Catholic Ecology and Benedict XVI

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2010Jan 22

Benedict XVI proposes that an "integral human development" links ecology with life, family, sexuality, marriage, and social relations. This video is a naration of my September 2009 column, Catholic Ecology. Quotes from Caritas in Veritate are below, in the order of their presentation: The Church has a responsibility towards creation and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere In so doing, she must defend not only earth, water and air as gifts of creation that belong to everyone. She must above all protect mankind from self-destruction. There is need for what might be called a human ecology, correctly understood. The deterioration of nature is in fact closely connected to the culture that shapes human coexistence: when human ecology is respected within society, environmental ecology also benefits. It is contradictory to insist that future generations respect the natural environment when our educational systems and laws do not help them to respect themselves. The book of nature is one and indivisible: it takes in not only the environment but also life, sexuality, marriage, the family, social relations: in a word, integral human development. Our 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. The text of Caritas in Veritate can be found here: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/ben...