Gordon:
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Before we
discuss some of the diverse issues that you address
as Professor of Catholic Theological Ethics and Erica
and Harry John Family Chair of Catholic Theological Ethics at
Catholic Theological Union
,
please
define ethics.
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Sister Dawn:
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Ethics -
comes from the Greek – ēthos = “moral character, and it
refers to the philosophical or theological study of values,
principles, and norms of morally human conduct. Thus today –
Catholic scholars use the term “theological ethics” to
distinguish the primary focus of their work is theological – the
use of divine revelation as a governing norm.
This study is of course intimately related to
moral theology – which is more specific. It comes
from the Latin – mores = “customs or morals,” and it
refers to the rightness or wrongness of specific actions,
attitudes, policies, structures, and relationships. In the case
of Catholic Moral Theology – we would look to defining
what that is using the four sources of scripture, (T)tradition,
reason, and experience. |
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Gordon: |
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You
presented, recorded, and published a video course, God’s
Creation: A Course on Theology and the Environment recently
released in DVD, CD, and MP3 formats from
NOW YOU KNOW MEDIA
What initially interested you in the environment?
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Sister Dawn:
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As I explain in my book:
Ecological Footprints: An Essential Franciscan Guide for Faith
and Sustainable Living.I
grew up in the “heartland” of southwestern Minnesota, one
of the richest agricultural areas of the United States. Though
my family did not live on a farm (all of my friends did), we
lived in a storybook small town, in a comfortably large
three-bedroom house, on a huge corner lot with all sorts of
hedges, trees, and flowers strategically arranged around a vast
grassy lawn. Each summer my parents planted a sprawling
vegetable garden that my sister (five years my elder) and I
were “forced” to help weed, tend, and ultimately harvest its
produce. Though I would never admit it at that time, I actually
loved working in the garden. I was quite awestruck by the
fact that you could put this hard, flat, little yellow thing in
the ground, and weeks later you could find a sweet corn plant in
its place! Deep down I knew my mother was right when she
proclaimed, “Only God can make the garden grow!” (I didn’t
admit that to her until years later either!)
Some thirty years later I had the privilege of
going on a pilgrimage to Assisi and the “Franciscan Holy Land”
of Umbria, the region of Assisi, Italy, where St. Francis and
St. Clare lived. As we journeyed from place to place, no one
could miss the striking lush verdancy of the fertile fields of
sunflowers and the vineyards that covered the rolling hills. As
one spirited friar remarked, “Francis sure knew how to find the
best real estate!” It was no wonder that St. Francis and St.
Clare too saw—as I had seen—the vestiges of an incarnate God
cradling them in love and mercy in that lush nest of creation.
Today I live in a large midwestern city
(Chicago). Though I must admit that there are many conveniences
to city life, I have a real love-hate relationship with those
environs. Everything is huge, impersonal, paved over, fast
paced, human built, constantly in motion, competitive—often
violent. For me the “saving grace” is the clearly demarcated
park system that abuts Lake Michigan. There, there is some
semblance of intimacy with the web of life; people actually
smile and greet one another, there are trees, grass, flowers,
and open sky, the lake stretches out to the horizon, and the
rhythm of the waves lapping against the sands of extensive
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Gordon: |
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When did you make
contact with
Br. Guy Consolmagno and how did you plan to develop God’s
Creation: A Course in Theology and the Environment?
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Sister Dawn:
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I have never
met Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ, Ph. D. in person. Because of his
expertise as
a
planetary scientist and director of the Vatican Observatory, in
my role as Editor of
New Theology Review I invited him to write for the
journal. Most recently he authored the column, “Theology at the
Cutting Edge: God and Science in the 21st Century” Vol 29 No 1
(September2016). He was always on time – meeting the deadline
for the column, and his writing on the most complex topics is
remarkably clear and accessible. |
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Gordon:
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In 2015, you
began serving a consultant on the implementation of Pope
Francis’ environmental encyclical
LAUDATO SI’ for the Encyclical Working
Group (EWG) – Archdiocese of Chicago – Office of Human
Dignity and Solidarity. Please provide our readers with an
overview of LAUDATO SI and our ethical responsibilities
to protect the environment. |
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Sister Dawn:
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The EWG is
constituted by men and women with various expertise related to
various dimensions of “care for our common home". It began as an
initiative of a lay Catholic environmental lawyer, and several
academics from the Catholic colleges and Universities in the
Chicago area. It has a membership of about 15 people and its
work is coordinated and guided by Office of Human Dignity and
Solidarity with the blessing of Cardinal Cupich.
