundational to those that would follow from Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict
XVI, and now, Pope Francis. They are also the thoughts of his predecessors.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moreover, these are the words spoken by the son of
farmers (yes, John XXIII parents worked the land). No wonder he understood so well the value of technology and human labor. And it is similarly no wonder
that he could offer cautionary words about failing to follow the laws and
cycles of nature—ones that are as true today as they were in May, 1961. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Onward and upward</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because this celebratory post is already quite long, we
will pause here with the promise of more—much more—to come. For now, let us
join the universal Church is celebrating two men who heeded the Spirit’s call
to the priesthood, and then followed it even further. These men continue to teach and
inspire us to bring the Gospel into a world stumbling with pride and
darkened by sin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As John XXIII put it,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[w]e most earnestly beg all Our sons the world over, clergy
and laity, to be deeply conscious of the dignity, the nobility, which is theirs
through being grafted on to Christ as shoots on a vine: "I am the vine;
you the branches.'' They are thus called
to a share in His own divine life; and since they are united in mind and spirit
with the divine Redeemer even when they are engaged in the affairs of the
world, their work becomes a continuation of His work, penetrated with
redemptive power. "He that abideth in men, and I in him, the same beareth
much fruit." (<i>Mater et Magister</i>, 259.)</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So now let us go and bear fruit—that is, after we
celebrate. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKC6Pgoq1KdokH1HKr-mp0IQmoByLOw2Mf7jDpYHeF7jALrocYDF777nQMK_OtDJ2rVICXRwyPPvSf6rAuwcunxfYGUZTgoYFsyfisI1F4qLvGilkdQDMixuRxoZHsZjfBDhEYebENwnY/s1600/kwinwater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKC6Pgoq1KdokH1HKr-mp0IQmoByLOw2Mf7jDpYHeF7jALrocYDF777nQMK_OtDJ2rVICXRwyPPvSf6rAuwcunxfYGUZTgoYFsyfisI1F4qLvGilkdQDMixuRxoZHsZjfBDhEYebENwnY/s1600/kwinwater.jpg" height="231" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A young Karol Wojtyla</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo
credits: Banner image of John XXIII from Flicker/<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22https://www.flickr.com/photos/13476480@N07/8512130474%22%20title=%22The%20Coronation%20of%20Pope%20John%20XXIII%20(15)%20by%20manhhai,%20on%20Flickr%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8371/8512130474_66e360c1de_s.jpg%22%20width=%2275%22%20height=%2275%22%20alt=%22The%20Coronation%20of%20Pope%20John%20XXIII%20(15)%22%3E%3C/a%3E" target="_blank">Manhhai </a>(with <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank">permission</a>).
Banner image of John Paul II from Flickter/<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22https://www.flickr.com/photos/archer10/12727135684%22%20title=%22Luxembourg-5151%20-%20Pope%20John%20Paul%20II%20by%20Dennis%20Jarvis,%20on%20Flickr%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7417/12727135684_25d2252479_s.jpg%22%20width=%2275%22%20height=%2275%22%20alt=%22Luxembourg-5151%20-%20Pope%20John%20Paul%20II%22%3E%3C/a%3E" target="_blank">Dennis Jarvis</a> (with <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/" target="_blank">permission</a>).
Banner image of Earth: Istock. All
others public domain. </span><o:p></o:p>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-71328199087578014782014-04-22T18:15:00.001-04:002014-04-22T18:15:35.694-04:00Earth Day and orthodoxy with B16<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5Dw0WBYYMOF1MYjDRih1Umd3lKLrBgMvn5oEyPb0Ne2j9fC4igFMTcwuxeE8YpkDdwV_HSyIeUXzHvYOW3uoi18TMupKKk4GEVb4RYgucffnZ_AqUztdYCkhm_74Lsyje4a3eHG9NkE/s1600/3087benedictxvi_00000002317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5Dw0WBYYMOF1MYjDRih1Umd3lKLrBgMvn5oEyPb0Ne2j9fC4igFMTcwuxeE8YpkDdwV_HSyIeUXzHvYOW3uoi18TMupKKk4GEVb4RYgucffnZ_AqUztdYCkhm_74Lsyje4a3eHG9NkE/s1600/3087benedictxvi_00000002317.jpg" height="364" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Image from <i>Catholic World Report</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Short but sweet:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Earth Day post is news of my review in <a href="http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/3087/the_green_pope_and_a_human_ecology.aspx" target="_blank">Catholic World Report</a> of <i>The Garden of God: Toward a Human Ecology</i> (CUA Press, 2014). </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">
<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a joy to happen upon an old friend, to again hear his style of speaking and his way of engaging the world. When the old friend is Benedict XVI, however, things quickly move beyond the sentimental. So it goes with <a href="http://cuapress.cua.edu/books/viewbook.cfm?book=BETH" style="text-decoration: none;"><em>The Garden of God: Toward a Human Ecology</em></a>(The Catholic University of America Press, 2014), a helpful compilation of Benedict XVI’s many, many statements about preserving life on earth.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">
<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given that discussions of ecology polarize a great many along worldly ideological fault lines, one of the benefits of <em>The Garden of God</em> lies in remembering how Benedict XVI, like his predecessor, normalized the topic and maintained it within Catholic orthodoxy. Like no other, he taught us how the Christian creed speaks to an array of social and physical sciences that are concerned with relationships, life, and shared futures.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; line-height: 22px;">
<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The timing of this book is particularly good. Of late, environmental scientists are escalating their individual warnings. And the month of April finds a great many Earth Day celebrations taking place across the globe. With the help of <em>The Garden of God</em>, Catholics can better engage the ecological movement by discerning what we share with other environmental advocates and what we don’t. ...</span></span></blockquote>
<a href="http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/3087/the_green_pope_and_a_human_ecology.aspx" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Read the entire review at Catholic World Report</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i></span></div>
William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-81305246611650324152014-04-20T00:17:00.001-04:002014-04-20T09:58:26.470-04:00The silence—and newness—of Easter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjO3MZdzjSZ6gXEbOhhvc0XoYbhm1fIjwQ7z8ZBTQ-rHUVtCVLg6vEMeYsLX6hMC4baYpma_fPHMSLYjVEatEOzAsxM1LkaSLjgPBxTo5GE0rUtFVgKko1emITvGmHFEBVjbks86gHb7A/s1600/easterb16mem2014.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjO3MZdzjSZ6gXEbOhhvc0XoYbhm1fIjwQ7z8ZBTQ-rHUVtCVLg6vEMeYsLX6hMC4baYpma_fPHMSLYjVEatEOzAsxM1LkaSLjgPBxTo5GE0rUtFVgKko1emITvGmHFEBVjbks86gHb7A/s1600/easterb16mem2014.png" height="640" width="388" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We'll keep this brief. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The past six months have been busy ones for me, especially with taking care of my mom, who is now recovering from surgery (with things now looking good). The focus on her and a myriad of other obligations have keep me from posting for periods on this blog.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But with Easter comes renewal, and new beginnings, and new life. And during the Triduum, God has certainly been inspiring me with ideas of what this blog needs to offer in the coming months. So stay tuned.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd like to share one insight now about moments of silence during the past three days. That is, the silence of Holy Thursday and being with our Lord as he waits in the Garden of Gethsemane. The silence of Good Friday, when priests lay prostrate before the Cross. And the silence of Holy Saturday, as the words waits with eager expectation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And now, the silence of the early Easter hours, when we prepare for Easter Mass or when we are basking in the joy of the Easter Vigil (or both).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God speaks to us in silence—this is a perennial understanding for people of faith. And God certainly spoke definitively in the silence of the tomb.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Similarly, God speaks to us when our creative efforts grow silent, when He asks us to pause, regroup, focus elsewhere, and wait for His time to be the time to continue.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so it goes with Catholic Ecology. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thank God this Easter for this ministry and I offer Him these posts to help us all cooperate with His grace. And grace is, as my pastor reflected after this evening's vigil, unstoppable. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So stay tuned as things get busy over the next few months, and beyond. From the Vatican's conference in May on sustainability to a few other surprises, there will be a significant amount of Catholic ecological engagement ahead. And I will get as much of it as possible in these posts. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so for today, my wishes for a blessed Easter to you and all your loved ones. May the truth and joy of the Risen Lord bring you much peace, health, and new life in the year ahead.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i></span></div>
William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-86092896201460655242014-04-09T22:45:00.000-04:002014-04-10T07:31:31.423-04:00A climate toolkit for African youth<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYXrXiWdiw_nf_PTxZ-OZkVuA5TOnXzdpRE8g_cMwoB-sg3a5Th4pUt1SU_vqfrrCwQGJTHEkGzk1SGKNtXZsPo4VPyk4O5nIOPPr7il40gn39cFD_63c80FrpFiWnbWhy0rf8wiTyBU/s1600/1015992_10152275746184351_1640242126_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYXrXiWdiw_nf_PTxZ-OZkVuA5TOnXzdpRE8g_cMwoB-sg3a5Th4pUt1SU_vqfrrCwQGJTHEkGzk1SGKNtXZsPo4VPyk4O5nIOPPr7il40gn39cFD_63c80FrpFiWnbWhy0rf8wiTyBU/s1600/1015992_10152275746184351_1640242126_o.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Allen Ottaro (far right) with colleagues.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Allen Ottaro of Kenya emailed with a happy update. Allen
is a good friend and the executive director of </span><a href="http://cynesafrica.webs.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (or “CYNESA”). Until December, he was the national
coordinator of </span><a href="http://www.magiskenya.org/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">MAGiS Kenya</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. His email was about events that are resulting in a
model educational program for Jesuit schools in Africa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Events began last fall when Allen and colleagues
met with the <a href="http://www.arcworld.org/" target="_blank">Alliance of Religions and Conservation</a>, which offered funding for
the initiative. The Alliance must have liked the program’s goal, which “is to
enhance the knowledge, skills and engagement of young people in Jesuit
institutions in Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, with respect to climate change,
in the context of Catholic Social Teaching and the Ignatian Spirituality.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Allen says that Jesuit schools were a natural fit given his previous work with the MAGiS program
and existing relationships with the order. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Four pilot high schools have been chosen, said Allen.
