BY: SR. SHARON ZAYAC, OP
Sr. Sharon is director, Benincasa Ministries, which includes an 111-acre
ecology and spirituality center near Springfield, IL. She was formerly president
and CEO of St. Mary–Rogers Memorial Hospital, Rogers, AR.
The Church Has Long Understood That True Health Care Requires Protection
of the Environment
It seems in recent years that our language has been inundated with
words beginning with "eco": eco-consciousness, eco-psychology, eco-renovation,
eco-sensitive, and others. Many of these we let pass without much thought—until
we see or hear "eco" attached to words we consider sacred, words such as "eco-spirituality"
and "eco-theology." That not only catches our attention; it causes some of us
particular discomfort.
Why do we squirm when we hear "eco-spirituality" or "Earth-spirituality"?
Why do we question all the emphasis Earth seems to be getting? Why, for example,
do we object when we see the word Earth capitalized? It is, after all, a proper
noun. We capitalize the names of all the other planets.
There is undoubtedly a growing Earth-consciousness permeating every faith
tradition, every profession, and every field of study. And when new ideas present
themselves, we often have to construct new words in order to get people to pay
attention to those ideas. Thus we see "eco" in front of almost anything. Oh,
for the time when that will no longer be necessary—when everyone will understand
that, whether said or unsaid, "eco" is the point of everything!
Household Earth
"Eco" comes from the Greek word oikos, which means "household."
It means "home." And home refers to the entire house—the whole planet
Earth. "Economy" refers to managing the household, a task at which,
it is safe to say, we are miserably failing. "Ecology" means understanding
all the relationships that make up the household. And humans are not the only
denizens of the house.
Placing "eco" in front of a noun simply acknowledges (or jolts us
into realizing) that everything we are as humans, everything we do as humans,
is always and only within the context of the whole household, the whole planet.
We live and function as one species within and among all the other species.
What we choose to do, how we choose to live, affects, even alters the lives
of every other member of the household, often in ways we are only now discovering.
We humans are not separate from the air, water, or soil. We are neither autonomous
nor independent from the bacteria that sustain all life on Earth, from the plants
which nourish our bodies and spirits, from the many other creatures with whom
we share our home. In fact, there is no such thing as autonomy or independence
in this universe. Quantum physics has blown apart our old image of independent
life forms making their way in a competitive and hostile world.
Science is confirming our absolute connection to the rest of creation at the
most basic level we know, the atomic level. Since Earth's creation from stardust
some five billion years ago, no new atoms have been introduced to this planet
other than those that have come from the occasional meteors that enter our atmosphere.
That means that the entire created order of Earth has been sharing the same
atoms over and over again in what can be called the ultimate recycling. And
this sharing goes on even in our lifetime. We humans have a totally new atomic
body at least once every seven years.
One of quantum physics' most astounding discoveries is that subatomic particles
exist, not by themselves, but in relationship to one another. The existence
of these particles (with wonderful names like "quark" and "lepton") cannot be
defined except in their relationship with one another. There is no such thing
as independence or separateness at the atomic level—and, therefore, at any other
level either.
The fundamental reality of the universe is interdependence. It is relationship.
We live in a universe of relationships. To be is to be in relationship with
the whole because we are one Earth entity. In spite of what we think and how
we act, we humans do not live apart from the rest of creation. The household
of Earth is the context in which we work. All issues are, in reality, household
issues. Any activity we undertake is ecological work because it is performed
in the context of life on this planet. Any work that commits to fostering right
relationships within the household is ecological justice.
Earth is in crisis. The multitude of problems coming at us from every direction
is almost overwhelming. All our attempts to find solutions will be in vain,
however, until we frame the proposed solutions within the context of the entire
community of Earth. This means that we must grapple with the complexities of
relationships that connect us all to one another. We must commit ourselves to
understanding how all the members of our one household, human and other-than-human,
are affected by our actions.
Earth is the primary reference point from which we must consider all issues.
