Conference paper
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES IN WRITINGS BY JOHN PAUL II.
Marijan Biškuš
; Faculty of Catholic Theology, Zagreb
Abstract
Pope John Paul II. often points out at man's attitude towards nature as an important factor and unavoidable issue in the life of the modern society; he states that the environmental issue is today a world–wide problem stressing the moral obligation of a responsible participation in the world. The mere act of stating the existance of an environmental crisis as such would not be of much use if no actions are taken to solve it. It must not be forgotten that worldly goods as such belong to all mankind, and that it is a great injustice that only a small part of the mankind owes and uses the highest percentage of these goods. If environmental problems are to be solved, it is not only international organizations, but also states which should engage in solving them. If the environmental crisis is to be solved, with no conditions and urgently a new solidarity is being demanded, especially in the relations between developing countries and high–industrialized states. Environmental issues are everybody's concern, and in this sense should be understood Pope's message to Croatian citizens when he met representatives of cultural workers in Zagreb during his second stay in Croatia in 1998: “You have become as a present of God a marvellous country whose anthem starts with the words 'Our beautiful fatherland'. How can we not to see in these words the reevocation of a duty to respect nature and a sense of responsibility for a living space man was given by the Providence? The world is a theatre in which everybody is asked to play their role to the glory of God the Creator and the Savior” (translated from Croatian from John Paul II, Bit ćete mi svjedoci, Zagreb, KS, Dokumenti 15, 1998:25).
Keywords
environmental consciousness; environmental behaviour; environmental theology; “human ecology”; new solidarity; sacral ecology
Hrčak ID:
141716
URI
Publication date:
15.1.2000.
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