Earth Day: A Franciscan Perspective

April 22, 2012 marks the 42^nd anniversary of Earth Day.

With support across political, social, and economic differences, the first Earth Day in 1970 led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.

In 1990, Earth Day mobilized 200 million people in 141 countries, expanded recycling efforts around the world, and paved the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Earth Day 2000 used the internet to connect 5,000 environmental groups and hundreds of millions of individuals in 184 countries.

Earth Day is now the largest secular holiday in the world, observed by one billion people.

In the spirit of their Founder, Franciscans across the globe add a distinctive voice to this celebration of God’s creation.

Linda Bordoni spoke to br. Joseph Rozansky OFM, director for the Franciscan Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation Office here in Rome.

Br. Rozansky says care for creation is an ancient Catholic, and particularly Franciscan concern that has taken on renewed urgency in recent decades.

He says that Earth Day and the legacy of St. Francis of Assisi share the goal of protecting the environment and all of God’s creation.

Looking to the experience of St. Francis, ecology was a huge part of who he was, so for Franciscans, theologically and in terms of their religious commitment, Earth Day is an important observance because it speaks to us of a major component of who we are. It addresses a number of questions and issues of a range of increasingly problematic ecological issues of today.

He says that the umbrella issue around which Franciscans are organising their work for justice, peace and integrity of creation is environmental justice.

So, he says, as we look to the questions of justice and peace, there are all sorts of issues that we need to work on, but we can’s work on any of them without taking into account the environmental issues.

He agrees wholeheartedly that climate change for example is an issue that impacts prevalently on the poor. He says that the Franciscans are looking for ways to work together with the poor to work for environmental justice. Even if you can’t work on all issues at the same time, he says we have to see the inter-relationships that exist.

Br. Rozansky looks ahead to the upcoming Rio+ 20 conference in June and says the Franciscans will be present with a delegation of 60 representatives from the Franciscan family to participate not only in the official conferences, but also in the people’s summit which is being convoked by civil society. He says we need to find ways to bring the two together because, as the Kyoto Protocol comes to an end, it is fundamental to find new agreements and pacts to save the planet and safeguard human dignity.

Br. Rozansky also talks of some of the environmental projects that are spearheaded by Franciscans across the globe.

He says Pope John Paul II. Back in 1991, began to talk of the need for ecological conversion. He says Pope Benedict has continued in that tradition and developed it, inviting the faithful to change their lifestyles.

Br. Rozansky says, this invitation must be taken up and developed in a more pro-active way: priests must address these issues in their homilies, teachers must teach ecology in the schools. He says we must find very concrete ways to address these vital questions. We must turn words into action.

He says the Franciscans have produced material that can be consulted on their website on how to be involved in environmental justice, making some concrete examples and inviting people to take stock of what they do, how they live, and what impact they have on the environment.

At a general level, he explains, the Franciscans at the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office try to produce material to be used at a local level.

Earth Day, he says, is about the environment but, br. Rozansy says, if we talk about the environment we have to talk about everything we are involved in. “That’s why Earth Day is important: because it opens up a vast array of possibilities for our reflection, for our conversion, for being able to change the way that we do things, that we live together, that we see Creation”.

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