Pope John Paul II’s call for environmental protection is echoed in an alarming scientific report about the damage we are causing our planet.
By Fr. Sean McDonagh

During the death and burial of Pope John Paul II, many commentators spoke and wrote volumes on the pope’s life and teachings, but few people drew attention to the pope’s messages on the current despoliation of our global environment. It’s true the environment was not at the top of John Paul’s agenda, but he did have insightful statements that have been overlooked.

In his 1990 New Year’s message, “Peace with God the Creator, Peace with all Creation,” the pope wrote the following: “Christians, in particular, know that their responsibility within creation and their duty towards God and the Creator are an essential part of their faith.”

In the same document he suggested this: “Modern society will find no solution to the ecological problems unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyle.” He believed that, “simplicity, moderation and discipline, as well as a spirit of sacrifice, must become part of everyday life, lest all suffer the negative consequence of the careless habits of a few.”

In January 2001, his environmental critique was much more forthright and ominous: “In our time humans have devastated wooded plains and valleys, polluted the waters, deformed the earth’s habitat, made the air unbreathable, upset the hydrological and atmospheric systems, blighted green spaces, implemented uncontrollable forms of industrialization, humiliating—to use the words of Dante Alighieri—the earth, the flower-bed that is our dwelling. It is necessary, therefore, to stimulate and sustain the ‘ecological conversion’ which over these last decades has made humanity more sensitive when faced with the catastrophe towards which it is moving.”

Unfortunately, this call to conversion has, for the most part, fallen on deaf ears, because people in vital positions in politics, economics, the media and religion regularly fail to assess the ecological effect of their activities.

The Devastation Of Ecosystems
One might even be tempted to dismiss this speech as having more to do with apocalyptic religious language than with science except that it has been substantiated by a report from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a United Nations-sponsored international monitoring group, which was published just before the pope died.

The study, backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries, contains what the authors call “a stark warning” for everyone in the world. The report states that “human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of the Earth that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain future generations (of humans) can no longer be taken for granted.”

The report carries huge weight and cannot be brushed aside by contrarians. It chronicles how rapidly humankind is devastating vital ecosystems such as tropical forests, coral reefs and crop lands. It adds its voice to numerous other scientific studies regarding the destructive impact of climate change on humans and many other species on the planet.

It tells us that water withdrawals from rivers and lakes have doubled in the past 40 years to the point that humans now use between 40-50 percent of all available freshwater running off the land.

At least 25 percent of all fish stocks are over-harvested and, in some areas, fish catches are merely 1 percent of what they were before the advent of industrial fishing. The report tells us that we are causing the extinction of a significant section of the web of life.

This is the world that now faces Pope Benedict XVI. Few of the cardinals have spoken out in any significant way about the devastation of the Earth, even those in countries such as Brazil where the abuse of the Amazon River is so obvious. It is true that Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of South Africa has taken a strong position on genetically engineered crops. Elsewhere in Africa, however, environmental statements from Church leaders are sparse.

The world needs to hear religious leaders who are willing to speak out about the scale of irreversible environmental destruction that is taking place around the world. In the light of the pain, suffering and death that global warming is predicted to cause, especially to the poor, Pope Benedict should be unafraid to challenge nations about their responsibility in curbing greenhouse gases.

Time is running out. Unless we take decisive action, future generations will be forced to live amid the ruins of the natural world.

Columban Father Sean McDonagh spent more than 20 years as a missionary in the Philippines. He has written extensively on ecology and religion. His latest book is called “The Death of Life: The Horror of Extinction.”