What does this photo have to do with Catholicism? Certainly the Church has something to say about it just as Cardinal Marx has some political opinions inspired by his secular faith and Catholic moral and ethical teaching.
Cardinal Marx an atheist could agree with this. Yes we should save the earth if it isn’t terminal or give it palliative care if it is terminal. Yes we can work with political powers of all kinds of persuasion to achieve political consensus and improve a worldly quality of life.
But should the Church also promote the ecology of the sin sick soul that only Jesus can save from the pollution of sin and corruption? Shouldn’t the Church promote the integral ecology of the soul and body that at the termination of the world, the final consummation, Jesus will return for the Last Judgment and from the rubble of the destroyed earth raise up bodies that have returned to the earth in dust and join these bodies to their souls and their just eternal reward?
Cardinal Marx are you a political operative or a Catholic Bishop? Inquiring Catholic minds which integrate the Deposit of Faith in an ecologically integral way would like to know.
Synod of Bishops 2019 in Rome – Special Assembly for the Pan-Amazon region
At the Synod of Bishops in Rome, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Member of the Council of Cardinals and President of the German Bishops’ Conference, spoke on the Instrumentum laboris. We document his statement before the Synod:
1. The Instrumentum laboris describes the destruction of Amazonia: “The massive felling of trees, the extermination of the tropical forest by intentional forest fires, the expansion of the agricultural frontier and monocultures are the cause of the current regional climate imbalances, with obvious effects on the global climate, with planetary dimensions such as great droughts and increasingly frequent floods.“ (IL 54) This destruction of nature fundamentally contradicts the Christian understanding of responsibility for creation.
2. As the “lung of our planet“, Amazonia is of great importance for the global climate and, with its diversity of species, also a valuable natural heritage. This extraordinary biodiversity is not only useful for humans, for example in medicine, but every species has its own value. This treasure of mankind, however, is threatened. If forest areas continue to be cleared – for which the industrialized countries are partly responsible in view of global trade links – the tropical forest threatens to dry up completely, resulting in incalculable consequences for the global climate.
3. The climate is a global public good and we have the mission to protect it and preserve it for future generations, in Amazonia and around the world. This requires a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels and comprehensive ecological change. This change can only succeed with the right political and social framework conditions that prevent the ecological and social resulting costs of economic action from being passed on to uninvolved third parties. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol speak of “common but differentiated responsibilities“ between countries. Accordingly, the major industrial nations have a special responsibility for climate protection in view of their emissions of greenhouse gases. The industrialized countries can take the lead in ecological change and develop sustainable consumption and production patterns. They also have a duty to support the countries of the South in adapting to the climate change that is already being observed. Ultimately, we are talking about global solidarity, the basis of which is a “new notion of progress“ (cf. also LS 46, 194).
4. If we want to rescue the Amazon territory, as the Instrumentum laboris demands (IL 56), we need an integral ecology and a change of perspective that leads us to a new balance between mankind and nature and a peaceful coexistence of people. In this context, we are not concerned with individual questions, but with a new, comprehensive perspective, as Romano Guardini has already analyzed:
“The only measure for properly evaluating an age is to ask to what extent it fosters the development and attainment of a full and authentically meaningful human existence, in accordance with the peculiar character and the capacities of that age.” (cf. EG 224) It is part of integral ecology and economy to put an end to corruption, exploitation and global indifference and to review our actions again and again for the effects they have on nature and on people in the world. It is as you, Holy Father, have expressed in your Encyclical Letter Laudato si’: Everything in the world is connected!
Cardinal Marx an atheist could agree with this. Yes we should save the earth if it isn’t terminal or give it palliative care if it is terminal. Yes we can work with political powers of all kinds of persuasion to achieve political consensus and improve a worldly quality of life.
But should the Church also promote the ecology of the sin sick soul that only Jesus can save from the pollution of sin and corruption? Shouldn’t the Church promote the integral ecology of the soul and body that at the termination of the world, the final consummation, Jesus will return for the Last Judgment and from the rubble of the destroyed earth raise up bodies that have returned to the earth in dust and join these bodies to their souls and their just eternal reward?
Cardinal Marx are you a political operative or a Catholic Bishop? Inquiring Catholic minds which integrate the Deposit of Faith in an ecologically integral way would like to know.