They are St. Aloysius Gonzaga High School in Nairobi, Loyola High School
and St. Peter Claver High School in Tanzania, and St. Peter’s Kubatana High
School in Zimbabwe. If additional funding can be found, the project could
involve more Jesuit schools and youth centers in Central and West Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last month, Allen and his colleagues at CYNESA
participated in special workshops with science teachers from the pilot
schools. The gatherings also included Jesuits from the Hekima College School of
Theology in Nairobi and representatives of other environmental organizations to
speak about climate change in their communities and how it connects to the
Catholic faith. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The goal was to determine the kind of toolkit and
resources that would be useful for young people,” Allen said. “Our next step
now is to do some kind of basic surveys, to collect information from the
students and get a feel of how they experience climate change and what kind of
resources they need to run activities.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The educational program’s first phase is expected to run
until November. This will include forums on climate change in the pilot
schools. The next phase will involve using the draft toolkit in tandem with
environmental clubs in the pilot schools to see where there are gaps before
completing a final version.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As things now stand, these are the project’s targeted
objectives:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A three-day preparatory workshop for all the key Jesuits
and CYNESA team members in lead positions or whose institutions will be
involved in the project. The workshop will help participants understand the
context of climate change issues in the countries of the pilot schools and how
Jesuits (and young people under their care) can offer a
faith-based response.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
</ul>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two climate change youth forums aiming at educating and
building the capacity of some 210 young people.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The trained youth will then be offered extensive
assistance to integrate the knowledge, skills, and values that will be
necessary in climate change initiatives, as well as to reach out to their peers
and faith communities.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I think it will evolve as we move along and learn new
things so I am quite excited,” said Allen. “Although I am a bit nervous about
the funding aspect,” he adds, noting upcoming meetings that may open
opportunities to continue and expand the program. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please say a prayer for Allen and his partners! We look forward to more news and updates,
and we certainly hope that funding doesn’t hamper this quite important work. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-14897829069037782512014-04-06T07:46:00.002-04:002014-04-06T08:43:20.795-04:00A Bishop’s Reflection: A forerunner to a Francis encyclical?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTbTymnSRPWxDvBzx-u8q_59Bdy59eFJkLC6WVTuh3JK3Qz9IfYCp-L2-r6AcN4Ss9vn6dCoOg5Ko4efy61EWylu6XQBVx8OneyvL5ekSOXeANFZ4uV7CQY33053Duu7Ws753DG5fnac/s1600/catholic-environment-cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxTbTymnSRPWxDvBzx-u8q_59Bdy59eFJkLC6WVTuh3JK3Qz9IfYCp-L2-r6AcN4Ss9vn6dCoOg5Ko4efy61EWylu6XQBVx8OneyvL5ekSOXeANFZ4uV7CQY33053Duu7Ws753DG5fnac/s1600/catholic-environment-cover.png" height="400" width="230" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo from catholicenvironment.com</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His Excellency <a href="http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/breyd.html" target="_blank">Bishop Dominique Rey</a> of the Diocese of
Fréjus-Toulon, France, penned a pastoral letter that could very well be the forerunner of a papal encyclical on ecology.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you read it? I was given a copy for an upcoming
review of another eco-publication (about a certain pontiff—more on
that later). Having read Bishop Rey’s letter, I can’t keep silent. And anyone
who reads it won’t either—or at least they shouldn’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 2012 letter <i>Peut-on etre Catho et Ecolo? Lettre
sur l' ecologie</i> ("Can One Be Catholic and Green? A Letter on Ecology") was
re-published in 2013 by <a href="http://www.catholicenvironment.com/" target="_blank">the Acton Institute as <i>Catholicism, Ecology, and the Environment: A Bishop’s Reflection</i></a>. No matter what title you give it, it lays a
formidable and rather complete foundation for the Catholic engagement of ecology. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let me restate that: The letter lays a formidable and rather complete foundation for the Catholic engagement of ecology. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(On a personal note, a book that
I have been developing on the Catholic perspective of ecology now seems
unnecessary. Who needs my take on the subject when it is so very well examined
by a successor to the apostles?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some of the letter’s highlights. (And if you
have others after reading it, share them in the comments below.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On the Christian need to engage ecological issues</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can only regret that Christians do not participate
more actively in [ecological] questions by bringing the specific insights of
the gospel into the discussion.</span><o:p><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christians cannot let themselves be indifferent;
confronted with the threat of irreversible deterioration of creation, they will
not be able to escape a serious examination of conscience.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The environment is a field to which the social doctrine
of the Church, whose first principle is the centrality and the dignity of the
human person, has been applied extensively.</span></span></blockquote>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
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<b><o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On human life</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the causes of the current human ecological
disorder is the widespread anti-life mentality that has spawned one of the
greatest genocides in all of history.</span><o:p><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">It would be vain to insist on one hand we would for the
respect of the environment while on the other hand we would not respect the
right to life</span>. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sin and ecological destruction</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are faced with a moral crises: that is to say a crisis
of human choice and human action. Hence, the root of the problem resides in man’s
heart rather than in strictly economic or industrial concerns.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">The ecological crisis is born in the heart of man and is
only the outside extension of this internal tragedy. </span></span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hope in the Eucharist</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">In the Eucharist, we find the possibility of a renewed
understanding of the created world. The Eucharist allows us to uncover the
basis of an integral human ecology; here we find the antidote to radical
individualism and collectivism. The Eucharist allows us to find Jesus’ face in
every person, most especially the poorest. It also enables us to welcome in
creation a gift from God and to thank him continuously for it.</span></span></blockquote>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is of course much more. This includes a recognition
of the place of ecology in New Evangelization; an important critique of
progressive thought (especially as it is seen through representatives like Jacques Yves Cousteau, who suggested that to save the world we must "eliminate" 350,000 people a day); and a wonderful overview of the place of
prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as a means to holiness</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—which is another way of saying a means to </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tending well the created world that nurtures human life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The letter is also quite aware that Bl. John Paul II and
(especially) Benedict XVI (whom he quotes extensively) has much to teach us
about the ecological problems that we face and the divine assistance that we
are offered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you’re not familiar with Bishop Rey’s pastoral letter
on ecology, please do not let these excerpts be your only encounter with it.
Read it for yourself. Share it in abundance. Contemplate it and pray over it.
It is a wonderful text—and a vital one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, I’d wager that sometime in the near future you
may find that it resonates profoundly with an eco-encyclical administered by the current
Bishop of Rome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-78725900608530489232014-04-01T01:09:00.000-04:002014-04-01T12:29:51.891-04:00Noah and the Pope’s prayers<div class="MsoPlainText">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Vatican City, 31 March 2014 (<a href="http://www.news.va/en/news/prayer-intentions-for-april" target="_blank">VIS</a>) – Pope Francis' universal
prayer intention for April is: “That governments may foster the protection of
creation and the just distribution of natural resources.”</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just returned from seeing the film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1959490/" target="_blank">Noah</a>. I also just
read the <a href="http://www.news.va/en/news/prayer-intentions-for-april" target="_blank">news of Pope Francis’s general prayer intentions for April</a>. The
protection of creation is a fitting intention for a month when many people
around the world celebrate Earth Day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given all the controversy among Christians over Noah
and its whimsical take on the Book of Genesis, the pope’s eco-intentions will
certainly be compared to what many people are complaining about in the film.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you seen Noah? I wasn’t going to but given what
everyone has been saying about an eco-centric plot I decided to spend an
evening at the movies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s much about Noah I’d like to deconstruct,
criticize, correct, or praise, but for the purpose of this blog I’ll stick to
its faith-based eco-messaging, which is a big part of the film. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(I will, however, point you in the direction of two
reviews worth noting: <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/churchofthemasses/2014/03/the-utter-embarrassing-mess-of-noah-and-why-everybody-is-lying-about-it/" target="_blank">Barbara Nicolosi's piece</a>, which trashes the film (and its
rock people) at <i>Patheos</i>, and <a href="http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/3036/inoahi_a_theological_reflection.aspx" target="_blank">Steven D. Greydanus’s analysis</a> in <i>Catholic World
Report</i>, which looks at Noah’s redeeming qualities.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>God vs. the Creator?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge5lhHCKn44XdHogGV8qxw2A2HY2m4rwnG5lvThjaH57aegCBsKnb0g18M08NSn6_CxxLkltSCU1gxlMO31rMiWR8TGnH9ITo5-kDED7_rasc0daFUmVJUHXpkHa9XxwgfX3R1yDK_ME8/s1600/Noah+and+wife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge5lhHCKn44XdHogGV8qxw2A2HY2m4rwnG5lvThjaH57aegCBsKnb0g18M08NSn6_CxxLkltSCU1gxlMO31rMiWR8TGnH9ITo5-kDED7_rasc0daFUmVJUHXpkHa9XxwgfX3R1yDK_ME8/s1600/Noah+and+wife.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A great deal of criticism has been aimed at the
filmmakers’ choice to refer to God solely as “the Creator.” But in a way this
choice may make sense. Noah and everyone around him had not been exposed to
very much of God’s revelation. They would know nothing of what their
descendants knew after the Noahide Covenant and the events recorded subsequent to the Book of Genesis. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And
anyway, everyone knows who the characters are speaking to when they look
unapprovingly towards the heavens and plead with “the Creator.” That said, the
word is spoken often and at times it does seem forced. Surely some other
name—like Lord?—could have also been used.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, what I don’t understand is why this really, really
bothers so many people. God is the Creator, is He not? And creation, its fall
along with that of man's, and our redemption is the lifeblood of the
Christian faith, no? So why are we concerned that (for reasons I guess at
below) the filmmakers focus on the cosmic implications of the fall by stressing
that God is the Creator of heaven and earth?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Who (or what) chooses evil first, man or nature?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film presents the words of creation in <a href="http://usccb.org/bible/genesis/1" target="_blank">Genesis 1</a> with
stunning, scientifically accurate imagery. Adam and Eve and the happenings in
Eden are presented with equally beautiful spiritual imagery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But in a grand departure from Genesis, in the motion
picture it seems as if it is the serpent that makes the first choice for evil, rather than being inherently evil. We see the
serpent shed its original skin, give birth to a darker version of itself and
slither over to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve follows while Adam
tarries to inspect the serpent’s better skin left behind. (In Genesis, Adam is with Eve at the fatal fruit-snatching moment.) This skin, the
original given to the creature by God, will become a relic used
throughout the film. It becomes a sacramental presence that bestows blessings
and birthrights to the sons and daughters of Adam. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All this imagery is rather subtle. But it is there. So
what could this departure mean?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Without knowing it, the filmmakers shift the
blame of sin from man to creation itself—which comes with odd theological, anthropological, and cosmic consequences, the kinds that Hollywood films can only nod to if
they choose to acknowledge them at all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Is the film anti-human?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t understand why some critics say that this film preaches that man must be eradicated to save the planet. Yes, Russell Crowe’s
character believe this—for a time. But besides him, no one else does. Still, Noah is so certain that man is the enemy of God’s work
that he is ready to take extreme measures to help God, as if He needs it. In what can easily be described as
embracing a culture of death, Noah will do anything to prevent human life from
staining the new world, which apparently he thinks is only meant for animals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Noah is misreading God—not that you can blame him.