Summary of the Encyclical
Pope Francis’ encyclical is a religious and ethical teaching
document. In the Roman Catholic tradition, a papal encyclical
letter – a circulating later[i]
– originates with the Bishop of Rome, the Supreme
Pontiff, the Church’s universal teacher of faith and morals.
It thus, bears the highest authority and it obliges Catholic to
follow its teaching – at the level of conscience. The content of
Laudato Si’ is now a formal part of official Catholic
social teaching. As such, this document is a work in moral
theology, social ethics and environmental ethics.
Its chief concern is the common good of humanity in relation to
all dimensions of social and planetary life. It asks
and teaches about – how someone of conscience should
behave – both, toward others – and, toward the environment. Its
point of departure is from, a historical-critical reading of the
biblical texts concerning on God’s creation, and the best
knowledge and wisdom from the world’s top scholars –
particularly, those faculties of the Pontifical Academies of
Science[ii]
and Social Sciences. It then analyzes issues of human and
planetary liberation from the vicissitudes of sinfulness.in
light of that understanding.
Pope Francis
does – indeed – address climate change and ecological
destruction – but only as secondary
extrapolations. They are likely the most extreme
manifestations of the profound moral and spiritual malaise that
the encyclical intends to address.
Pope Francis
addresses “every person on the planet” as individuals - calling
each to “ecological conversion” – i.e. to simpler and more
sustainable lifestyle choices – or, what he terms – integral
ecology.
Many have
compared Laudato Si to the first Catholic Social Teaching
Encyclical Rerum Novarum – “On New Things” – by Pope Leo
XIII in 1891.[iii]
That document was a ground breaking set of teachings dealing
with the moral issues brought about by the industrial
revolution. We are in a similar set of circumstances - only now
facing numerous ecological crises – and untold inhumane
conditions of poverty amid opulence – as well as major
technological changes toward a “green economy.”
In the post –
World War era, the Church paid attention to the stark imbalances
not only within individual nations, but - increasingly – between
richer and poorer countries. It stressed that the counterpart to
overconsumption, is seen in exclusion and underdevelopment. It
called for greater global solidarity, and for citizens of
richer countries to end lifestyles characterized by waste
and surfeit.
Today a mere 1
percent of the world’s population, controls half of the world’s
wealth. Over 2 billion people are mired in extreme poverty, and
almost a billion people suffer from hunger. Elsewhere – and not
always far away – we see astounding opulence and
wastefulness. Catholic social teaching signals a clear moral
imperative to correct these imbalances.
What makes
Laudato Si’ the most significant addition to the corpus of
Catholic Social Teaching is, its insistence that human
responsibilities extend across time and space,
including the entirety of creation! Laudato Si’
teaches that solidarity needs to exist between generations, and
with the whole Earth and all its creatures.
Structure and Content
The document has 6 chapters.
1. In
Ch. 1
Pope Francis presents the current critical state of the Earth.
He uses very accessible language, and facts from the world’s
most renown scientists from major universities, scientific
societies – both religious and secular.
2.
Ch. 2
provides an inspirational review of the biblical evidence from
both testaments, which grounds Christian doctrine – especially
the understanding that our radically relational, loving God,
created a world interrelated to its very core.
3. In
Ch. 3,
the
Holy Father presents an analysis of the root, of the problems of
technocracy, and of excessive human self-centeredness.
4. In
Ch. 4, the concept
of “integral ecology” is introduced. This term names the clear
interconnectedness of everything and everyone on the planet,
especially the human and social dimensions” of planetary
existence. (137). Pope Francis also shows how
human behavior is inextricably linked to the
environmental question.
5. Then, in
Ch. 5,
from the perspective of integral ecology, Pope Francis
calls for an honest dialogue at every level of social, economic
and political life, in order to build transparent
decision-making processes for new ways of caring for our common
home and all creatures.
6. Finally,
in
Ch. 6, recalling
that no project can be effective if it is not animated by a
well-formed and responsible conscience, ideas are put forth to
aid growth in this direction at the educational, spiritual,
ecclesial, political and theological areas.
The Encyclical
ends with two prayers; one for believes in “God who is the
all-powerful Creator”
(246);
the other for those who
are Christians.
