DOCUMENT RESUME

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AUTHOR Gallin, Alice, Ed.; Gallagher, Paul J., Ed. TITLE Social Teaching, Social Action. INSTITUTION Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 90 NOTE E6p. AVAILABLE FROM ACCU, Suite 690, One Dupont Circle, Washington, DC 20036 (1-9 copies, $5 each; 10 or more copies, $4.50 each, prepaid). PUB TYPE Collected Works - Serials (022) JOURNAL CIT Current Issues in Catholic Higher Education; v11 nl Sum 1990

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Catholics; *Higher Education; Religious Cultural Groups; *Religious Education; *Theological Education

ABSTRACT In 2976 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops celebrated the bicentennial of the Independence of the United States by sponsoring a national conference on issues uf justice. As a result of that conference, a task force was formed and a proposal was made to the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities for a pilot project that would raise consciousness in institutions and help find ways to educate students in the crucial questions of peace and justice. This volume presents a 3-year report and evaluation of the pilot programs. Following a brief introduction by Alice Gallin, 10 papers examine the issues. The papers are: "The Tradition of Peace and Justice and the Bishops' Pastorals on Peace and the Economy" (Thomas A. Shannon); "The Role of the Laity in the World" (Georgia Masters Keightley); "Beyond the Ivory Tower: Some Guidelines for Social Justice Education" (Edward A. Malloy); "Homily, Stonehill College, Chapel of Mary, 1989" (John J. Egan); "Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation" (John Paul II); "What is appening to Our Beautiful Land" (a pastoral letter, Phillipines); "Olr Relationship wiht Nature" (a pastoral letter, Dominican Repu.ulic); "The American College in the Ecological Age" (Thomas Berry); "A Terrestrial Dogmatism?" (Everett Gendler); and "Getting from Here to There" (Betty Reardon). (DB)

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BEST CI7V/1.1111SZLE Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities

BOA RD OF DIRECTORS

Chair: Joseph A. O'Hare, SJ Fordham University, NY Vice Chair: Author E. Hughes University of San Diego, CA Immediate Past Chair: Kathleen Feeley, SSND College of Notre Dame of Maryland

Ten As to 1991 Dorothy M. 13rown Rosemont College, PA Theodore Drahmann, ESC Christian Brothers University, TN Margaret Huber, CDP LaRoche College, PA William B. Neenan, SJ Boston College, MA Norman C. Francis Xavier University of Louisiana Terms to 1992 Lawrence Biondi, SJ Saint Louis University, MO Bartley MacPhaidin, CSC Stonehill College, MA Jeanne O'Laughlin, OP Barry University, FL Timothy O'Meara University of Notre Dame, IN William J. Sullivan, ,:q Seattle University, WA Terms to 1993 Thomas S. Acker, Sj Wheeling Jesuit College, WV Louis DeThomasis, FSC Saint Mary's College of Minnesota Brigid Driscoll, RETIM Marymount College, NY Isabelle Keiss, RSM Gwynedd-Mercy College, PA Paul 1. Reiss Saint Michael's College, VT ex-officio Catherine McNamee, CSJ Prident, NCEA ACCU Executive Staff Alice Gallin, OSU Executive Director Paul J. Gallagher Associate Executive Director TABLE OF CONTENTS

Intmduction Alice Gal lin, OS LI 3

The Tradition of Peace and Justice and The Bishops' Pastorals on Peace and the Economy Thomas A. Shannon 5

The Role of the Laity in the World Georgia Masters Keightley 19

Beyond the Ivory Tower: Some Guidelines tor Social Justice Education Edward A. Malloy, CSC. 26