Synod of Bishops 2019 in Rome – Special Assembly for the Pan-Amazon region
Statement by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Member of the Council of Cardinals and President of the German Bishops’ Conference
At the Synod of Bishops in Rome, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Member of the Council of Cardinals and President of the German Bishops’ Conference, spoke on the Instrumentum laboris. We document his statement before the Synod:
1. The Instrumentum laboris describes the destruction of Amazonia: “The massive felling of trees, the extermination of the tropical forest by intentional forest fires, the expansion of the agricultural frontier and monocultures are the cause of the current regional climate imbalances, with obvious effects on the global climate, with planetary dimensions such as great droughts and increasingly frequent floods.“ (IL 54) This destruction of nature fundamentally contradicts the Christian understanding of responsibility for creation.
2. As the “lung of our planet“, Amazonia is of great importance for the global climate and, with its diversity of species, also a valuable natural heritage. This extraordinary biodiversity is not only useful for humans, for example in medicine, but every species has its own value. This treasure of mankind, however, is threatened. If forest areas continue to be cleared – for which the industrialized countries are partly responsible in view of global trade links – the tropical forest threatens to dry up completely, resulting in incalculable consequences for the global climate.
3. The climate is a global public good and we have the mission to protect it and preserve it for future generations, in Amazonia and around the world. This requires a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels and comprehensive ecological change. This change can only succeed with the right political and social framework conditions that prevent the ecological and social resulting costs of economic action from being passed on to uninvolved third parties. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol speak of “common but differentiated responsibilities“ between countries. Accordingly, the major industrial nations have a special responsibility for climate protection in view of their emissions of greenhouse gases. The industrialized countries can take the lead in ecological change and develop sustainable consumption and production patterns. They also have a duty to support the countries of the South in adapting to the climate change that is already being observed. Ultimately, we are talking about global solidarity, the basis of which is a “new notion of progress“ (cf. also LS 46, 194).
4. If we want to rescue the Amazon territory, as the Instrumentum laboris demands (IL 56), we need an integral ecology and a change of perspective that leads us to a new balance between mankind and nature and a peaceful coexistence of people. In this context, we are not concerned with individual questions, but with a new, comprehensive perspective, as Romano Guardini has already analyzed:
“The only measure for properly evaluating an age is to ask to what extent it fosters the development and attainment of a full and authentically meaningful human existence, in accordance with the peculiar character and the capacities of that age.” (cf. EG 224) It is part of integral ecology and economy to put an end to corruption, exploitation and global indifference and to review our actions again and again for the effects they have on nature and on people in the world. It is as you, Holy Father, have expressed in your Encyclical Letter Laudato si’: Everything in the world is connected!
6 comments:
I'm sure there must be SOMETHING about saving our eternal souls somewhere in the massive amounts of verbiage coming from the current Vatican operatives. I just keep missing those parts.
And of course, NOTHING that Peter is doing, saying, signing, promoting, is in any way undermining or diminishing the Kingship of Christ. It's just me that fails to understand how signing a document that says even those religions that deny the divinity of Christ, are willed by God, PROMOTES the Kingship of Christ.
I'm angry, so if I may.
I think it is the epitome of racism to decide that a peoples, or a culture, won't be able to understand or be comfortable participating in the mass without 'jazzing' it up.
The current heiarchy makes me ill.
Dan,
My 32 year old pastor has restored dignity to the sanctuary, gives orthodox Catholic sermons which are well received, and celebrates the EF once a month. He is the future. Forget about these pathetic, old, loser, double-knit dinosaurs hopelessly mired in the 1960s.
Bee here:
Well, the Brazilian government is not too pleased with the rumblings from the Amazonian Synod ;
"General Eduardo Villas Bôas, former Commander of the Brazilian army, said that the Amazon Synod is "politically biased" and "ruled by a series of distorted data that do not correspond to the reality of what happens in the Amazon. "We are not living in paradise. It's a very hard life."
Bôas, currently advisor to the Presidential Office of the Institutional Security Office (GSI) in the conservative Jair Bolsonaro administration, voiced concerns over what may come out of the Amazon Synod's final report: "Now, let us be clear: We will not admit interference with internal issues in our country."
"But we are concerned about the resolutions of the Synod, which could lead to interference (with issues of national sovereignty)," he warned."
God bless,
Bee
You missed a couple commas in the first sentence. It should say, "Cardinal Marx, an atheist, could agree with this."
As the “lung of our planet“, Amazonia is of great importance for the global climate. Well, actually I think the worlds oceans might be the “lung of our planet“. The amount of algae and plankton in the worlds oceans probably convert more carbon dioxide into oxygen that the trees of Amazonia. That is not saying the Amazon and good land/ water management practices are unimportant. I wonder if anyone thinks that the shift from fall to winter is climate change? I would think that religious leaders what the current political and ideological ecosystem is doing to the landscape of my soul. The toxic hot air spewing from the worlds leaders certainly can lead to erosion of the soul. It could also place Catholics on the Endangered Species List.
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