Gianfranco Lunardon, MI

Introduction

On September 1 of this year, we are invited to celebrate the day for the custody of creation. It is a day to raise awareness among women and men of goodwill for a genuine and authentic ecological conversion, according to the perspective of the integral ecology of “Laudato Si,” because – in dialogue and peace between different faiths and cultures the human family can live sustainably on the land given to us.

The day for the custody of creation is an opportunity to know and understand the fragile and precious reality of creation. Laudato Si invites us to “a contemplative look” to admire the creatures of the earth and in particular the world of life, so varied and lush; a contemplation that is also worried about at creation, threatened by irresponsible behavior.

God has given to man “the earth, the sea, and all that they contain” (Psalm 14: 6; Acts 14:15). He put the sky at his disposal, as well as the sun, the moon, and the stars. He has granted men the rains, the winds and all that is in the world. And after all this he gave himself. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (Jn 3:16) for the life of the world.

These words of the great Alexandrian exegete, Origen (II-III century AD) express in a simple but very effective way the source of Christian theological reflection on the safeguarding of creation. Man is called to take care of creation in so far as it is the fruit of love of God, who was pleased to give it to the man himself, from God “made sovereign over the works of his hands” (cf. Ps 8: 7).

Pope Benedict XVI had already dedicated the traditional message for the 43rd World Day of Peace to ecology – “If you want to cultivate peace, keep creation”  (January 1, 2010), – emphasizing the inseparable link between the custody of creation and plenary humanism. “It is indispensable that humanity renews and strengthen that covenant between human beings and the environment, which must be a mirror of God’s creative love, from which we come and towards which we are on our way.”

But it was Pope Francis who gave a decisive acceleration to this binomial, with the revival of expression of great semantic effectiveness and full of religious, spiritual and ethical consequences: the “Gospel of creation.”

The expression ‘Gospel of creation’ comes directly from the title of the second chapter Laudato si ’(nn.62-100), which constitutes the actual nucleus of the encyclical. It is in it, in fact, that Pope Francis unfolds, in an extensive biblical trajectory, that fraternal gaze on creation that he – as the introduction (nn.1-16) underlines – takes up from Francis of Assisi and qualifies the point view of the text.

The richness of this section allows at least two perspectives of reading, certainly not opposed, but rather complementary. Therefore, starting from their presentation, it will be possible to explore the fundamental notion of “integral ecology” which is the specific object of the fourth chapter (nos. 137-162).

1. Tenderness, care, hope

Two perspectives of reading, united by the breadth of the biblical reference: an accurate crossing of the canon of scriptures (historical, prophetic, book of wisdom, gospels and other writings of the NT) all conducted precisely in the sign of reference to creation.

The first perspective could be evoked by speaking of a proclamation of the Gospel for the whole of creation, of the narration of a love with a cosmic dimension that addresses every living being: “every creature is the object of the tenderness of the Father, who assigns it a place in the world” (n. 77).

In this direction, also the pages dedicated to Jesus’ gaze on the created world go, which call to share his affection for every creature (nos. 96-100). It is in this perspective, markedly theological – that the significant indications present in different sections of the encyclical are also rooted, concerning some important ethical questions. I am thinking of the underlining of the intrinsic value of the world (No. 115), beyond its functionality to the needs of human beings.

I still think of the invitation to recognize the value of individual creatures, of species (No. 33), of the “lungs of the planet filled with biodiversity” (No. 38), of ecosystems (No. 140) and to practice its care, what a qualifying dimension for being a believer himself. We could grasp the meaning of these indications by recalling the criticism of the absolute anthropocentrism of modernity present in the encyclical. It would be profoundly wrong “to think that other living beings should be considered as mere objects subjected to the arbitrary domination of the human being” (n. 82).

It is also essential, however, to grasp the breadth of the balanced perspective indicated by Pope Francis. The criticism of a “despotic” (n. 68) and “deviated” (n. 69) anthropocentrism does not aim to “equate all beings living and taking away from the human being that particular value which at the same time implies a tremendous responsibility “(n. 90).

It could not, in fact, “be authentic a feeling of intimate union with other beings of nature, if at the same time, in the heart there is no tenderness, compassion, and concern for human beings” (n. 91). On the contrary, precisely because “everything is connected”, it is necessary to hold “concern for the environment” together with “a sincere love for human beings and a constant commitment to the problems of society” (No. 91), since “we are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and another social, but a single and complex socio-environmental crisis “(n. 139).

Not by chance the same accentuation of the affectionate lordship of God over creation finds expression also in the reference to the universal destination of the goods of the earth, as a criticism of an “unjust” system (no. 48-52), to every vision of private property that do not take responsibility for a welcoming solidarity with a global dimension. In short, it is a question of living in creation in the sign of relationship and universal communion. “Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river, and mother earth.”(n. 92).

The last words just mentioned, also guide us to grasp the second perspective mentioned. The reading of the texts of creation conducted in the II chapter of Laudato si ’also discovers a real Evangelium. That is, he lives in them, a good announcement for humanity and its existence within creation, rooted in the experience of a God who dominates the cosmic chaos and human injustice: “If God could have created the universe from nothing, can also intervene in this world and overcome all forms of evil. Therefore, injustice is not invincible “(n. 72). It is the clear affirmation of the inseparable intertwining of creation and redemption“. In the Bible, the God who liberates and saves is the same God who created the universe, and these two divine ways of acting are intimately and inseparably connected” (n. 73).

It is not by chance that Laudato si ’, concludes in chapter VI (no. 202-246) with a sharp cry of hope, with an invitation to never despair in the possibility of change, but rather to allow oneself to be personally involved in the dynamics of ecological conversion. It is also to keep this hope alive that it invites us to contemplate creation with the eyes of faith – the eyes of Francis of Assisi – to understand it as “the entire material universe speaks of God’s love, his boundless affection for us… Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God. “(n. 84).

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