Homily Stonehill College, Chapel of Mary, 1989 John J. Egan 31

Peace with God the Creator Peace'with All of Creation John Paul II 33

What is Happening to OUT Beautiful Land A Pastoral Letter, Philippines. 37

Our Relationship with Nature A Pastoral Letter, Dominican Republic 42

The American College in the Ecological Age Thomas Berry, CP 49

A Terrestrial Dogmatism? Everett Gendler 58

"Getting from Here to There" Betty Reardon. 61 Introduction

In 1976 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops report and evaluation on the pilot programs. In addi- celebrated the bicentennial of the independence of the tion, there were reflective pieces by Marjorie Keenan, United States by sponsoring a national consultation on RSHM, Rev. William McInnes, SJ, and Rev. Peter issues of justice. Under the leadership of Cardinal Henriot, SJ. We come now to the third issue of our jour- Dearden, a process was designed whereby parishes nal specifically devoted to justice and peace education. and dioceses and organizations met in small groups to We have learned much over this period of time. identify those b.) .stices still remaining in American Crucial to the focus on justice and peace issues in the society and to suggest possible actions to be taken to total educational mission of the university has been the overcome such injustices. The process culminated in a participation of so many faculty in our programs. We conference held in Detroit in October, 1976, known as have sponsored seven summer seminars in which we "A Call to Action." The exhilaration experienced by have continued to press for the union of social teaching the 900 or so delegates to this conference as they voted and social action. That became the actual title for the (one person-one vote, regardless of rank or office) on most recent workshop, that at Stonehill College in the recommendations for the reform of both church and summer of 1989. We have continued to stress the three- society was defused in the aftermath of the conference. point program that is the essence of ACCU's effort: The will to make the needed changes was weak, and curriculum modification to include peace and justice the unrealistic nature of some of the recommendations issues, experiential learning in community service, and combined to halt the process. theological reflection. As we move into the decade of Nevertheless, horizons had shifted. The subsequent the'nineties, the justice issues associated with environ- pastoral letters on war and peace, The Challenge of ment have drawn us from a global vision to a planet Peace: God's Promise and Our Response, and on the econ- earth perspective. Pope John Paul II took note of this in omy, Economic Justice for All: CatholicSocial Teaching and his New Year's address for 1990. the United States Economy, prove that the insights of the All that has been accomplished by ACCU in promot- conference were valid in many instances and that the ing of justice and peace education has been greatly call to action did not go unheard. facilitated by an Advisory Council. The current list of One of the most immediate consequences of the 1976 members follows this introduction. Created to bring conference was the mo 'ment within the Association together representatives of the colleges and those who of Catholic Colleges and Universities. A task force on work in different "social action" organizations, this peace and justice education was formedand a proposal group has been the backbone of all our plans and, even made to the ACCU board for a pilot program that more, of the carrying out of those plans. Thespint of would raise consciousness in our institutions and generous service that animates the men and women on would help us find ways of educating students in the the council is typified by the response of Bill Osterle, crucial questions of peace and justice The winter, 1978, long-time member of the group, when we asked if he Occasional Papers on Catholic Higher Laucation (Vol. IV, would be willing to serve as guest editor of this issue. Number 2) was devoted to a description of these pilot He responded with enthusiasm although handicapped programs as well as to contextual essaysby Rev. by Parkinson's disease. He died on July 5. Therefore William Byron, SJ, Rev. Brian Hehir, Rev. Laurence we dedicate this issue to him. Murphy, MM, and Rev. David Burrell, CSC. By the winter, 1981, Current Issues in Catholic Higher Education Alice Gallin, OSU (Vol. I, No. 2), we were able to present a three-year ExecuGve Director