The Creator is rather quiet in the film. (Perhaps Morgan Freeman wasn’t
available.) Luckily, this misreading gets corrected. In the end Noah realizes
what everyone else knew all along. The human race is worth saving. Our nature
is fallen, not dead. It can be elevated with help from above. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so Noah chooses life, and he chooses it again when he’s
not sure if he should have done so in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So yes, Noah the character may for a time preach an
anti-human ethic of “protecting creation.” But his journey of self-discovery
leads him to realize that protecting creation does not mean one has to kill a pregnant
woman or her children. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Similarly, some have criticized the movie for stating that human industry is inherently evil. But any film about a family that denudes a forest to build an ark isn’t saying that man’s use of creation is always bad.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So what is Noah all about?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because it’s a Hollywood film, I suppose Noah’s main
purpose is profit. But in fairness, the filmmakers seem to want to capture,
engage, and retell for the twenty-first century the ancient tale of Noah. And
certainly, even non-believers are hard pressed to wash away the lifeblood of
revelation. If anything, Noah shows us that Hollywood filmmakers cannot
strip inspired texts of all that God chooses to reveal in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRD6_zL1199hU4ZILUnq7Ug_d_T9cnULFkRqnHDMX2JnKo2QoREOn17Vdr9V1iS5JzODhMPC2YufO6OCwA4RMauFD50teTsLvZJ4W47cj5CeKxS6SrvggCOz_5oDwLJPpfisjwY0p7NIk/s1600/Noah+kneeling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRD6_zL1199hU4ZILUnq7Ug_d_T9cnULFkRqnHDMX2JnKo2QoREOn17Vdr9V1iS5JzODhMPC2YufO6OCwA4RMauFD50teTsLvZJ4W47cj5CeKxS6SrvggCOz_5oDwLJPpfisjwY0p7NIk/s1600/Noah+kneeling.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so for all its odd and unfortunate choices (like those fallen angels that have turned into rocky giants, which offers a rather gnostic twist, come to think of it),
Noah is ultimately a film that Christians should not diminish. It tells the
tale of how in the beginning God made the world and the human race good and
with an inherent order. It tells how the choice of sin deprived mankind and the
entire cosmos of a relation with the divine source of life, and how only God
Himself can (and will) set us free from the hunter’s snare. Not bad for a night at the
magaplex. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, to speak to a modern audience—for which the notion
of sin is too often unintelligible—the filmmakers stress a sin that most
younger moviegoers will understand: environmental destruction. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This doesn't
mean that other sins aren't present. The
films depicts all manner of vice and evil at odds with human dignity. Seeing this,
Noah recognizes that he too is infected with the sin of his ancestors. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ultimately, then, Noah is about sin and salvation. It is
about letting God choose our paths if we are to cooperate in the restoration of His creation. It is in part about the same thing the Pope is praying for in April, “that
governments may foster the protection of creation and the just distribution of
natural resources.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But here’s the catch: In order for this protection and
just distribution to take place, we need to heed God’s laws of life—not our own
disordered wills. And we need His help to heed those laws. Whether intended or not, this
is the unmistakable message of Noah.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXqhiA9c22s76sHaREWEyfYNbZBVlNpopLyB50e9OSaOUeiehTdnPaZIjfUDR0Cauk2obr5CQJahfGXOFaEsQHj_aT-_Fc933YXG1jP3UqenIIJSMSRc3U2Iq-pwAKhob56CHlJDb84Tg/s1600/iStock_000025705665Large-not-for-reuse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXqhiA9c22s76sHaREWEyfYNbZBVlNpopLyB50e9OSaOUeiehTdnPaZIjfUDR0Cauk2obr5CQJahfGXOFaEsQHj_aT-_Fc933YXG1jP3UqenIIJSMSRc3U2Iq-pwAKhob56CHlJDb84Tg/s1600/iStock_000025705665Large-not-for-reuse.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another research study is showing us what happens when
children encounter neurotoxins. Gladly, its findings are making <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/health/womenshealth/20140316_GreenSpace__Study_ties_more_chemicals_to_early_brain_damage.html" target="_blank">news</a>. This is
in large part because it underscores what previous efforts have already
demonstrated: a good many chemicals that we produce in our industries and use at home are
preventing normal, healthy lives for many of our children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The paper, “<a href="http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laneur/PIIS1474442213702783.pdf?id=aaa7I79GqGwc0gYhuExtu" target="_blank">Neurobehavioural effects of developmental toxicity</a>” in the <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/issue/vol13no3/PIIS1474-4422(14)X7040-7" target="_blank">March 2014 edition of The Lancet Neurology</a> is authored by
Philippe Grandjean and Philip J Landrigan. Its summary tells us that</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[n]eurodevelopmental disabilities, including autism,
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, and other cognitive
impairments, affect millions of children worldwide, and some diagnoses seem to
be increasing in frequency. Industrial chemicals that injure the developing
brain are among the known causes for this rise in prevalence. In 2006, we did a
systematic review and identified five industrial chemicals as developmental
neurotoxicants: lead, methylmercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, arsenic, and
toluene. Since 2006, epidemiological studies have documented six additional
developmental neurotoxicants—manganese, fluoride, chlorpyrifos,
dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, tetrachloroethylene, and the polybrominated
diphenyl ethers. We postulate that even more neurotoxicants remain
undiscovered. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In simple terms, our creativity in cobbling together this
or that chemical can come at a price to our children, our societies, and our
souls. Science is showing us what the cost can be to our kids when they come in contact with unnatural and toxic substances; our experiences with so
many affected children are showing us the price to society; and our decisions to continue on or to slow the use of such chemicals
will tell us what sort of people we are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indeed, Landrigan and Grandjean signal a problem with how
in the past governments allowed and industries produced chemicals that, after a
time, were found to be harmful.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A recurring theme in many cases was that commercial
introduction and wide dissemination of the chemicals preceded any systematic
effort to assess potential toxicity. Particularly absent were advance efforts
to study possible effects on children’s health or the potential of exposures in
early life to disrupt early development. Similar challenges have been
confronted in other public health disasters, such as those caused by tobacco
smoking, alcohol use, and refined foods. These problems have been recently
termed industrial epidemic.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The authors recommend the development of an
“international clearinghouse on neurotoxicity” to research and make health information
available on industrial chemicals. Man-made chemicals can certainly be made and used safely. We just need the right information to do so. But after reading this report on toxicity, one wonders why
there isn’t already a global means to easily study and share such
information—especially if it means the protection of innocent life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moreover, Landrigan and Grandjean warn that the true
number of dangerous chemicals is much higher than we might think. And so they are rightly concerned “that children worldwide are being exposed
to unrecognised toxic chemicals that are silently eroding intelligence,
disrupting behaviours, truncating future achievements, and damaging societies,
perhaps most seriously in developing countries.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was struck when I read this. Certainly this paper
echoes concerns raised by the Church, as we <a href="http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/environment/protecting-human-life-and-caring-for-creation-why-protecting-unborn-children-in-their-first-environ.cfm" target="_blank">find here by the bishops of the United States</a>. But the author’s language echoes almost verbatim the words of
Benedict XVI that are used in the masthead of this blog, that "[o]ur duties towards the
environment are linked to our duties towards the human person. ... It would be
wrong to uphold one set of duties while trampling on the other. Herein lies a
grave contradiction in our mentality and practice today: one which demeans the
person, disrupts the environment, and damages society."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This study will rightly generate a chorus of distress
from secular environmental health advocates. Such attention is good and
proper, not only for this issue but for the wider ones it points to. After all,
the harm done to the born and unborn by man-made neurotoxins is a sort of
reflection of other man-made harms to the born and unborn that we as a people
countenance. Would that our concerns about neurotoxins illuminate all such threats.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In any event, for now we give many thanks and offer many
blessings to Drs. Grandjean and Landrigan for their great work and for the
Lancet for publishing it. May this study and the many like them teach us how to
appreciate and build a true culture of life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i></span></o:p></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-945611905537935492014-03-08T10:12:00.000-05:002014-03-13T15:20:19.161-04:00For life, fair and sustainable coffee and palm oil <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8CHpuh87p_qyDt6BhheGDcRtyhk2eqLOJU4vEKblebgRTGS856MhyphenhyphenPQN8myL7B_II80VAhPay0Np6TMS61c3Q792d1BBWEsEvNLNxrbW299uE8_lqYLG11gI6nhycgQa1dtvyvkY-YU/s1600/cffee+by+colros.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8CHpuh87p_qyDt6BhheGDcRtyhk2eqLOJU4vEKblebgRTGS856MhyphenhyphenPQN8myL7B_II80VAhPay0Np6TMS61c3Q792d1BBWEsEvNLNxrbW299uE8_lqYLG11gI6nhycgQa1dtvyvkY-YU/s1600/cffee+by+colros.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Growing coffee, keeping a few trees. Photo Flicker/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/73416633@N00/">colros</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday at work I received a lesson in how our appetites for coffee and palm oil are harming old growth tropical forests. I also learned how things can be done better—and in some places, already are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The speaker was one of my agency’s newer hires, a young and energetic biologist who had interned for his professors to study coffee plantations in Costa Rica and oil palm farming in Malaysia.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The upshot is that coffee can be grown in forest shaded areas—and thus have a smaller or negligible impact on tropical ecosystems. But coffee growers often prefer forest unfriendly open-field cultivation because they can fit more plants in the same area. And with coffee buyers squeezing growers on price, there is pressure to yield as much product as possible from any given property. In fact, as prices get more competitive some farmers are forced to cut down more forests simply to maintain their family’s income.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is it that pushes prices so low? In large part, it's the desire of coffee consumers to pay as little as possible for their morning java.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQaiHClZHOdoC1dBM_MLg9bj02oo2xOF10YtMaaFzMZLnCwgYDywTt1mcVPx24CaGmDPeWrqXnxxhOqJsZ9l92uSez8_SdL1pADB_KlBNKII4EAVBtEFOmZ4ktKdC3vDkQJgWKczjR_M/s1600/by+Ahmad+Fuad+Morad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyQaiHClZHOdoC1dBM_MLg9bj02oo2xOF10YtMaaFzMZLnCwgYDywTt1mcVPx24CaGmDPeWrqXnxxhOqJsZ9l92uSez8_SdL1pADB_KlBNKII4EAVBtEFOmZ4ktKdC3vDkQJgWKczjR_M/s1600/by+Ahmad+Fuad+Morad.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Palm oil fruits at harvest. Flicker/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/adaduitokla/">Ahmad
Fuad Morad</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another lesson learned: Palm oil growers in places like Malaysia are often much less forest friendly. To grow oil palms—a global commodity for use in a great many processed foods—farmers destroy very large areas of very old, thriving tropical forests. This devastates habitats for indigenous peoples and all sorts of life, including the orangutan. Even small buffers for streams become scare, which worsens aquatic impacts from the excessive fertilizers applied to grow oil palm trees. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As always when conversing about such topics, the numbers get staggering and the wish list for making everything better gets long. And while food conglomerates in Southeast Asia are doing research in sustainable practices for growing oil palm trees, there needs to be more research and lots more action.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Real changes in how we supply palm oil and coffee will, it seems, come when consumers demand it—when they/we are willing to pay a few cents more for whatever it is they/we are buying. But not every consumer can afford a higher food bill, which makes such conversations more tricky.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this regard, <a href="http://crr.kelloggcompany.com/en_US/corporate-responsibility/environment/sustainable-agriculture/palm-oil.html" target="_blank">kudos to Kellogs</a> for forcing growers to care for forests and other natural habitats by complying with sustainable standards by 2015. And a tip-of-the-hat to <a href="http://www.catholic.org/green/story.php?id=54270" target="_blank">Catholic Online for sharing the news</a>. (It’s always nice when you see a Catholic voice in <a href="http://www.forestheroes.org/media_reacts_to_kellogg_s_grrreeaaat_palm_oil_policy" target="_blank">a listing of secular news</a> outlets. As I’ve noted elsewhere, adding our voice to such "secular" issues is a means toward New Evangelization.)</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">A once thriving forest now nurses oil palms. Flicker/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/angela7/">angela7dreams</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, Kellogs is just one company among many. More needs to be done. And here is where you and I come into play. As Benedict XVI put it,</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>[t]he way humanity treats the environment influences the way it treats itself, and vice versa</i>. This invites contemporary society to a serious review of its life-style, which, in many parts of the world, is prone to hedonism and consumerism, regardless of their harmful consequences. What is needed is an effective shift in mentality which can lead to the adoption of <i>new life-styles</i> “in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investments.”… Nature, especially in our time, is so integrated into the dynamics of society and culture that by now it hardly constitutes an independent variable. Desertification and the decline in productivity in some agricultural areas are also the result of impoverishment and underdevelopment among their inhabitants. When incentives are offered for their economic and cultural development, nature itself is protected. [<a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html#_ednref123" target="_blank"><i>Caritas in Veritate</i>, §51</a>, quoting Bl. John Paul II’s <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/peace/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_19891208_xxiii-world-day-for-peace_en.html" target="_blank">Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace</a>, 13, and his encyclical <i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus_en.html" target="_blank">Centesimus Annus</a></i>, 36.] Emphasis original. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Benedict XVI has elsewhere said much more. So has Paul VI, John Paul II, Francis, and many bishops. You get the idea. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Coffee. Flicker/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wenzday01/">wenzday01</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The big question thus becomes, what will you and I do to adopt new lifestyles? And what lifestyles should we adopt to better support local farmers (and their families) while helping to protect the thriving ecosystems that have global impacts for life? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To start, <a href="http://www.bing.com/search?setmkt=en-US&q=fair+trade" target="_blank">we can learn a little more about Fair Trade practices and buy Fair Trade certified products</a>—especially our coffee and, when possible, anything that contains palm oil. And we must demand that the companies that process food do likewise. We must ask for better, sustainable choices from our supermarkets and the companies they buy from. And we can accept that, for those that can afford it, some of what we do demand will cost us, too. (Yes, we will pay a bit more for environmentally friendly food products.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll be focusing more on all this the future. But for now, importantly, we can also pray for the people who grow our foods, those close by and those far away. Pray for conversion of business practices and purchases. Pray for the growth of the Gospel of Life in industries like food production and commodity farming. Pray for virtues to control our appetites, and the grace to build this virtue within us.
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ultimately, we must pray for life—because when we do so, we’re praying for the dignity of every human person as well as for the planet that keeps us all healthy—assuming that we, for our part, live in ways that keep it healthy, too.