.
Nine
themes
run through the text, and are addressed from a variety of
different perspectives, thus traversing and unifying the text:
1.
the intimate relationship between
the poor and the fragility of the planet,
2.
the conviction that everything in
the world is connected,
3.
the critique of new paradigms and
forms of power derived from technology,
4.
the call to seek other ways of
understanding the economy and progress,
5.
the value proper to each creature,
6.
the human meaning of ecology,
7.
the need for forthright and honest
debate,
8.
the serious responsibility of
international and local policy,
9.
the throwaway culture and the
proposal of a new lifestyle (16). |
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Gordon: |
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In action
to serving as a consultant to the EWC, how are you involved in
Cardinal Cupich’s effort to implement Laudato Si’- On Care for
Our Common Home in the Archdiocese of Chicago? |
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Sister Dawn: |
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I’ve
also given over 40 presentations to various parishes, school
groups, teachers, parish missions, meetings of women and men
religious, etc on various aspects of the encyclical. I’ve
written articles, book chapters and blogs for the website of the
Office of Justice & Peace. In the Fall I’ll be working with the
Office of Catholic Schools to provide training for Catholic
School teachers of the Archdiocese on the encyclical and the
associated issues. |
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Gordon:
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Please provide our readers with some insights
into the Franciscans influence on the content of the encyclical
and the mandate to care for and advocate for the care for all of
God’s creation. |
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Sister Dawn:
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The Encyclical and the Franciscan Tradition
As you no doubt
know – the encyclical is suffused with the theology,
spirituality, and moral vision of St. Francis of Assisi. There
are at least 35 explicit citations of Franciscan sources that
frame the central theses of the encyclical: seventeen of St.
Francis of Assisi (1181/1182-1226);
four of St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (1217-1274); eight of
Romano Guardini,(1885-1968) and six allusions to Brazilian
Franciscan theologian Leonardo Boff(1938-).
At the root of
Pope Francis’ revolutionary vision for a transformed social,
political, economic life, lies the notion of integral ecology
(LS, Ch.4). An intriguing confluence of Franciscan theology and
cultural analysis shapes and clarifies that teaching. St.
Bonaventure was St. Francis’ disciple; St. Bonaventure was the
subject of Romano Guardini’s doctoral dissertation in Theology
under Engelbert Krebs (1915 Freiburg) and also of his
Habilitationschrift (Bonn in 1922). As a student in
the1980s, in Munich, Jorge Mario Bergoglio considered writing
his dissertation on Romano Guardini; and prior to LS,
Pope Francis, invoked the legacy of Guardini in public
addresses.
In 1979, Pope
John Paul II named St. Francis the Patron of Ecologists. This
was – not because his statue looks nice in flower gardens or
birdbaths! But rather – it was because his fully integrated
theology, spirituality, and moral vision affirms and frames a
close kinship between humanity and the natural world. Because
all things have their common origin in God, they each hold
intrinsic value, and each has its own purpose - apart from their
usefulness to us. St. Francis came to this understanding over a
lifetime of prayer and moments of conversion.
For me – as a
Christian and a Franciscan Sister – the image of St. Francis of
Assisi speaks volumes about the purpose of the encyclical. This
statue of St. Francis surrounded by the symbols of the world’s
major religions, stands at the entrance of the 12th
Century Carceri Retreat Center, near Assisi, in the province of
Umbria in central Italy. It was to this place that St. Francis
most frequently retired for solitude and intense prayer. This
is where he learned the link between Lepers and land, The Word
Made Flesh and Women bearing the burdens of poverty; and bees
with the Beatitudes. Grounded in an intimate relationship with
God, St. Francis learned to practice the virtues of humility,
poverty, obedience, and love.
Humility
Humility is the virtue most central to the
God-human relationship. The Latin word for “humility” is
derived from the Latin word for “earth” = humus. As
beloved earth creatures, we are not to grovel before God,
but rather, to revel in God’s love. Christians
believe that such love inspired God, in the Incarnation, to
humbly join in our concrete, embodied, material reality.[iv]
Imitating Christ’s humility today, calls us to claim our
identity as creatures of the earth, with distinct capabilities.