It does not make sense any other way. Eco-spirituality acknowledges that we
are not the only members of the household that are precious to God. Just as
eco-theology is the discussion of God's intimate relationship with the entire
created order, eco-psychology acknowledges that until we reconnect ourselves
to Earth from whom we have come and whose destiny we share, we cannot be healthy,
we cannot be whole, we cannot be sane.
Ecology and the Church
Is this really a new understanding that we have come to? Or is it an understanding
that we long held as church but have forgotten in these last few centuries?
What does the church say about our role within creation and the ecological crisis?
Actually, there are a surprising number of recent encyclicals and pastoral letters
that address the ecological concerns of Pope John Paul II and the bishops here
in our country and around the world. Their concerns may be newly expressed,
but they rest solidly on the Catholic tradition of a profound Earth-consciousness.
John Paul II has given us poignant instruction on our relationship to creation.
As early as 1979, in his encyclical Redemptor hominis, he notes the alarming
depletion of Earth's resources and warns us against needless exploitation. In
1987, in Sollicitudo rei socialis (On Social Concern), he speaks of respect
for the natural world and of the mutual connection of all created things in
the cosmos. And in Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All Creation (1990),
he devotes his entire message to the ecological crisis. The pope names it as
a common responsibility and grants it a moral standing. The ecological crisis
is a moral crisis, he argues. He again warns that consumerism and instant self-gratification
are the root causes of the crisis and that no solution will be found until modern
society takes a serious look at its lifestyle. He reminds us of our serious
obligation to care for ourselves, others, and the entire Earth.
In 2002, John Paul II joined with Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople
and issued a pastoral letter entitled We Are Still Betraying the Mandate
God Has Given Us. The letter calls us to an inner change of heart, which
can then lead us to a change in lifestyle and in our unsustainable patterns
of consumption and production. And as recently as May of this year, the Holy
See called for ecological conversion to combat world poverty.
The world's bishops, including our own here in the United States, have been
very vocal about the ecological crisis and its ramifications for their people,
the land, and for all of creation. The U.S. bishops have issued more than 20
pastoral letters in the last several decades highlighting their concerns about
global climate change, air pollution, loss of wetlands, radioactive and toxic
waste sites, the dairy farm crisis, chemical threats to farmers and migrant
workers, poisoned water, loss of family farms, and the threat of economic collapse
in rural areas.
In 1991 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the pastoral letter
Renewing the Earth: An Invitation to Reflection and Action on Environment
in the Light of Catholic Social Teaching. It is a wonderfully written document,
calling us to examine how we use the goods of Earth and what we are passing
on to future generations. The US bishops highlight six ecological goals and
encourage us to reflect upon the ethical dimensions of the crisis and to promote
a just and sustainable vision for the world community.
In At Home in the Web of Life (1995), the bishops of Appalachia speak
of the new task before us: to form sustainable communities in which people and
land are woven together. The Appalachian bishops say we must develop sustainable
livelihoods in creative communion with the land, air, water, and all God's holy
creatures. In The Columbia Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common
Good (2001), the bishops of the Pacific Northwest remind us that we live
in the world of nature—not apart from it—and that we can live in greater harmony
with our surroundings if we strive to become more aware of our connection to
and responsibility for creation.
The bishops of New Zealand, Guatemala, Quebec, the Dominican Republic, the
Philippines, Northern Italy, and Australia have written very moving statements
about our relationship to Earth and of our sinful assault on creation, an assault
that is contrary to the teachings of our faith.
Why are the bishops making the environment a topic for pastoral letters, writing
with such passion and conviction? Because they see at first hand what environmental
destruction has done to their lands and, therefore, to the lives and welfare
of their people. And they stand squarely upon the rich tradition of a church
that respects creation as a divine gift of God's goodness.
In Renewing the Earth, the US bishops write:
We believe that the following themes drawn from this tradition are integral
dimensions of ecological responsibility:
- A God-centered and sacramental view of the universe, which grounds
human accountability for the fate of Earth
- A consistent respect for human life, which extends to respect for
all creation
- A worldview affirming the ethical significance of global interdependence
and the common good
- An ethic of solidarity promoting cooperation and a just structure
of sharing in the world community
- An understanding of the universal purpose of created things, which
requires equitable use of the earth's resources
- An option for the poor, which gives passion to our quest for an
equitable and sustainable world
- A conception of authentic development, which offers a direction
for progress that respects human dignity and the limits of material growth1
Our respect for creation, however, long predates the documents noted above.
