The ecological conversion to avoid the ecological catastrophe
Pope John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła)2001
This document written by Pope John Paul II discusses the most important aspects of the Catholic Church’s view of environmental questions. It begins by discussing the importance of nature in God’s creation: nature forms part of the Creator’s project for the world, a paradise in which Man should live in harmony with his fellow men, with the creation and with God, but the harmony has been broken by Man’s sins. Subsequently, this document develops the concept of Man’s vocation to govern creation with wisdom and love based on God’s wisdom and love, but then explains the devastation of the natural world that has occurred as a result of the bad human’s management. Finally, it argues the urgent need to promote an ecological conversion that understands ‘ecology’ in both a physical and human sense, and which will bring us closer into contact with God’s project. When men and women once again live in harmony with the natural world and themselves, they will feel God’s presence in the evocative wonders of creation.
Reference
Catholic Conservation Center. Pope John Paul II. The Ecological Conversion. General Audience Address, January 17, 2001 [On-line]. New York: Bill Jacobs; Catholic Conservation Center, 2001. <http://conservation.catholic.org/john_paul_ii.htm> [Consulted: 14 July 2010].
