By Kielce Gussie
Commemorating 190 years of diplomatic relations between Colombia and the Holy See, the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome hosted a forum together with the Colombian Embassy to present the Latin American Church’s perspective on biodiversity and climate change.
Entitled “Just Transitions: The Role of the Church in Shaping a Latin American Vision of Social, Economic, and Environmentally Sustainable Development”, the event called to mind the dual challenge many Latin American countries face. On the one hand, the need to advance environmental action, sometimes even at the expense of socio-economic development; and on the other side, the need to address the inequalities that come from the impact of the triple global crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution).
Speakers included María Adelaida Farah Quijano, Academic Vice-Rector of the Pontifical Javeriana University in Colombia; Fr Adelson Araújo dos Santos, professor at the Gregorian University; and moderated by Emilce Cuda, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Panelists discussed various ways of addressing the question of climate change.
A voice of hope and of warning
The president of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council, Cardinal Jaime Spengler, warned that “the present moment seems to indicate that the world that sustains us is falling apart.”
In response, he urged the Catholic Church in Latin America to both denounce the current situation of environmental and social degradation and be a voice of hope. Cardinal Spengler criticized false climate solutions that, under market logic, turn nature into a financial asset. The Cardinal stressed that the solution involves “urgent structural changes.”
Pointing out the challenges of extractivisim and exploitation of Latin America’s natural resources, Cardinal Spengler called for the protection of Indigenous territories, support for small-scale farming, and a refusal of financialization of nature.
It’s more than just words
Speaking with Vatican News’ Sebastián Sansón Ferrari, the rector of the Gregorian University, Jesuit priest, Fr Mark Andrew Lewis, explained how the school is working to build on the mission of this forum on a practical level. “We have a diploma that we teach here in integral ecology, which is a sort of popular education,” he said, “It is a practical kind of diploma.”
As care for the environment is not limited to scientists and academics, the university’s program is geared at helping people in all walks of life get involved because, as Fr Lewis urged, “the practical impact is very important.” He pointed out that is the essential aspect of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ and his papacy as a whole – taking good ideas and plans and putting them into action.
But this did not start with the Argentine Pope. “Even before, the Church trying to think of ways that can have a positive but practical impact on the environment”, the rector shared. The encyclical helped furthur the call to action and encourage a newer generation of their mission to care for the common home.
Look to the future
Reflecting on the ecological movement of the 1970s, Fr Lewis stated that what is really important is sustainable development. “We need sustainable ideas because to do something that nobody can do is not practical; it’s useless,” he stressed.
What needs to be done is to find ways that involve everyone and that encourages them to think about and be more conscious about the earth. Fr Lewis reiterated that this is key to living out Laudato Si’: that “we all have to take care of our home.” – Vatican News