And although Thomas Aquinas, writing in the 13th century, was far from the first
to articulate that respect, he certainly did it with a style unlike most others.
What does Thomas tell us about creation? Creation, he says, is a manifestation
of the divine goodness. All creatures bear the image of the Creator. All creatures
bear a trace of the Trinity, no matter how imperfect or faint. And what one
creature fails to tell us about God, another creature does. That is why we need
the whole universe, "because the whole multiple and varied universe manifests
the divine goodness more perfectly than any single creature could do."2
Furthermore, Thomas tells us that everything exists in its own right and is
to be taken seriously. All creation is in relationship to the Creator. God is
present in all creation, and if we want to pay tribute to the Creator, we must
respect the concrete reality, the essence of all things. To do this, Thomas
says, is more spiritual than to deny or play down the goodness of things in
order to exalt some supernatural thing.
This understanding of the intimate relationship between God and creation underscores
the claim of Pope John Paul II and the bishops that environmental degradation
is a moral issue. The loss of ecosystems and plant and animal species is no
less than a destruction of a facet of the divine expression. God is diminished,
and God must feel the pain of that loss.
The ecological crisis is a cosmic crisis. It affects all parts of creation,
every member of the household. By the very nature of our universe, no one thing
can remain untouched by the other. Every action we take, every choice we make,
has its ramifications throughout the entire created order. That places a heavy
responsibility upon us to ensure that what we choose to do is mutually beneficial
to all of creation.
We are an incredibly creative and intelligent species. We have a collective
wisdom gained from our 10,000 years of living together in communities. We must
not forsake that wisdom for short-term profit or gain. We have created the technology
that is wreaking havoc in the natural world. Relying on that collective wisdom,
we must use our technology to ensure that our efforts to make a better life
for ourselves include a better life for the entire community of Earth.
Health Care and Ecology
What does all this have to do with health care? People involved in health
care actually have a starring role. I applaud the efforts you make to address
your own issues of toxic materials, disposables, and the reduction of the mountains
of waste which must be land-filled, sterilized, incinerated, or trucked off.
Having spent 13 years in hospital administration (the last six as a CEO), I
recognize the monumental challenges of the task, particularly when so much of
it is mired in politics and not common sense. But it is certainly worth the
effort, financially as well as morally.
The effort will not succeed, however, without the commitment and enthusiastic
support of the facility's administration, specifically the CEO. A health care
institution's eco-conversion is not just one more project to take on. It is
the context in which all health care organizations must organize and operate.
We have an excellent medical care system in this country. Our response to medical
crises is second to none. What we do not have is an adequate health care
system. We do not care for people's health. We care for their injuries and for
their illnesses.
We will not be true providers of health care until we understand that our
well-being is contingent upon clean air and water, healthy soils and food, toxin-free
clothing and plastics and metals and building materials. If the planet around
us is not healthy, then neither are we. We have an obligation to speak out for
the health of the entire household. And if the very buildings in which we gather
the sick are not healthy, what service do we provide? We must take on the task
of reducing or eliminating what we can and challenging the many industries who
supply us to live up to their responsibilities as well.
All our medicines, all our surgeries, all our interventions to make people
well will be in vain until we understand the connection that binds us to the
whole. I challenge the health care system in this country to take the lead in
educating and promoting a mutually sustaining and healthy planet.
NOTES
- National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Renewing the
Earth: An Invitation to Reflection and Action on Environment in Light of Catholic
Social Teaching, in Patrick W. Carey, ed., Pastoral Letters and Statements
of the United States Catholic Bishops, vol. 6, US Catholic Conference,
Washington, DC, 1998, pp. 404-405.
- Paul J. Glenn, A Tour of the Summa, B. Herder Book
Co., St. Louis, 1960, pp. 42.
Copyright © 2003 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3477.