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Catholic Ecology Home</i></a></span></div>
William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-28818402916921058722014-03-04T01:37:00.000-05:002014-03-04T09:57:33.936-05:00Lent 2014: When the heavens meet earth<div class="MsoPlainText">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we prepare for Lent we might reflect on the place of
creation throughout salvation history. We do so because the dialogue between heaven and earth culminated in Jesus Christ—true God, true man, the Word of God made present now
for the ages in the Eucharist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve posted below three related reflections. The first is part of a
powerful Lenten homily, the second is an appropriate passage of Isaiah to guide
our thoughts, and the third is a video from an artist who has captured (perhaps
without knowing it) some of what we encounter in the homily and in Isaiah. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We begin with a particularly moving <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20120222_ceneri_en.html" target="_blank">homily by Pope Benedict XVI</a> on Ash Wednesday, 2012. Here’s a portion:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Firstly, ashes are one of the material signs that bring
the cosmos into the Liturgy. The most important signs are those of the
Sacraments: water, oil, bread and wine, which become true sacramental elements
through which we receive the grace of Christ which comes among us. The ashes
are not a sacramental sign, but are nevertheless linked to prayer and the
sanctification of the Christian people. In fact, before the distribution of
ashes on the heads of each one of us — which we will soon do — they are blessed
according to two possible formulas: in the first, they are called “austere
symbols”, in the second, we invoke a blessing directly upon them, referring to
the text in the Book of Genesis which can also accompany the act of the
imposition: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (cf. Gen
3:19).</span><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[…]</span><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus the sign of the Ashes recalls the great fresco of
creation which tells us that the human being is a singular unity of matter and
of the Divine breath, using the image of dust moulded by God and given life by
the breath breathed into the nostrils of the new creature.</span><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Genesis, the symbol of dust takes on a negative
connotation because of sin. Whereas before the fall the soil was a totally good
element, irrigated by spring water (cf. Gen 2:6) and through God’s work was
capable of producing “every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for
food” (Gen 2:9).</span><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the fall and the divine curse it was to produce
only “thorns and thistles”, and only in exchange for the “toil” and the “sweat
of your face” would it bear fruit (cf. Gen 3:17-19). The dust of the earth no
longer recalls the creative hand of God, one that is open to life, but becomes
a sign of an inexorable destiny of death: “You are dust, and to dust you shall
return” (Gen 3:19).</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I end the quotation at that iconic Ash Wednesday phrase, but the homily does not end with death. How could it? The genius of Benedict XVI is in how he brings the
scriptures into focus by reminding us of its promise of eternal life. Like few others, he teaches by calling our attention to what we should
see so clearly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Prophet Isaiah accentuates the Hebrew Scripture's use of creation imagery. Here he does so to portray the
reach of God into the worldly realm. This is one of my favorite passages in all scripture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> For my thoughts are not your thoughts, </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the LORD. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> For as the heavens are higher than the earth, </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> so are my ways higher than your ways, </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> my thoughts higher than your thoughts. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Yet just as from the heavens </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the rain and snow come down </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And do not return there </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> till they have watered the earth, </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> making it fertile and fruitful, </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Giving seed to the one who sows </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and bread to the one who eats, </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So shall my word be </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> that goes forth from my mouth; </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It shall not return to me empty, </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> but shall do what pleases me, </span></div>
<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> achieving the end for which I sent it. (<a href="http://usccb.org/bible/isaiah/55" target="_blank">Is. 55:8-11</a>)</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And lastly, I end with this video from </span><a href="http://www.lightalivephotography.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Nicolaus Wegner</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, an artist in
Wyoming. As St. Bonaventure and so many other saints and Christian mystics tell
us, we can more easily ponder the creator by standing in awe of creation. <a href="https://vimeo.com/86112567" target="_blank">This video</a> excels at doing just that: allowing nature’s majesty—its laws, its
beauty, its power—to remind us that there are realities greater than us. As the anceint writers of scripture knew, taking time to see what's going on overhead is a good way to consider how our ways are not God's ways. And that should remind us that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">it really is best to repent and live His Gospel, which guides us from death into life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May God bless and protect you all this Lent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology home</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-20154808889614388122014-02-23T23:22:00.000-05:002014-02-24T08:34:48.360-05:00Will a Francis eco-encyclical be the right's Humane Vitae? <div class="MsoPlainText">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Calibri; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 12px; text-align: left;">Photo of Pope Francis: Flicker/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/catholicism/" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">Catholic Church (England and Wales</a>)</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m not one to encourage political divisions within the
Church. But I can’t ignore them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like it or not, there are so-called conservatives and liberals within the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church and they bring with them
preconceived, divisive worldviews that complicate all forms of ecclesial life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given the usual place of ecology within these ideological realities, I’ve been thinking about the future response to a Pope Francis environmental encyclical. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Naturally, there will be joy among most of our liberal brothers and sisters and there will be despair (mingled with fury?) among
many who are conservative. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Put another way, a Pope Francis eco-encyclical will
likely be the <i>Humane Vitae</i> for the right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul VI issued <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html" target="_blank">his prophetic encyclical on human life</a> in
1968. He did so against the advice and hopes of many. Given a great number of errant
voices seeking magisterial approval for artificial contraception and other ills,
Paul VI demonstrated courage and trust in Christ by making clear the teachings
of the Church. A good many on the left were outraged by this—and still are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But <a href="http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/life-and-family/humanae-vitae/humanae-vitae-controversial-but-prophetic/" target="_blank">Paul VI was correct in his warnings</a> about
disconnecting the conjugal act from procreation. Pope Francis will be too in
stating ecclesial concerns regarding planetary and local ecosystems </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that nurture and protect human life once it is conceived.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chances are, however, the left will not be entirely
happy with Francis's take on environmental protection. <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/01/seven-things-to-know-about-franciss.html" target="_blank">As he has done to date</a>,
Francis will most certainly connect ecology with human life issues and he will link human
choices with the grace of God. But the condemnation in an eco-encyclical of
issues like contraception and abortion will likely not soothe the fury of some
on the right who may get particularly heated if Francis mentions climate change
or biodiversity—which, of course, he probably will given that these are two of
the most pressing eco issues of our age.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All this might only widen the divides between brothers
and sisters that come from too many of us viewing things through red or blue
colored glasses rather than seeing with the eyes of faith.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus we have a task before us—and by “we” I mean those of
us who get the Catholic, whole-life perspective of ecology, the one that Bl.
John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis sum up in the term “human
ecology.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s up to us to double our efforts to teach—with
love—the Church’s concerns about ecological issues as well as the hard science behind them. Following the wishes of Christ, we must work towards unity within the Church, which is why we must prepare the way for a
Francis eco-encyclical. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last thing the Church and the world needs
is for human life to suffer similar ills as those brought about by a refusal to
accept the truth of <i>Humane Vitae</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-60236233432845614132014-02-11T07:15:00.000-05:002014-03-02T21:07:26.087-05:00By the Books: Christiana Z. Peppard's Just Water. Part 3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmZn_9jxlBb0HfSZQLNpL7moyO0rqOroZOdRE17n6EKQ1BgqcF4EXlXJ8WAzg4yx1rsb1yj7n4HZ1ILW1rGIq7mqg7hPTik03c8EnbX9XldXyyPe-CohVoqS14nkHRflKblaqKoTCh2c/s1600/just-water.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGmZn_9jxlBb0HfSZQLNpL7moyO0rqOroZOdRE17n6EKQ1BgqcF4EXlXJ8WAzg4yx1rsb1yj7n4HZ1ILW1rGIq7mqg7hPTik03c8EnbX9XldXyyPe-CohVoqS14nkHRflKblaqKoTCh2c/s1600/just-water.png" height="400" width="262" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/02/by-books-christiana-z-peppards-just_9.html">Part 1</a> <span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">│ <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/02/by-books-christiana-z-peppards-just.html" target="_blank">Part 2</a> </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">│ Part 3</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and in recognition of World Day of the Sick</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—keeping in mind the importance of clean water for human life and health</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we conclude our three-part interview with Dr. Christiana Z. Peppard, author of </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.christianapeppard.com/?page_id=187">Just Water: Theology, Ethics, and the Global Water Crisis</a></i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: Political leaders may not be well versed in the natural
sciences, which can prevent them from appreciating issues like watershed
approaches to water supply or the impacts of new ways to drill for natural gas.
How can the education of civic and state leaders improve their decision-making
capacity when it comes to protecting natural resources like water?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard: </b>Education is vital! Throughout <i>Just Water</i>, I stress that
water is not always a self-evident, eternally renewing resource that bends
easily to political and economic wishes.
I wrote Chapter 2, "A Primer on the Global Fresh Water
Crisis," precisely as a way to communicate essential, foundational, and
timely information to folks who are not well versed in hydrology. My public media work (with videos and
articles on TED-Ed, CNN.com, the History Channel, and others) also strives to
portray these complex realities in accessible ways. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, new media offers amazing opportunities for
communication and learning. As more resources become available, responsibility
rests with educators (to create the materials) but also with the
public</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">including politicians and business people and other decision-makers,
whose choices bear long-term impacts for local and regional areas. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, frankly, one of the real difficulties in ensuring an
appropriate stance towards water is that politicians and business people are not
usually oriented towards long-term outcomes. They focus on re-election, or
profit/growth. They don't focus on the integrated functioning of watersheds in
the long term. This short-term attention</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the focus on election cycles and
fiscal quarters</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is deleterious, risky, and pernicious to the protection of our
most vital resources, like fresh water, upon which the possibility of all life
depends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is there a way to enforce long-term thinking about
environmental goods in political or economic contexts? Not yet. But we have to
try. There's no human existence without water</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">nor societal, economic, or
civilizational. It under-girds everything and therefore its preservation and
thoughtful use deserve our utmost attention. It is a public good par
excellence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What can people do right now? First and foremost, it's
time for water sources and infrastructure (especially water supply and
sanitation) to become highly visible. We need massive investments in, and
maintenance of, water/sanitation systems. We also need innovation in the realms
of gray-water (reuse) and incentive structures to eliminate wasteful domestic
uses (lawns in California and Arizona, for example). Investing money, time, and
energy in renewing our aging water/sanitation infrastructure is vital and is a
contribution that politicians can make, starting now. We as citizens can advocate for this kind of
pragmatic action. I recommend the book Blue Revolution, by Cynthia Barnett, as
a great resource for becoming aware of infrastructure, policy, and the future
of water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> If you w</span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ant more information, there's a list of further
resources for the educated non-specialist in the back of <i>Just Water</i>. I'll also
shamelessly plug my TED-Ed videos, which are aimed at high-school students as
well as life-long </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">learners: what you need to know about global fresh water
in four-minute, animated videos! [See <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz6AQXQGupQ">here </a>and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otrpxtAmDAk">here </a>for examples.]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For younger students, <a href="http://studentsrebuild.org/find-challenge/water-challenge/about-challenge">StudentsRebuild</a> (a project of the
Bezos Family </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Foundation) has been doing a "Water Challenge"</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> for middle schoolers all year, with great resources for
