By Isabelle Priaulet
A portion of the ecological movement is consciously undergoing a profound shift toward spirituality. The field of “collapsology” (from the English “collapse”), for example, initially urged us to project ourselves into the “end times,” a concept from Günther Anders (1902-22), a German-born philosopher, journalist and critical theorist. Today, however, it calls us to “live the collapse, not just survive it,” as Pablo Servigne, a specialist in questions of collapse, transition, agro-ecology and mutual aid, has written. In this context, spiritual traditions emerge as essential resources.
As Christians, how can we embrace and encourage this shift in perspective, moving from “the end of the world” to “the end of a world”? This shift opens the future, creating space for hope after eco-anxiety has deeply impacted younger generations.
More than ever, the term “ecological conversion,” cherished by Pope Francis, finds its full meaning here. But should the right response be to use this opportunity to evangelize ecological communities, or should Christians aim to make Christianity more appealing by authentically engaging in dialogue with other traditions?
Learning from Pope Francis’ approach
Pope Francis’s vision of dialogue, as expressed in Querida Amazonia, is illuminating: “Starting from our roots, let us sit around the common table, a place of conversation and of shared hopes. (…) Identity and dialogue are not enemies. Our own cultural identity is strengthened and enriched as a result of dialogue with those unlike ourselves. Nor is our authentic identity preserved by an impoverished isolation. (…) For this reason, interest and concern for the cultural values of the indigenous groups should be shared by everyone, for their richness is also our own.” (QA, n 37).
Syncretic experimentations
While some “eco-spirituals” seeking meaning may engage in practices bordering on syncretism, Pope Francis calls for interreligious dialogue to deepen our faith or convictions by questioning them in the light of other cultures.
For example, animism, increasingly popular in ecological literature, raises questions about the status of non-humans and the “fraternal” ties that bind us to them. By attributing souls to non-humans, animistic cultures challenge us to consider the salvation of animal souls, with whom shamans often maintain unique relationships.
Asian traditions, meanwhile, invite reflection on the role of the body in spiritual practice. Whereas nature is often seen as an “outside” in Christianity, Taoism encourages viewing the body as an “inner landscape” within a framework of correspondences between the microcosm and the macrocosm. If nature is “within us” and not merely an “environment,” our sensitivity to life increases, and we can experience environmental destruction as a “mutilation,” as Pope Francis suggests.
A dialogue on the sacred
The core of interreligious dialogue is ontological. One of its deepest challenges involves the notion of the sacred, experiencing within oneself this “sense of the sacred in nature” through emotion.
Christianity, however, has long been wary of the sacred. Often associated with pantheism or nature worship, the sacred seems to encourage a relationship with the cosmos where the individual loses their identity in the “Great Whole.” This conflicts with the Christian theological emphasis on the uniqueness of each person as loved and willed by God.
The threat of “biocentrism”
This wariness is tied to concerns about “biocentrism,” where life itself becomes a sacred value worth “sacrificing” for. For Christians, the ultimate sacrifice has already occurred in the passion of Christ.
Nonetheless, collapsology appears rooted in an “eco-centrism” that emphasizes belonging to a community rather than exalting life forces for their own sake. Pablo Servigne reflects this when he describes the sacred as “a sense of belonging to the same community, with an amplified sense of identity, feeling both oneself and part of a Whole that transcends us. (…) The sacred, as we understand it, is neither a dogma nor a religious sentiment. It is a connection to what truly matters within us and with the invisible.”
A “situated anthropocentrism”
The sacred does not reside in natural elements (thus avoiding pantheism) but in the relationship that unites us to them and allows us to grow through that connection. Can we not hear echoes of Pope Francis in Laudate Deum regarding “situated anthropocentrism”?
“Today we see ourselves forced to realize that it is only possible to sustain a ‘situated anthropocentrism’. To recognize, in other words, that human life is incomprehensible and unsustainable without other creatures. For as part of the universe… all of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family, a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble respect.” (LD, n 67).
If we refuse to engage in this contemporary debate and persist in opposing the sacred to holiness, the sacred will continue to develop outside religious institutions or through a distorted reinterpretation of their message, leaving many in spiritual wandering. – La Croix International
Isabelle Priaulet is a philosopher and educator on the challenges of ecological conversion.
