Influences on our Catholic Ethics: Why should we care about Climate Change?
In Religious Studies(Years 7-10) and Studies of Religion (Years 11-12) our students learn about what influences Catholic Christian ethical decision making. There are various sources that influence and inform our viewpoints on a wide range of issues including environmental concerns such as Climate Change. Given that this year’s Season of Creation ended on the 4 October and Pope Francis published his latest letter Laudate Deum on this same date it provides a good opportunity to explain the process of Catholic decision making. Our own Benedictine charism as a Good Samartian school provides further context for our response to what Pope Francis calls the “Climate Crisis”. The work of our sisters in responding to the cry of the poor who are more often the victims of this environmental issue further illustrates why we should care about this problem and act to make a difference. An example of this is the community who live on the Island of Kiribati who are threatened by rising sea levels.
Fundamentally, as a Catholic Christian community we are influenced by the teachings of Jesus, especially the teaching of Love of Neighbour, which is also our Benedictine Value of focus this year. This teaching can be found in the New Testament, specifically the Gospel of Matthew when Jesus said in response to the question ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?’, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (Matthew 22:36-40). To love God fully, we must care for God’s creation, a gift bestowed on us and a responsibility to steward or take care of. To love our neighbour as ourselves we must consider those most affected by Climate Change, the poor who have a limited voice or power to change their circumstances. We need to ask ourselves how we would feel to be in their situation. Both elements of this teaching call us to make changes in our lives so that we have less impact on the issue of climate change, to show love to God and our neighbour.
Aside from the teachings of Jesus and the Bible more broadly, Catholic morality is also influenced by Church Doctrine or Church Tradition. The Vatican and the popes especially have an influence on developing social justice teachings and doctrine. As I have written previously, Pope Francis is passionate about and deeply concerned about the Climate Crisis. He first wrote in 2015 Laudato Si(Praised Be), then Fratelli Tutti(All Brothers) in 2020 and now in October 2023 Laudate Deum(Praise God). All of these letters express concern for the planet and call on people, regardless of faith, to take action to respond to the Climate Crisis. You can read the full text here or there are various news articles that report on the key themes. In his latest publication Pope Francis has said the rich world must make profound changes to tackle the climate crisis, while defending climate protesters and urging governments to make the forthcoming Cop28 climate summit a turning point.
Finally, as we have free will, Catholics are encouraged to use all the sources of revelation and use their own minds to make decisions regarding such issues. Ultimately, we need to care about the earth and the poor just as much as we care about ourselves.
Louise Barry - Religious Studies Coordinator