that age bracket. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://home.waterforpeople.org/">Water for People</a>, a
Denver-based non-profit, has a stupendous approach for water-system empowerment
and ways for interested adults to get involved. I recommend all of these
entities as sites of learning and engagement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As an educator, I want to help people to find reputable
resources for thinking better about water, while encouraging all of us to enter
the conversation with our unique biographies of experience and knowledge. As a
scholar, I want to explore and strive to articulate crucial insights that
emerge at the intersections of hydrology, ecology, theology, and ethics. If my
work contributes to an improved level of public discourse about fresh
water-both within educational institutions and outside of them-then I will be
thrilled. Water is not self-evident and deserves our critical, ongoing
attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: What are your greatest concerns and greatest hopes in
the area of global and regional water policies?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard:</b> My greatest concern is that the short-term logic of
fiscal and election cycles may prevent societies from enacting healthy,
sustainable, long-term water policies that benefit individuals, communities,
and ecosystems now and in the future. Water is a short-term need and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in many
places it's an immediate crisis. And as we grapple with these discrete and
urgent situations, we also have to consider long-term policies that respect the
primacy of waters for all forms of life, industry, agriculture, economy, and
civilization. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also worry that water's "value" will come to
be seen as solely an economic category. Surely, economic valuation is a
fabulous and important tool in our global economy. But markets should not be
ultimate arbiters of value, especially for something like fresh water. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqLte9WhRMNOlD0S03A3v30JofwgpfecbpL9WGc-TPgJhvHhtniat50M0dIxzyH7c5oO2rqMQfFQVYqicMlhPcqdAgkQmajP1ESOnN0_xOwL7-QjvNAca1AClVyaIvOYKzev9ffhtFrY/s1600/Pollution-iStock_000008548523Small-Purchased-by-BP142_NOT-FOR-REUSE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqLte9WhRMNOlD0S03A3v30JofwgpfecbpL9WGc-TPgJhvHhtniat50M0dIxzyH7c5oO2rqMQfFQVYqicMlhPcqdAgkQmajP1ESOnN0_xOwL7-QjvNAca1AClVyaIvOYKzev9ffhtFrY/s1600/Pollution-iStock_000008548523Small-Purchased-by-BP142_NOT-FOR-REUSE.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Environmentally, socially, theologically, and philosophically, it's clear that
the value of water transcends market value or price (see Chapter 3!). I'm a
pragmatist who supports innovation, and I believe that entrepreneurship and
economic exchange have their place in environmental policy. But it's immoral
for pursuit of profit to be the only motivating force, or the dominant
conversation partner, for the value of something as essential and complicated
as fresh water. This is where theology, philosophy and ethics</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as well lived
experience</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">have major contributions to make. Those insights may well be the
wisdom that preserves the possibility of existence on every level of scale,
from the local to the planetary, in an era of fresh water scarcity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To that end, in <i>Just Water</i> I depict how water is (in
philosophical terms) <i>sui generis</i> and <i>sine qua non</i>; translated into economic
terms, this means that it is non-substitutable and a baseline for all forms of
existence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fx7SELpdMllW9hR3v9C6W6mn0NrtNgQx0yGm9ag8z2_wF1BabfU5TMJRd-5amA9ySna9BeYcl6Npj2IxKwOYqG6TgjMnKoRQJvViPXYWAtY1H7HLZs7G6O6cX1-ErUzdR50ges4rxes/s1600/water+faucet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_fx7SELpdMllW9hR3v9C6W6mn0NrtNgQx0yGm9ag8z2_wF1BabfU5TMJRd-5amA9ySna9BeYcl6Npj2IxKwOYqG6TgjMnKoRQJvViPXYWAtY1H7HLZs7G6O6cX1-ErUzdR50ges4rxes/s1600/water+faucet.jpg" height="320" width="204" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moreover, in many ways, fresh water is a classic market
failure. These core insights, in conversation with the historical emergence of
hydraulic and economic paradigms out of the American West, are the subject of
my next book-tentatively titled "Valuing Water in the Anthropocene." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my greatest hopes is that "fresh water
policy" will eventually become nearly synonymous with "fresh water
ethics." This will require, specifically, that special attention to be
paid to long-term flourishing and integrity of water sources as well as the
demands of justice for the most vulnerable (usually women and children in
subsistence economies). And it requires a large-scale increase in familiarity
with water supply, policy, and infrastructure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another hope</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">born out of my vocation as an educator and
scholar</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is that </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just Water</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> can be an accessible, encouraging introduction to
some of these vital issues, in a way that empowers people. It's important to
empower people, not exhaust them! This is particularly delicate because when it
comes to global water scarcity, the danger of burnout is very real: as the BBC
quipped in 2005, "If you want to exhaust mental meltdown, the statistics
of the worsening global fresh water crisis are a surefire winner"!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I hope there is some kind of succor</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perhaps an ironic
comfort that provides a base for action</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in the indisputable fact that no one
person, no single approach, is going to solve the fresh water crisis. It's a
collective task-a problem of we, not just me. And everyone starts from exactly
where we are at a given moment. My hope is that learning about water and the
common good can be empowering</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a way of discerning how to be better neighbors
and citizens in this complicated, pluralistic, globalizing world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The task is ongoing: I too am constantly learning, discerning,
analyzing, revising, re-framing. Dealing with water scarcity and water ethics is
not like solving a straightforward algorithm. It's what sociologists refer to
as a "wicked problem"</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">an issue with many inputs, implications, and
unintended consequences. That can be daunting; but it can also be a pragmatic
invitation to jump in wherever your abilities and insights may be useful.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFBeuiP0IWZQqN9tJ9IwlxEOYcaWwHqmlt-WLR0h4DVCEBhQ7A4yh722PZrpq9xu3k7CZX-jzftn7vtDdDycCwxT_wklD_fYmxn9iwqaW5XQyMmAXI6TDQovSXTQinY38kyI05YiDr7KE/s1600/iStock_000019664252Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFBeuiP0IWZQqN9tJ9IwlxEOYcaWwHqmlt-WLR0h4DVCEBhQ7A4yh722PZrpq9xu3k7CZX-jzftn7vtDdDycCwxT_wklD_fYmxn9iwqaW5XQyMmAXI6TDQovSXTQinY38kyI05YiDr7KE/s1600/iStock_000019664252Large.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fresh water scarcity, like water itself, is always in
motion. That means we have to learn to think fluidly-to learn, revise, and
adjust course when something is not working. Humility and persistence are both
vital. Ethics needs to be the frame that guides water and economic policy</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">not
the reverse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: Is there anything we haven't covered that you would
like to add?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard: </b>The opportunity to consider and respond to your questions
has been wonderful! I hope that readers of your blog will continue to have
conversations about the intersections of theology, ethics, water, and the
common good. You can find me on Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/profpeppard">@profpeppard</a>) or through my <a href="http://www.christianapeppard.com/">website</a>. I
welcome inquires about resources or ongoing conversations from your readers!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Catholic Ecology: With many thanks to you, Dr. Peppard, and with assurances of the prayers of many for your continued work seeking the just use of water.</b><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i></span></o:p></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-68443864436829862102014-02-10T06:51:00.000-05:002014-02-24T19:03:09.989-05:00By the Books: Christiana Z. Peppard's Just Water. Part 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/02/by-books-christiana-z-peppards-just_9.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Part 1</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 32px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">│ Part 2 </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 32px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">│ <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/02/by-books-christiana-z-peppards-just_11.html" target="_blank">Part 3</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the Feast of St. Scholastica, we continue our interview with <a href="http://www.christianapeppard.com/" target="_blank">Dr. Christiana Z. Peppard</a>,
Assistant Professor of Theology, Science, and Ethics at Fordham University,
about her new book <i><a href="http://www.christianapeppard.com/?page_id=187" target="_blank">Just Water</a></i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part 1 of the interview can be found <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/02/by-books-christiana-z-peppards-just_9.html">here</a>. The
last installation will be posted tomorrow—the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: Shortages of clean water are often
portrayed as realities only in developing countries. Does your book look at
water supply and source protection issues in places like the United States or
Europe?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard:</b> Yes! While people living in subsistence
situations feel the effects of water scarcity first, it is also the case that
water sources are being polluted and tapped unsustainably in parts of the world
where we take water for granted. Usually, in the U.S., we are not aware of our
water sources. But every now and then, events like the West Virginia chemical
spill present terrifying evidence of just how vital and susceptible fresh water
is—not just for people in developing nations, but for everyone, worldwide. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ignorance of fresh water sources has been a marker of
luxury: many people in the U.S. and Europe know little about our watersheds and
water/sanitation infrastructure—since tap water is available 24 hours per day,
seven days per week. However, in some (mostly arid, Western) regions of the
U.S., residents are more familiar with water scarcity and source protection,
precisely because water scarcity and disputes have been going on longer there.
I recommend William DeBuys’ book,<i> A Great Aridness</i> (Oxford University Press,
2010), for a fuller treatment of water in the contemporary and future west.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: Fossil fuel extraction technologies,
especially fracking, are often major water users. Given all the demands on
water, is this a wise use of water, or a waste?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;">Photo by <a href="http://www.pixsy.com/collection/natural-gas/" target="_blank">Daniel Foster</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard:</b> A major issue facing industrialized nations
is water use by the energy sector. Many fossil fuel-extraction technologies are
extremely water-intensive. Take hydraulic fracturing, that much-hyped and
much-criticized technology for extracting shale oil or natural gas. (Chapter 8,
“Water from Rock,” grapples with fracking in great detail.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From a water use perspective, each well drilled for
hydraulic fracturing consumes Olympic-sized swimming pools-worth of water in
order to force shale oil and natural gas out of pockets of rock and sediment.
The water that comes out (“flowback” and “produced water”) is heavily
contaminated with chemicals (used to loosen the sediments, thereby releasing
the gas).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Flowback and produced water cannot be reclaimed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is water-intensive fossil fuel extraction a good use of
finite, scarce water supply? Western advocates argue, emphatically, no—as a
consumptive use (because it produces contaminated water) the water can’t
re-enter the watershed or ecosystem. Communities across the world are worried
about potential pollution from fracking wells. Currently there is a ridiculous
lack of information about what kinds of chemicals are in those fracking
solutions and what the toxicological, public health, and environmental
consequences may be. The situation is one of contrived ignorance, because the
U.S. federal government currently protects fracking solutions as “trade
secrets.” This is ridiculous and has to change, as I argue in Chapter 8. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it’s not just tree-hugging environmentalists who are
concerned about fracking—far from it. Several European nations have banned
fracking outright due to uncertainty about its effects on water supply. And in
Germany, the centuries-old beer-brewers’ association issued a formal complaint
against fracking!—on the grounds that potential contamination of groundwater
sources could imperil their 500-year-old purity codes for beer-brewing. This is a real
concern for a country that sees massive annual revenues from Oktoberfest and
beer tourism! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: Your work bridges a number of
disciplines, such as science, theology, and environmental policy. Have you seen
examples of dialogue between faith and reason in how local, national, or
international governments develop or implement sound water use policies?
Similarly, where have people of faith—especially the Catholic Church—been most
helpful in issues of water supply and source protection?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard:</b> Such partnerships will be among the most
interesting aspects of water management and ethics in the coming century. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a global level, since 2003 the <a href="http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/index.htm" target="_blank">Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace</a> has issued a very straightforward, clear letter to the
triennial World Water Forum. These letters (which I discuss in greater detail
in Chapter 4</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) portray water as a gift from God, a human right,
and a right-to-life issue. And, in keeping with decades of Catholic social
teaching, they express concern about the commodification of fresh water and
identify access to clean, fresh water and sanitation as key factors in integral
development.</span><br />
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These teachings are powerful and, hopefully, can inform policymakers’ awareness of ethical aspects of fresh water supply and
access. It’s a pretty basic and powerful insight: human flourishing is not best
measured by economic indicators alone.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the most interesting and hope-giving actors in
international, transboundary water management is <a href="http://oregonstate.edu/gradwater/aaron-wolf" target="_blank">Prof. Aaron Wolf</a>, a professor
and chair of the Department of Geosciences at Oregon State University. Dr.
Wolf’s work in conflict management incorporates multiple stakeholders and
complex (beyond </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">economic) value-paradigms for water, publishing
peer-reviewed articles at the intersection of water conflict and spirituality
in the <a href="http://www.iwaponline.com/wp/toc.htm" target="_blank">Journal of Water Policy</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friends of the Earth Middle East is another exemplar.