We must use our scientific and technological prowess to care for
one another and the planet.[v]
Poverty
Jesus was born in a manger, and thrived in
relationships with the marginalized. By contrast, many of us,
are comparatively wealthy. Yet, we have known the profound
emptiness of never having enough “stuff,” and
always ultimately craving something more
(spiritual poverty). Today, we must choose to live with what
is sufficient for a life of dignity, not opulence! When
we live with gratitude for God’s gifts, with open hands
and heart, we also experience greater freedom to spend
time outdoors in God’s creation, or to enjoy quality time with
family and friends (Matt 10:8).
Obedience
“Obedience” comes from the Latin – oboedire
= “to pay attention” or “to hear.” Jesus Christ modeled this
virtue by attending to his Father’s will,[vi]
and to the needs of others – whether human or otherkind.[vii]
Today, we must become ecologically literate, heed groaning of
the suffering Earth, engage in prayerful discernment, and follow
the Holy Spirit’s promptings, to care for our Earth-home.
Love
God’s love overflows to humankind, and all
creation.
[viii]
Having first received God’s love, humans then share it among
themselves, and with all of creation (Jn 13:34-35). For
Christians, this is most perfectly demonstrated in the
Incarnation. However, humans love imperfectly; so justice
and the discipline of law are necessary. Justice is able to
restore what was deformed by sin. For Christians, Christ is the
ultimate norm and arbiter of justice (love).[ix]
Today we must create and enforce policies and laws that keep
air, water, and soils pure, that sharply restrict the plundering
of the planet, and support the restoration of environmental
damage.
[x]
Indeed – St. Francis exemplifies a positive
and radically relational view of God, creation,
redemption, and ethical praxis.[xi]
Each creature responds to God’s love in its unique way. Humans,
can read the signs of the divine in creation, and then act
morally.[xii]
People can become co-creators and co-redeemers of the cosmos.
This relationship requires humility, poverty of spirit,
austerity of life, and genuine charity (Jn 13:34-35).[xiii]
Clearly – it was only after his conversion that
St. Francis was able to know truly the ultimate relatedness of
everything and everyone – in God, and in the many ways the
Divine is known throughout the world. It was at the end of his
earthly journey that St. Francis composed his “Canticle of the
Creatures” (1225), which is punctuated by the Umbrian Italian
phrase: “Laudato Si”. |
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Gordon: |
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Please
provide our readers with an overview of the Catholic Climate
Movement and its activities. |
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Sister Dawn:
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Catholic
Climate Covenant is
a nonprofit based in Washington, DC that inspires and equips
people and institutions to care for creation and care for the
poor. It functions in the US as a semi-official arm of the major
agencies of the Catholic Church. It is linked into the global
Catholic Climate Movement – a coalition of various similar
groups from across the globe.
Through 16
national partners, it guides the U.S. Church's response to
climate change by educating, giving public witness, and offering
resources. Catholic Climate Covenant inspires and equips people
and institutions to care for creation and care for the poor.
In 2006, to
address growing ecological awareness and the need to implement
Catholic social teaching on ecology within the US Church, the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) helped form
Catholic Climate Covenant. Inspired by the
USCCB's 2001 statement on climate change,
and supported by
16 national partners
(which include the USCCB, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic
Charities USA, the Catholic Health Association, congregations of
religious men and women, and other national organizations),
Catholic Climate Covenant helps US Catholics respond to the
Church's call to care for creation and care for the poor.
Catholic
Climate Covenant
is grounded in the
Church's deep history of teaching on creation, ecology, and the
poor. Caring for creation and caring for the poor have been a
part of the Catholic story since the beginning, but in recent
years St. John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and
especially Pope Francis have added a sense of urgency to their
call for Catholics to act on climate change. The US Bishops
themselves having been
calling for action since 1981.
Catholics
do
care about
climate change and they're working hard to create solutions.
Catholic Climate Covenant is at the center of these efforts.
With the approval and support of the United States bishops, we
help guide the US Church's response to the moral call for action
on climate change by sharing authentic Catholic teaching on
creation and the poor and by informing and inspiring community
leaders to take action (education); by sharing stories of those
most affected by climate impacts in the public square (public
witness); and by providing concrete tools, techniques, and
technical assistance to help Catholic peoples and institutions
reduce their carbon footprint and to work for justice
(resources).
Catholic
Climate Covenant can help Catholics answer the call to care for
creation and the poor through the sharing of Church teaching,
our resources, and our programs. Loving God's creation and God's
most vulnerable is at the heart of who we are as Catholics. |
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