LIJU
PORATHUR
Dharmaram
Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore
Paper
Title: “Ecology vis- à-vis Human
Ecology after Pope Benedict XVI”
Abstract
“The
Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it”
(Gen 2: 15). The Garden of Eden is the perfect biblical symbol for ecological
balance and spiritual harmony. Pope Benedict XVI, whom the media call as “The
Green Pope”, in his Message on
the World Day of Peace in 2010 says: “If You Want to
Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation”. According to him, the environmental
degradation is “a wide-ranging social problem which concerns the entire human
family.” He always called for the safeguarding of creation, arguing that
respect for the human being and nature are one. During his papacy the Paul VI
audience hall of Vatican was covered with solar energy. Throughout his
seven-year pontificate, Benedict XVI used to talk forcefully about the need to
protect God’s creation. But there was an oblivious difference between the
ecology of Pope Benedict XVI and others. For him human person is at the centre
and the work
for the environment must give first priority to "human ecology." He draws a
parallel between the harm of polluting the natural world and the harm of
engaging in immoral behaviour, which causes real suffering to human beings. The
degradation of nature is closely linked to the cultural models shaping human coexistence:
consequently, ‘human ecology’ is respected within society, environmental
ecology also benefits. This paper is an attempt to discuss the concepts of
ecology and human ecology of Pope Benedict XVI and its interrelations.
Fr Liju Porathur CMI
is a research student at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, doing Licentiate in
Systematic Theology.