This regional non-profit organization is spearheading a Jordan River
rehabilitation and cooperation project that involves multiple stakeholders,
including religious communities from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam within
the geographic area of the Jordan River (encompassed by Israel, the West Bank,
and Jordan. They’ve recently released <a href="http://foeme.org/www/?module=projects&record_id=23" target="_blank">a stupendous toolkit (of
articles and other resources)</a> for religious congregations, on the topic of the Jordan River. I recommend it highly</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chapter 6 of <i>Just Water</i>, “The Jordan River,” depicts some
of these projects, while parsing an odd dilemma. How is it possible that the
symbolically powerful Jordan River can exist in such a paltry, degraded
hydrological state? I argue that this is a topic—and a place!—where religious
people and congregations, as well as institutional entities like the Catholic
Church, have a substantial role to play in environmental rehabilitation and
protection. Shouldn’t it be significant for people of Christian faith that the
Jordan—that is, the river in which Jesus was baptized, and his ministry began!—is
dammed, diverted, and flows only as pea-green sludge in several places? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is an environmental problem. It is an ethical
problem. I think it’s also a religious and theological problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A final way that we are seeing interactions between theology
and water policy is through religious communities’ resistance to invasive
technologies and support of environmentally sustainable practices. For example,
several orders of nuns in the United States and elsewhere, such as the Sisters
of Bon Secours, have made water a central charism in their theological and
ethical work. Likewise, the National Catholic Rural Life Conference continues
to do stupendous work in thinking through the important relationships between
Catholic faith and the health of land and water.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Various dioceses and bishops’ conferences in the U.S. and
worldwide have begun to issue occasional letters or formal documents that
emphasize how water is a gift that is central to human and ecosystemic
existence. Examples include documents by the Appalachian Bishops as well as
Bishops from the Philippines, as well as the Columbia River Pastoral letter
(written by the Bishops of the northwestern part of the U.S. and Canada about
matters of shared concern on the Columbia River). In late summer 2013, several
religious orders in Kentucky—including the Trappists of Gethsemani—opposed the
possibility of a natural gas transportation pipeline that would run through
their properties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkEmyy4vR9MeB2Kab5pRhkIweiOYS66lM2ps9JbRA6UU1ADT6mDIxxVO0MOMwNo2JkOdQp6wXK6na2d6kGBxeeVIpGAvyr4FUGsfZwUYNitHSIilI7jL-xRC8Wp4sA6rTbi65-PUXeSTI/s1600/iStock_000016017680_Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkEmyy4vR9MeB2Kab5pRhkIweiOYS66lM2ps9JbRA6UU1ADT6mDIxxVO0MOMwNo2JkOdQp6wXK6na2d6kGBxeeVIpGAvyr4FUGsfZwUYNitHSIilI7jL-xRC8Wp4sA6rTbi65-PUXeSTI/s1600/iStock_000016017680_Large.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: At work, I often refer to the sound
planning, building, and maintenance of water infrastructure as “Civilization
101.” Given the growing demands on governments, how can people with a
background in science or faith (or both) stress to decision makers the
importance of clean water as a fundamental need for the common good? What
guiding principles do you suggest in your book?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard:</b> I quite agree. Without water, there is no
possibility of civilization! The guiding principles of my book that could be
infused into “Civilization 101” can be summed up as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fresh water is <i>sui generis</i> (unique, non-substitutable)
and <i>sine qua non</i> (a baseline for all kinds of existence, from individuals to
societies to ecosystems and economies).</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These features are universally true but manifest
differently in various places. Context matters: Seattle is not the Sahara. So
there is no one-size-fits-all solution to fresh water scarcity.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Technology is an important tool but not a panacea. It
must be deployed within a long-term ethical, economic, and policy framework
that puts human and ecosystem flourishing at the center of value.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People living in poverty, especially women and children,
deserve special attention because they are the first to suffer when water
systems fail or water becomes scarce.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Corporations must be accountable for safety and must
prove that their chemicals and processes are not toxic to humans or other forms of
downstream life. This is, in other words, the precautionary principle.
Moreover, any potential downstream costs must be internalized, despite the
economic temptation to externalize costs. (The case of West Virginia is a good
example of the flaws of our current approach, which seems to privilege the
trade secrets and income of a corporation above the downstream health and water
access of residents.)</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For all of these insights, there is robust resonance with
principles of Catholic Social Teaching (chapter 4, “A Right-to-Life-Issue for
the Twenty-First Century”), which I deploy in a central way in the book. It
will come as a surprise to most North American Catholics that in terms of
thinking about the ethics of fresh water, the Catholic Church is way ahead of
most municipalities in the U.S.! So, I suggest in the book that there can be a
fruitful dialogue between precepts of the tradition and contemporary water realities.
Do I think that the Catholic Church has all the answers? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No. It’s not a water management entity! But I do think
that the principles resonate with some deep concerns about fresh water scarcity
and ethics—especially questions of value and human life—in the 21st century. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is wisdom here, and we need to pay attention to it,
because water is and will continue to be a fundamental right-to-life
issue—indeed, the right-to-life issue <i>par excellence</i> for global humanity.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: Our interview with <i>Just
Water</i> author Dr. Christiana Peppard will conclude tomorrow. Part 1 can be found <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/02/by-books-christiana-z-peppards-just_9.html">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-11029327068011861172014-02-09T07:54:00.000-05:002014-05-05T16:20:03.258-04:00By the Books: Christiana Z. Peppard's Just Water. Part 1<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBobh5fWC9EobHp_YNqMJlYINvEk9WqMnxQDmmoG2QrvLBfBv_C4cEBgO58n36jOAlxXplyIfTczr4vVXdwdxI1T72DqeO0yzqhrUVkhiyfX8k_Xu8V4tk_TuEIAyhjcku6YuDvDiIfM/s1600/just-water.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBobh5fWC9EobHp_YNqMJlYINvEk9WqMnxQDmmoG2QrvLBfBv_C4cEBgO58n36jOAlxXplyIfTczr4vVXdwdxI1T72DqeO0yzqhrUVkhiyfX8k_Xu8V4tk_TuEIAyhjcku6YuDvDiIfM/s1600/just-water.png" height="400" width="262" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Part 1 │ <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/02/by-books-christiana-z-peppards-just.html">Part 2</a> │ <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2014/02/by-books-christiana-z-peppards-just_11.html" target="_blank">Part 3</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was delighed to hear of the new book by Dr. <a href="http://www.christianapeppard.com/" target="_blank">Christiana Z. Peppard</a>, <a href="http://www.christianapeppard.com/?page_id=187" target="_blank">Just Water: Theology, Ethics, and the Global Water Crisis</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given my professional work in a regulatory agency for statewide water resources, I immediately ordered the book and
asked Dr. Peppard for an interview, which she graciously agreed to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What follows is the first of an informative and
thought-provoking three-part interview about the book and the many issues involved with clean water. The remainder of the interview will be posted over
the next two days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, a little about the author of <i>Just Water</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Peppard is an Assistant Professor of Theology,
Science, and Ethics at Fordham University, where she is also affiliated faculty
in American Studies and Environmental Policy. She received her B.A. in
Human Biology from Stanford University, M.A. in Ethics from Yale
Divinity School, and Ph.D. in Religious Ethics from Yale University.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Peppard and daughter.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Prof. Peppard is a native of the U.S. West (born in
California’s Central Valley and raised in Colorado) who now lives in New York
City with her spouse and six-year-old daughter. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She can be found thinking on
science, theology, ethics, and of course water on Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/profpeppard" target="_blank">@profpeppard</a>). <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Her </span><a href="http://www.christianapeppard.com/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">website</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> contains a full biography, information on current activities, and helpful educational resources.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: Given that many areas of the globe want
for adequate supplies of clean water, what driving forces—globally and/or
regionally—most often contribute to these shortages and how are new realities,
like climate change or economic instability or new technologies, making bad
situations worse?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard:</b> Fresh water exists at a complicated nexus
of hydrology, geography, social and economic patterns, and political realities.
While the 21st century is aptly described as a century of fresh water scarcity,
it’s most accurate to speak about water crises in the plural than as a
singular, uniform phenomenon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, in general, some dynamics hold true. Fresh water
scarcity is the result of increased demand for fresh water (for agricultural,
industrial, and domestic uses) coupled with unsustainable rates of extraction
and consumption of fresh water, especially from nonrenewable groundwater
sources such as deep aquifers. These dynamics emerged decisively in the 20th
century with the rise of large-scale hydraulic technologies—dams, diversion
canals and irrigation, and powerful groundwater pumps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where is that water going? Most people can intuit that
industrialized nations tend to divert and consume more water per capita than
industrializing nations. What many people don’t know is that agriculture is the
biggest consumptive use of fresh water worldwide. (We need water to grow crops,
and water helps to turn seeds into suppers!) Unfortunately, industrial-style
agriculture is not sustainable from a water-use perspective: must agricultural
production in the past century has come from tapping into deep, finite
groundwater sources. Tapping this water is like mining a valuable resource,
because once it’s consumed, the sources do not replenish on any humanly
meaningful timescale. Some cities like Beijing and Mexico City, not to mention
parts of California’s Central Valley, are quite literally sinking as the
groundwater beneath them disappears due to consumptive uses (including
agriculture and fossil fuel extraction). The depletion of the Ogalalla Aquifer
in the middle of the U.S. or the Edwards Aquifer in Texas offer still more
examples. Chapter 5, “The Agriculture/Water Nexus,” explores these topics and their
implications in great detail. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But isn’t water renewable? Yes, and no—it depends. Not
all uses of water are equally renewable. The key distinction is between
“consumptive” and “nonconsumptive” uses. In “consumptive use,” once you withdraw and use the water, you lose it;
it doesn’t return to the watershed in any meaningful way. “Non-consumptive”
uses allow for most of the water to be returned to the watershed or ecosystem.
(Many uses are some combination of both.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In light of that,
real movement on “solving” global water crises will require dedicated attention
to where regions get their water; what kind of water it is; and whether the
uses to which it is put allow for most of the water to re-enter the watershed.
These are systemic and structural, social issues, not just hydrological riddles
of problems that can be solved by taking shorter showers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, it’s good to take shorter showers: individuals’
water-use habits matter. Everyone should cultivate water virtue. But domestic
uses tend to be non-consumptive and account for less than 10% of global water
withdrawals. Thus, while individual conservation can make a difference in
maintaining water supply, it is not the answer to world water crises. For that,
we need to think about what kinds of water we’re using for what kinds of
purposes, on what scale, in what locations, and with what kinds of short- and
long-term effects.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What’s the upshot? Fresh water is complex. It isn’t easy,
and it isn’t obvious, but it’s everyone’s obligation to think better about
fresh water for the short- and long-term good of societies and ecosystems. It’s
not just about individuals: It’s about corporations, governments, communities,
and societies striving towards a common good for this most vital of resources.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: How does climate change fit into
this discussion?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzz82AdW7TyT-g9WhVS6LUACPaxKSphO4Yhh8tXyW9f_e7WLOuJXGmHhyc0xLrcyKD3wcXR7QtopR1qTiAJzpYqvOmwzpxhmVhBa3hTuBbtsQMf0pztVM7XN7ngYYFV9W9dWAGC6Qd358/s1600/iStock_000001826145XSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzz82AdW7TyT-g9WhVS6LUACPaxKSphO4Yhh8tXyW9f_e7WLOuJXGmHhyc0xLrcyKD3wcXR7QtopR1qTiAJzpYqvOmwzpxhmVhBa3hTuBbtsQMf0pztVM7XN7ngYYFV9W9dWAGC6Qd358/s1600/iStock_000001826145XSmall.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard: </b>Climate change is another powerful
variable. The head of UN-Water has said that “climate change is all about
water,” and conservation biologist Travis Huxman (former director of Biosphere
II) opines that “water is the hammer with which climate change will hit the
earth.” It’s a big deal, and it gets an entire chapter in Just Water (Chapter 7,
“Climate Change and Water in the Anthropocene”). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s the basic maxim for water and climate change: wet
places will get wetter, and dry places will get drier. The implications for
arid regions, especially those that rely on water-intensive agriculture for
sustentance and/or economic growth—are dire. In Chapter 7 I draw out six aspects of
the climate-water nexus that are absolutely crucial for considering
hydrological and social wellbeing in this century—including water conflict,
environmental refugees, drought and desertification, energy production, and
more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: To what extent can we rely on
innovation and technology to help tackle such realities?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard:</b> That’s an important question. Clearly,
technology will be <i>part </i>of long-term solutions to fresh water scarcity.
