(January 01, 2010) January 1st is recognized annually as the World Day of Peace.
The United Nations invited the world to celebrate One Day in Peace, January 1, 2000,
as the beginning of the International Decade for the Culture of Peace & Nonviolence
for the Children of the World! If we can live for one day in peace, then we can work
together to make peace last, one day at a time. The day has also come to be known
as Global Family Day, a day for peace and sharing. The degradation of the environment
is a pressing moral problem that threatens peace and human life itself, Pope Benedict
XVI said. "We cannot remain indifferent to what is happening around us, for the deterioration
of any one part of the planet affects us all," the pope said in his message for World
Peace Day, celebrated on January 1, 2010. Government policies, the activity of multinational
corporations and the day-to-day behaviour of individuals all have an impact on the
environment, the Pontiff said. While the future of the world hangs in the balance
because of what people are doing today, the negative effects of pollution and environmental
exploitation already can be seen, he said. "Can we remain indifferent before the
problems associated with such realities as climate change, desertification, the deterioration
and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers,
the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes and the deforestation
of equatorial and tropical regions?" the pope asked. Already, he said, the world is
seeing the "growing phenomenon of 'environmental refugees,' people who are forced
by the degradation of their natural habitat" to migrate in search of food, water and
unpolluted air. "It is becoming more and more evident that the issue of environmental
degradation challenges us to examine our lifestyle and the prevailing models of consumption
and production, which are often unsustainable from a social, environmental and even
economic point of view," the pope said. “Respect for creation is of immense consequence...
and its preservation has now become essential for the pacific coexistence of mankind.” In
addition, he warned of the "actual and potential conflicts involving access to natural
resources. Protecting the natural environment in order to build a world of peace is
thus a duty incumbent upon each and all. It is an urgent challenge, one to be faced
with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a providential opportunity to hand
down to coming generations the prospect of a better future for all," the pope wrote.
However, the Holy Father does not propose technical solutions or interfere in government
policies. Rather, he recalls the church's commitment to defending the earth, water
and air, which are the creator's gifts to humanity. However he refers to the previous
pontiffs who had spoken on the environment and peace. Pope John Paul II had said:
“ecological awareness, rather than being downplayed, needs to be helped to develop
and mature, and find fitting expression in concrete programmes and initiatives”.
In 1971, on the eightieth anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s Encyclical Rerum Novarum,
Pope Paul VI pointed out that “by an ill-considered exploitation of nature, man risks
destroying it and becoming in his turn the victim of this degradation”. This Message
for World Day of Peace 2010, entitled "If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation",
was released just days before the conclusion of the Copenhagen conference on climate
change. But Pope’s voice stands out from the chorus - sometimes not quite in agreement
– of the voices expounding on the environment in recent days. First, the concern of
the pope and the Church has dramatic, but not apocalyptic, as we have used the distressing
film or articles over the years. And a quote from Pope Paul VI shows that the Church
is concerned about the environment, even before it became fashionable or an economic
interest. Sure, some of Messages’ points may find agreement among participants in
Copenhagen. The inter-generational solidarity for example, has been much emphasized
at the meeting with UN films and slogans to push for care of the climate for "future
generations". Pope Benedict XVI observed that the "quest for peace by people of good
will surely would become easier if all acknowledge the indivisible relationship between
God, human beings and the whole of creation." He said that Christians have their
own contribution to make in this endeavour, as they "contemplate the cosmos and its
marvels in light of the creative work of the Father and the redemptive work of Christ."
But cultivating world peace, the Pope affirmed, also means protecting creation. With
the real suffering environmental destruction already is causing and the devastation
it will wreak in the future, the pope's message said, "humanity needs a profound cultural
renewal; it needs to rediscover those values which can serve as the solid basis for
building a brighter future for all. Our present crises -- be they economic, food-related,
environmental or social -- are ultimately also moral crises and all of them are interrelated."
Solving the crises will require people to work together and take responsibility for
their individual actions. Specifically, a solution will require "a lifestyle marked
by sobriety and solidarity, with new rules and forms of engagement, one which focuses
confidently and courageously on strategies that actually work, while decisively rejecting
those that have failed." Christians believe the entire cosmos was created by God,
who drew harmony out of chaos, the pope said. Human sin, Adam and Eve's desire to
take the place of God and their refusal to recognize that they, too, were his creatures,
disrupted that harmony.Reaffirming an exhortation he had made on previous occasions,
the Pope said that it is "more and more evident" that the degradation of the environment
requires a re-examination of lifestyle. He said the "prevailing models of consumption
and production" are often "unsustainable from a social, environmental and even economic
point of view." And, the Holy Father asserted, the protection and care of the environment
is everyone's responsibility and one that "knows no boundaries." Further, "In accordance
with the principle of subsidiarity it is important for everyone to be committed at
his or her proper level, working to overcome the prevalence of particular interests.
The Holy Father did, however, raise a word of caution about "absolutizing nature."
While affirming the Church's "responsibility toward creation," he called for an "authentic
'human ecology.'" He said that "a correct understanding of the relationship between
man and the environment will not end by absolutizing nature or by considering it more
important than the human person." "If the Church's magisterium expresses grave misgivings
about notions of the environment inspired by eco-centrism and bio-centrism, it is
because such notions eliminate the difference of identity and worth between the human
person and other living things," the Pontiff said. "In the name of a supposedly egalitarian
vision of the 'dignity' of all living creatures, such notions end up abolishing the
distinctiveness and superior role of human beings." This leads to a "new pantheism
tinged with neo-paganism," the Pope cautioned, "which would see the source of man's
salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms." Pope Benedict
XVI observed that the "quest for peace by people of good will surely would become
easier if all acknowledge the indivisible relationship between God, human beings and
the whole of creation." He said that Christians have their own contribution to make
in this endeavour, as they "contemplate the cosmos and its marvels in light of the
creative work of the Father and the redemptive work of Christ." He highlighted the
urgent need for an inter-generational solidarity, “a responsibility that present generations
have towards those of the future,” as well as “in relationships between developing
countries and highly industrialized countries.” The pope ended his message with a
plea to "all believers to raise a fervent prayer to God, the all-powerful creator
and the father of mercies, so that all men and women may take to heart the urgent
appeal: If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation." It is an urgent challenge,
one to be faced with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a providential opportunity
to hand down to coming generations the prospect of a better future for all.