Christians not satisfied by either-or

By Archbishop Raymond Roussin

With global warming the No. 1 issue for many Canadians, and the environment a hot topic for discussion, The B.C. Catholic met with Archbishop Raymond Roussin, SM, to ask for his reflections from an ecological perspective. He addressed a number of issues concerning the Christian call to stewardship, and how we are called to care for God's creatures while preserving the earth for future generations.

The archbishop prefaced his remarks by suggesting Catholics have a wonderful example in St. Francis of Assisi, a saint for all people who modelled respect and a peaceful coexistence with all God's creatures.

The B.C. Catholic: People lead busy lives earning a living and caring for their families. Why should we think about the big world issues over which we, as individuals, really have no control?

Archbishop Roussin: We should all care and get involved because we are all living in God's world. From stories of climate change resulting in blights hitting our forests to hurricanes and flooding causing the displacement of many people, we see all kinds of signs that we have not been making good use of our physical world.

Our winter windstorms here in Vancouver which led to the lack of clean drinking water brought the environment to our notice in a new and important way. We should be engaged in the discussion of how climate change may affect us.

Not to care what happens would be selfish and in direct contradiction with the example of St. Francis, who taught the Church to respect all living creatures. Until recently, I didn't realize that, in 1979, St. Francis was declared by Pope John Paul II to be the "heavenly patron of ecology," so to care for all God's creatures and the earth we inhabit has been a part of our Catholic heritage and teaching for many, many years.

BCC: What can we do, from a human point of view?

AR: The environmental changes causing huge problems for people around the world must touch each of us somehow, never mind the spirituality of it. The question is, can we make better choices to preserve the earth's resources?

In a similar way, what about our fellow human beings? We see pictures of refugees and how do we react? We see the homeless on our own streets and how do we react?

Some people say there is just not enough to go around for everybody, and do we agree? No, I don't think so, because Christ showed us an unselfish way of living which is the right choice, even when we believe we are inconvenienced.

BCC: What are the attitudes to work on?

AR: I see a direct challenge to Catholics in the selfishness reflected all around us. Are the choices we make every day based solely on what is good for us or are they good for all? St. Francis stood among the birds and the animals, and in him we saw how each creature was important. Every human being belongs to God, and whatever we can do to keep that in mind will keep us on track.

BCC: In the recent story about the damage to Stanley Park after the November winds, some people have said that we are spending money on trees while ignoring the huge problem of homelessness. Which should we care about most, human beings or trees?

AR: I love my violets and I love caring for them, but as I thought about the damage done to the park and the relatively huge amount of money raised to replant, I was tempted to think that the critics are right, the money should be spent on people rather than trees.

Then it also occurred to me: why does it have to be either-or? Aren't we called upon to be stewards of the earth, which means trees and all of our natural resources, and also to feed the hungry and clothe the poor? Christians can't be satisfied by making an either-or choice. We must somehow find the resources to do both.

In the same way, as I reflect on how certain animal species are becoming extinct, I know that we must be concerned because losing God's irreplaceable animals simply opens the door to the loss of other things, including human life.

BCC: Is the establishment of an Archdiocesan Stewardship Office, which was one of the recommendations to come out of the Archdiocesan Synod, going to address these issues?

AR: Yes, because these things are right before our eyes every day now. Movies are being made about how our world can become a very frightening place if we don't take care. Selfishness leads us to want to enjoy good things for our pleasure even if it harms others or our earth.

A recent story described how even people who have been married for many decades are divorcing because they think, "I don't like it, I'm getting out of here." They are not particularly unhappy with their spouse, they just want to experience their "freedom."

This reflects our thinking that whatever is good for us has to be our only concern. When we see a fire, we don't just stand there and watch it, we are obligated to put it out. When we see our trees dying, we are obligated to try to save them. Everything in our world is connected; it all goes hand in hand.

The second part of this interview will be appear next week.