(Already, in light of the extreme drought in California, people are wondering
how quickly desalination plants can come on-line.) But note that technology
will only be part of the solution. Why is this? For one thing, “technology” is
a vast term. What kind of technologies are we talking about, on what kind of
scale, and where? For another, technology is only as good as the context within
which it is implemented, and the goals towards which it is oriented.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Take desalination. It presents some economic and
environmental challenges in the short-term, but those will be overcome when
demand is acute enough, and it’s already in use in particularly arid regions
around the world. But desalination is not a panacea: It is only as good as the
contexts in which it is deployed and the goals towards which it is oriented. The
desalination plant at Yuma (in Arizona) is certainly not an icon of success. We
cannot, must not, regard technology as salvation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Technology can help societies to achieve certain
objectives, but it does not solve problems of distribution, access, and valuation
on its own. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We human beings, endowed with the capacity for rational
thought and ethical reflection, have to figure out how to value water in ways
that redound to the common good of individuals, communities, and ecosystems in
the short and long term. To suggest that technology will solve environmental
problems is to avoid our very human responsibility to think ethically and
critically about water. So, by all means: innovate, incubate, experiment, and
work towards ever better water technologies. But we must remember that while
technology is an invaluable aid, it won’t do the hard conceptual work for us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: In your book you discuss how water is a
justice issue—especially when gender is considered. Can you tell
us a little about that?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard:</b> From an ethical perspective, justice and
access to clean, fresh water are huge issues that people are only beginning to
register on a global scale. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fact is that, globally, the people who generally bear
the brunt of fresh water scarcity are people living in situations of poverty
and/or subsistence existence. They lack water through no fault of their own,
but rather as a result of the location of their birth. This is not something
that any of us chooses, but it is something that nonetheless shapes lives and
circumscribes the possibilities available to individuals and societies.
Especially in areas with insufficient water supply, people’s lives are
determined by fresh water’s absence in highly gendered ways. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Women and children are usually tasked with procuring
water for domestic uses. When the wells run dry or when streams or other
sources are polluted, the task can be time-consuming and physically
grueling. The gendered aspect of water procurement—and
the fact that women bear many of the burdens associated with water scarcity—is
a consistent theme throughout my book, and is the focus of Chapter. 9, “Women,
Wells, and Living Water.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Women do not carry water because they choose to do so, in
the sense of ultimate freedom. Women are responsible for water because they are
born as females into lower-economic-strata contexts without reliable clean
water sources. So it is that women and
children living in poverty bear some of the heaviest burdens of fresh water
pollution and scarcity. But for so many of us in the U.S. and Europe, this is
an “out of sight, out of mind” reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How do we, as U.S. citizens sitting atop the global
economic structure, grapple with that iniquity? In other words: What does it
matter, after all, that people in some regions of the world feel pressure due
to water scarcity, while others don’t? It’s destabilizing to think that my
access to fresh water is the exception, not the norm, worldwide—just because I
happened to be born in a particular place and time, to a middle-class family
with a house and reliable municipal infrastructure. And it’s daunting to think
about the scale of the problem. But that is no reason to avoid the issue, and
my book is one attempt to articulate what’s going on, what’s at stake, and what
people can do to improve the situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh04DScG3fWkRvYWj8Dw4jU1qgFT2_ZQC1Pxn59gJF3PLHeVBgpYh_KWbpcTEd1ifwg3aMPl7gYXSZpRLQbq_CfHkh9z3GbISZ83yHQ9NnsKMjjF6Cdlvbl6jBQXrYUUUcnJGLLus8Y7Zk/s1600/iStock_000015647482Small-Purchased_NOT-FOR-REUSE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh04DScG3fWkRvYWj8Dw4jU1qgFT2_ZQC1Pxn59gJF3PLHeVBgpYh_KWbpcTEd1ifwg3aMPl7gYXSZpRLQbq_CfHkh9z3GbISZ83yHQ9NnsKMjjF6Cdlvbl6jBQXrYUUUcnJGLLus8Y7Zk/s1600/iStock_000015647482Small-Purchased_NOT-FOR-REUSE.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: You refer to water as a “Right-to-Life
Issue.” What does that mean exactly?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Peppard</b>: People with economic resources will almost always be able
to obtain the clean, fresh water necessary for existence. (As Mark Twain
reportedly aphorized, “water flows upwards towards wealth.”) But because fresh
water is a fundamental requirement for the continuation of life, and because
there’s no substitute for it, we have to think about it differently than other
kinds of economic goods. This is why the language of human rights has been
applied to water in recent years. Water justice advocates express that access
to clean, fresh water is a human right, regardless of ability to pay. This is
an important ethical intuition and argument.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet as a scarce resource, fresh water is also an
increasingly valuable commodity on the global market. Corporations have huge
financial interests (and major profit margins) in water privatization schemes
and sales of water. I deal with these topics in Chapter 3 of Just Water (“Fresh
Water: Human Right or Economic Commodity?”), where I also give a history of
bottled water!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what is the value of water? It’s not merely economic,
for one thing. Here, I think it’s remarkable—profound and noteworthy, in
fact—that the Catholic Church has gone on record to exhort global leaders,
citizens, and Catholics to recognize that “without water, there is no life.”
The Church insists that fresh water is a “fundamental human right,” indeed,
even “a right-to-life issue” (!) and that, as a result, it must not be
considered only as a commodity. Its value transcends market value. This is
radical, powerful rhetoric. What would the world look like if we took these
exhortations to heart? (Chapter 4, “A Right-to-Life Issue for the Twenty-First
Century,” contextualizes and elaborates on these claims.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Note: Our interview with <i>Just Water</i> author
Dr. Christiana Peppard will continue Monday.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-17367368588718869322014-02-05T22:19:00.001-05:002014-02-06T00:34:03.643-05:00What is the UN thinking?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was big news today about the United Nations' <a href="http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/VAT/CRC_C_VAT_CO_2_16302_E.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and its handling—and often
mishandling—of the matter in areas across the globe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Had the UN stuck to that subject, it could have done us
all a favor. The reality of sexual abuse in any setting is serious—I have seen
from loved ones something of the toll it can take. For Catholics the subject is
especially upsetting given that members of the Church succumbed to the same
ills as we find elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the UN personnel that chastised the Church weren't content with the issue at hand. They had to use the opportunity to preach to
the Church about Catholic teachings on abortion and artificial birth control. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The entire matter, including the Church’s official
response, is chronicled at <i><a href="http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/2910/un_blasts_vatican_response_to_sex_abuse_updated.aspx#.UvL24fldV8E" target="_blank">Catholic World Report</a></i>. What I’d add here is this:
the United Nations is a rather important entity for the coordination and
encouragement of global ecological awareness and responses. For Catholics
engaged in environmental protection, today’s attack by the UN over sacred
issues of life have damaged the credibility of the international body at a time
when partnerships are vital for protecting the planet and
its peoples. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That elements within the UN would needlessly damage its
relation with the Church is unconscionable. That others would allow this to happen
is even more disturbing. But perhaps all this is understandable, given that the
Church might be seen by some within the UN as a competitor in doing good—the Church is, after all, a two-millennia-old global
entity that also works for peace, justice, and the protection of natural laws. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Church has survived every human construct it has
encountered and it will outlast the UN. But in this critical time of increasing
climate change and biodiversity loss, the UN would do well to build its
relationship with Catholics, especially those engaged in the front lines of helping the poor, the displaced, and the
planet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If they did foster this relationship, then those in the UN
charged with environmental stewardship might learn this lesson: <a href="http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/2873/ecology_abortion_and_the_left.aspx#.UvL9PPldV8E" target="_blank">it is impossible to be pro-abortion and pro-ecology</a>. One either defends and nurtures life or one does
not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so I hope and pray that certain members of the UN
will come to their senses, step off their soap boxes, and build unity rather
than erect walls. I am not convinced that this will happen, but one can always
hope for the best in people while at the same time preparing for the worst.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> Catholic Ecology Home</a></i></span></o:p></div>
William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-62162853233127623592014-02-02T14:20:00.000-05:002014-02-02T20:32:46.515-05:00Vatican sustainability conference update: A need for moral authority<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many thanks to Professor
Veerabhadran Ramanathan of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences for sharing his</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: 0in;"> thoughts on an upcoming Vatican conference on sustainable lifestyles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www-ramanathan.ucsd.edu/about/index.php" target="_blank">Dr. Ramanathan</a> is
co-organizer of "<a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/events/2014/sustainable.html" target="_blank">Sustainable Humanity, Sustainable Nature: Our Responsibility</a>,” which will be held at the Vatican May 2nd through the 6th.
The event is jointly sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical
Academy of Social Sciences. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This unique conversation between the natural and social
sciences is also being chaired by Archbishop (and noted professor) <a href="http://www.pass.va/content/scienzesociali/en/academicians/ordinary/minnerath.html" target="_blank">Roland Minnerath</a> and <a href="http://www.pass.va/content/scienzesociali/it/academicians/ordinary/dasgupta.html" target="_blank">Dr. Partha Sarathi Dasgupta</a>. Some fifty noted researches in a variety of fields will be presenting. More information, including a listing of participants, is in the <a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/dam/accademia/booklet/booklet_sustainable.pdf" target="_blank">conference booklet</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Dr. </span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Veerabhadran </span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Ramanathan </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: http://www-ramanathan.ucsd.edu/</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frequently sought
after by the media, Dr. Ramanathan has a lengthy and extraordinary <a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/academicians/ordinary/ramanathan.html" target="_blank">biography</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His credentials and honors include his role as Distinguished Professor at the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego and UNESCO
Professor of Climate and Policy at TERI University, Delhi, India. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He has also
received the United Nations 2013 “Champions of the Earth” award for science and
innovation. He has made major contributions to the atmospheric sciences, especially
in relation to climate change and humanity’s impact on the public health and
the environment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="text-indent: 0in;">Dr. Ramanathan was
one of three co-chairs of the Vatican study </span><a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/accademia/en/publications/scriptavaria/glaciers.html" style="text-indent: 0in;" target="_blank">Fateof Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene</a><span style="text-indent: 0in;">, published in May, 2011.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: Given that the intent of the conference is to bring
dialogue between the natural and social sciences—especially related to
fostering sustainable lifestyles—what critical issues related to planetary
ecology would you say must be considered today by the academic, industrial, and
governmental sectors?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Ramanathan: </b>The fundamental question is: How do we change the course
of the current unsustainable growth? In particular, the
current unsustainable course has been set by developed nations. Who has the
moral authority to advise developing nations where the future growth is coming
from to chart a different course? I feel Pope Francis is a ray of
light for exerting such a moral authority.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Catholic Ecology: To what extent do you see this conference examining and
linking both the impact of humanity’s demand for natural resources and the
impact of humanity’s post-production and post-consumption levels of pollution?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Ramanathan: </b>Your have very nicely summarize the aspirations of the
organizers’ objectives for this workshop. At least the above are my aspirations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>CE: Benedict XVI famously observed that “our duties
towards the environment are linked to our duties towards the human person.” As
an expert on how atmospheric pollution—specifically “brown clouds”—impacts
human health and agriculture, what does recent research in air pollution tell
us about this link between how we treat the environment and “our duties towards
the human person?”</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Ramanathan: </b>About 6.2 million die each year from air pollution
indoors and outdoors. This is avoidable for we have technologies to get
rid of this pollution. The indoor pollution is from cooking and heating by
about 3 billion who are too poor to access fossil fuels. I call them the bottom
3 billion. The top few billion who have almost unlimited access to fossil
fuels, for their own welfare, must provide access to renewable fuels to the
bottom 3 billion. Please see my article at the PAS web site on “<a href="http://www.casinapioiv.va/content/dam/accademia/pdf/sv123/sv123-ramanathan.pdf" target="_blank">Socially Excluded</a>”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>CE: The conference has as its goal the fostering of
dialogue between the natural and social sciences. In my role as a state
environmental regulator, it is clear that a lack of scientific understanding
about the current state of global ecology—especially related to climate
change—often hampers healthy actions by communities and civic leaders. How
could the products of this conference filter down to help local leaders better
understand the link between the natural sciences and such local issues as
whether to relocate infrastructure or even abandon areas that are currently
inhabited?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Ramanathan: </b>Great question. I am hoping the meeting will be followed
by Church leaders organizing teleconferences with church members inviting
attendees of the workshop to serve as expert advisers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>CE: You co-chaired the 2011 report Fate of Mountain
Glaciers in the Anthropocene. The report brought much attention to the role of
faith in the natural sciences. What have your experiences with the Pontifical
Academy of Sciences demonstrated to you and your colleagues about the Church’s
role in issues of science, ecology, and sustainability?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Ramanathan: </b>That workshop was a turning point in my approach for
mitigating air pollution and climate change. I realized our political leaders
need help from religious leaders to exercise moral authority to ask people to
protect the air and the water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>CE: How has the words and actions of Pope Francis
resonated with the mission and themes of this conference?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dr. Ramanathan: </b>Please see my response to question #1. The world
urgently needs religious leaders with moral authority like Pope Francis and the
Dalai Lama.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></span></i></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-81074957051338105732014-01-25T10:03:00.001-05:002014-05-07T20:02:38.711-04:00Seven things to know about Francis's planned eco-encyclical<div style="text-align: left;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjioGQZ4k4JAYFZ25r7k9B9M3tkRpDyAHy7IyD1Oh4xTjWgdOAB0c1SUp744O_sNsKgezfTI0JSb-qOe_UsfbwdNnDJH4VvAxUI8sUKRIiGY4yUVJiNrb-t2gZw2O52B8LTDI_nSeXY4DU/s1600/iStock_000029635420Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjioGQZ4k4JAYFZ25r7k9B9M3tkRpDyAHy7IyD1Oh4xTjWgdOAB0c1SUp744O_sNsKgezfTI0JSb-qOe_UsfbwdNnDJH4VvAxUI8sUKRIiGY4yUVJiNrb-t2gZw2O52B8LTDI_nSeXY4DU/s1600/iStock_000029635420Large.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As mentioned in the <a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-2013-top-ten-catholic-ecology.html" target="_blank">top ten eco-stories of 2013</a>, there
have been rumors of an environmental encyclical. On Friday <a href="http://www.news.va/en/news/possible-papal-encyclical-on-ecology" target="_blank">the Vatican confirmed </a>the rumors. And so now there’s lots of talk about what will be in it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For clues, we look to Francis’s first major statement on ecology: his
<a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/audiences/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130605_udienza-generale_en.html" target="_blank">June 5th General Audience</a>. In a handful of paragraphs Francis outlined his
concerns as well as how they relate to others. Given that, what might a Pope Francis eco-encyclical look like?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here’s what we know so far:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1. </b>From yesterday's announcement, the document will be rooted in
the John Paul II and Benedict XVI concept of “human ecology.” </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Holy See Press
Office, Father Federico Lombardi, S.J., confirmed on Friday that Pope Francis
has begun work on a draft text on the topic of ecology, which could become an
encyclical. But, Father Lombardi said, the project is in an early stage, so it
is too early to make any prediction about the timing of possible publication.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Father Lombardi said it is important to note that Pope
Francis intends to put particular emphasis on the theme of “human ecology,” a
phrase used by Pope Benedict to describe not only how people must defend and
respect nature but how the nature of the person – masculine and feminine as
created by God – must also be defended.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s no surprise that human ecology takes center stage in the Vatican news blurb. In his June 5th audience Francis rooted his words in his predecessors’:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moreover on various occasions Benedict XVI has
recalled that this task entrusted to us by God the Creator requires us to grasp
the pace and the logic of creation. Instead we are often guided by the pride of
dominating, possessing, manipulating and exploiting; we do not “preserve” the
earth, we do not respect it, we do not consider it as a freely-given gift to
look after.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are losing our attitude of wonder, of contemplation,
of listening to creation and thus we no longer manage to interpret in it
what Benedict XVI calls “the rhythm of the love-story between God and
man”. Why does this happen? Why do we think and live horizontally, we have
drifted away from God, we no longer read his signs.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However “cultivating and caring” do not only entail the
relationship between us and the environment, between man and creation. They
also concern human relations. The popes have spoken of a human ecology,
closely connected with environmental ecology. We are living in a time of
crisis; we see it in the environment, but above all we see it in men and women.
The human person is in danger: this much is certain — the human person is in
danger today, hence the urgent need for human ecology!</span></blockquote>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Also from that audience we find Francis connecting
this conversation with economic matters—specific ones at that:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The peril is grave, because the cause of the
problem is not superficial but deeply rooted. It is not merely a question of
economics but of ethics and anthropology. The Church has frequently stressed
this; and many are saying: yes, it is right, it is true... but the system
continues unchanged since what dominates are the dynamics of an economy and a
finance that are lacking in ethics. It is no longer man who commands, but
money, money, cash commands. And God our Father gave us the task of protecting
the earth — not for money, but for ourselves: for men and women. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So be prepared for the pontiff to expand this conversation, espeically given the importance
he placed on (and the reaction to) his statements on economics in his first
<a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium_en.html" target="_blank">papal exhortation</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3. </b>And as we know, Francis is not one to speak only in theory. He speaks to each of us</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—and includes himself in his exhortations</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. When it comes to the environment, he exhorts us all to make changes. In this case that means that you and I need to throw out our “throw-away culture” because how you and I consume is a
matter related to both our personal holiness (that is, living virtuously) and the common good:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">We have this task! Nevertheless men and women are
sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: it is the “culture of
waste”. If a computer breaks it is a tragedy, but poverty, the needs and dramas
of so many people end up being considered normal. If on a winter's night, here
on the Via Ottaviano — for example — someone dies, that is not news. If there
are children in so many parts of the world who have nothing to eat, that is not
news, it seems normal. It cannot be so! And yet these things enter into
normality: that some homeless people should freeze to death on the street —
this doesn’t make news. On the contrary, when the stock market drops 10 points
in some cities, it constitutes a tragedy. Someone who dies is not news, but
lowering income by 10 points is a tragedy!</span></span></blockquote>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4.</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> All this will, of course, be linked to human life issues, specifically abortion and euthanasia. This will continue an important theme in B16 (who said that “[o]ur
duties towards the environment are linked to our duties towards creation”).
Pope Francis will of course underscore this in his own way, as he has often to date and did on June 5th:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[P]eople are thrown aside as if they were trash.</span><o:p><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">This “culture of waste” tends to become a common
mentality that infects everyone. Human life, the person, are no longer seen as
a primary value to be respected and safeguarded, especially if they are poor or
disabled, if they are not yet useful — like the unborn child — or are no longer
of any use — like the elderly person.</span></span></blockquote>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Francis is deeply concerned about how the
previous two items are related—how human over consumption (and our throw-away
mentality) is intrinsically related to the lives of people elsewhere, born and unborn. Again from the audience:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This culture of waste has also made us insensitive to
wasting and throwing out excess foodstuffs, which is especially condemnable
when, in every part of the world, unfortunately, many people and families
suffer hunger and malnutrition. There was a time when our grandparents were
very careful not to throw away any left over food. Consumerism has induced us
to be accustomed to excess and to the daily waste of food, whose value, which
goes far beyond mere financial parameters, we are no longer able to judge
correctly.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Let us remember well, however, that whenever food is
thrown out it is as if it were stolen from the table of the poor, from the
hungry! I ask everyone to reflect on the problem of the loss and waste of food,
to identify ways and approaches which, by seriously dealing with this problem,
convey solidarity and sharing with the underprivileged.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That said, look for an eco-encyclical that challenges us all</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—especially in the hyper-consuming West</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in very specific and sacrificial ways.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXvEbY3EM4uiGCueYtSFXPgAf3bEYKJwA2AtwCF-PsBV6JU_FUaqrsm5b7M3RYLoEA4vxJ43R5gz7EgKqhe_R1CCtAWo9bPJg-B0V7k0TNK360ogIiW8bRMG0AOIV_pqcqobaAIszu0-o/s1600/iStock_000004921199Small-NOT-FOR-REUSE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXvEbY3EM4uiGCueYtSFXPgAf3bEYKJwA2AtwCF-PsBV6JU_FUaqrsm5b7M3RYLoEA4vxJ43R5gz7EgKqhe_R1CCtAWo9bPJg-B0V7k0TNK360ogIiW8bRMG0AOIV_pqcqobaAIszu0-o/s1600/iStock_000004921199Small-NOT-FOR-REUSE.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>6. </b>Given that Francis does like to surprise people, we can be sure
that we’ll all be surprised with how he expands these themes. It's likely that he will
get very specific—mentioning particular resources, places, and peoples. While the placement
of matters that can be easily associated with a particular time can sometimes
date a magisterial document, I can see how papal attention given to tangible and
temporal ecological realities will do much to connect our duties toward the environment
with our duties toward the human person.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>7. </b>Lastly, Francis has a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother. Like his predecessors, he routinely entrusts his papacy to her intercession. And so the theological hermeneutic of such encyclical will, it seems, be specifically Marian. After all, it was Mary, as creature, that allowed the grace of God to stir within her and bring into human history the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sin of the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s my take. What’s yours? Put your wish list of ideas
in the comments below. If I get a good many I may very well send them to the
Holy Father. After all, we know that Francis likes to engage the People of God for the good of all people and all creation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://catholicecology.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Catholic Ecology Home</a></i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9008786561473377966.post-54785582921633404852014-01-13T23:33:00.000-05:002014-01-13T23:44:11.521-05:00Pope Francis to diplomats: build peace by protecting life, nature<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At today’s gathering with the Vatican diplomatic corps
for the annual <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/speeches/2014/january/documents/papa-francesco_20140113_corpo-diplomatico_en.html" target="_blank">“State of the World” address</a>, Pope Francis continued to confound
pundits who seek to box him in this or that worldly ideological box.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As with his predecessors, Francis sounded the alarm on a
wide range of present-day ills—including a growing culture of disposability “which demeans the person, disrupts the environment, and damages society,”
as Benedict XVI put it when speaking of the link between the human person and
the environment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Francis put it this way: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Peace is also threatened by every denial of human
dignity, firstly the lack of access to adequate nutrition. We cannot be
indifferent to those suffering from hunger, especially children, when we think
of how much food is wasted every day in many parts of the world immersed in
what I have often termed “the throwaway culture”. Unfortunately, what is thrown
away is not only food and dispensable objects, but often human beings
themselves, who are discarded as “unnecessary”. For example, it is frightful
even to think there are children, victims of abortion, who will never see the
light of day; children being used as soldiers, abused and killed in armed
conflicts; and children being bought and sold in that terrible form of modern
slavery which is human trafficking, which is a crime against humanity.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By now you may have noted in Francis a theme of
connecting the environmental concept of disposability with abortion. This is a
brilliant (and quite accurate) way of bridging issues and ideologies. In doing
so he is really just making the same point that Benedict XVI was making in
<i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html" target="_blank">Caritas in Veritate</a></i>, which is quoted at the masthead of this blog.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also like Benedict
XVI—who devoted <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/peace/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20091208_xliii-world-day-peace_en.html" target="_blank">an entire Message for World Day of Peace</a> on the
environment—Francis connects the need for sustainable environmental ethics with
the quest for peace.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;">Finally, I wish to mention another threat to peace, which
arises from the greedy exploitation of environmental resources. Even if “nature
is at our disposition”, all too often we do not “respect it or consider it
a gracious gift which we must care for and set at the service of our brothers
and sisters, including future generations”. Here too what is crucial is
responsibility on the part of all in pursuing, in a spirit of fraternity,
policies respectful of this earth which is our common home. I recall a popular
saying: “God always forgives, we sometimes forgive, but when nature – creation
– is mistreated, she never forgives!”. We have also witnessed the devastating
effects of several recent natural disasters. In particular, I would mention
once more the numerous victims and the great devastation caused in the
Philippines and other countries of Southeast Asia as a result of typhoon
Haiyan.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am sure some may be uncomfortable with a pope
popularizing a pantheistic view of nature. But Benedict XVI had also
anthropomorphized nature when <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2011/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20110922_reichstag-berlin_en.html" target="_blank">he spoke of nature having a “language,”</a> that
is, an inner logic that we can know and that we should follow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Benedict XVI the professor may have used exacting
language to express this truth while Pope Francis uses the language of the
common person. No matter what style of communication you prefer, there is no
denying the message that the faithful and the world are being taught: Like
it or not, the laws of nature are real, unyielding, and they are necessary to
follow if we truly seek peace and plenty on planet earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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William L. Patenaude, M.A., KHShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12865378815115556402noreply@blogger.com0