3 ADVISORY COUNCIL ON JUSTICE AND PEACEEDUCATION

Peter H. Beisheim Stnnehill College

Loretta Carey, RDC Fordham University

John CarrUnited States Catholic Conference

Anthony J. CerneraSacred Heart University

Margaret Comfrey, CSJ National Offioe of Jesuit Social Ministries

Joseph J. Fahey Manhattan College

Mildred Haipt, OSU College of New Rochelle

Mary Hayes, SND Trinity College

James E. Hug, SJ Center of Concern

Philip S. Land, SJ Center of Concern

Donald McNeill, CSC University of Notre Dame

Nicole E. Mendoza Catholic Relief Service

Joseph Nang le, OFM Conference of Major Superiors of Men

David J. O'Brien College of the Holy Cross

William H. Osterle University of Scranton

James R. Price, III The Catholic University of America

Daniel Regan Villanova University

John Spagnolo Iona College

David Suly Bread for the World

Nancy Sylvester, IHM Network

Kathleen Maas Weigert University of Notre Dame

4 The Tradition of Peace and Justice And The U.S. Bishops' Pastorals On Peace and the Economy

Thomas A. Shannon

My agenda in this paper is somewhat complicated chised situation of early Christianity led to its devel- because while there are some overlaps in the tradition opment of an ethic of withdrawal from the world, an of peace and justice, the teaching," are alsodistinct. ethic of direct charity of philanthropy. This world- Thus, my plan is to present first, a brief summaryof rejecting attitude was augmented by the expectation the background out of which both traditionsdevel- of the imminent return of Jesus and the establishment oped; second, a review of the teachings on peace, with of the Kingdom. This orientation set a tone of disen- spedil emphasis on the pastoral letter; third, a review gagement from the world and an acceptance of an of the justice tradition, with emphasis on the pastoral; heroic ethic which looked to individual perfection and, finally, some conclusions regarding the optionfor within a community whose eyes were turned upward. the poor and non-violent democratic patienm. When the early Christians realized that Jesus was I think it is also important to note that this paperis not ret zning on their timeti ble, when the persecu- as much about the methodologyused to resolve ethi- tions siopped, when their numbers increased both by cal dilemmas as it is about the specifictraditions conversion and through marriage, they realized that a themselves. Thus, one of the background questions new modus vivendi was called for.While an exclusively one might think of is howthe methodology of these biblical ethic served well a small group who did not traditions relates to the seamless garment orientation expect to be in the world very long, the need now was and to sexual ethics. to establish an ethic for a church, not a sect, for a com- munity which was faithful to Jesus Christ but which THE CONTEXT:ROMAN CATHOLICSOCIAL also had civic and familial responsibilities. Thus began ETHICS the great task of the creation of a social ethic to deter- mine proper Christian living in a new age: the in- offi- Since Roman Catholic Christianity became the between time. cial religion of the Holy Ror in Empire, it hasadopted The philosophical tradition of the natural law adapt- a distinct style of relating tothe larger secular society. ed from Stoic and Roman traditions was the vehicle This style set the tone for the context inwhich the used to bridge the gap between the Christian church social teachings of Catholic Christianity havebeen and the society in which it existed. An assumption articulated. And it is in this shift and itsimplications that there was enough congruence between a biblical that the teachings on peace and justice are locatedand ethic and the natural law principles allowed take their shape. Christians to develop principles of moral accountabili- Clearly, the biblical ethical tradition put a distinctive ty for life in the world, while yet having thebiblical mark on Christian social ethics. The greatthemes of vision as an ultimate check on the imperfection of rea- the Covenant, the prophetic tradition of justiceand the son and self-interest stemming fromor16inal and per- Beatitudes of Jesus, combined with theeschatological sonal sin. hope grounded in the Resurrection, ledChristian The ensuing history of the task of baltincing fidelity social ethics to see the world through a particularlens. to God in Jesus and the responsibilities ofcivic life has This biblical orientation, combined with thedisenfran- been an interesting one, to say the least. Manyidentify this time as the fall of the church. Others see it asthe Empire. ethics in the salvationin a secular senseof the Roman Dr. Shannon is a professor of religion and social for a Department of Humanities at Worcester PolytechnicInstitute in In any event, thc., development of a social ethic Worcester, MA. The original version of this paper wasthe text of church as opposed to an heroic ethic for the individual his keynote address as delivered at the 1989ACCU Summer or sect dramatically changedthe social expression and Conference on Justice and Peace Education held atStonehill role of Christianity. College.

5 THE TRADITION OF PEACE ety. Therefore, tt.e empire could be defendedand One of the fint challenges to the newly developing Christians could participate in its defense. Thegoods community was the question of participation in the of justice and sccial order tookpriority over individu- al ethics and private goods. A critical life of the empire, esedally with respectto jo.ining the moment had army, and by implication, participating in state f...anc- been reached in the development ofa social ethic tioned killing. This section will look at this ttaching which articulated the responsibilities ofthe Christian who was also a citizen. from three broad perspectives: First, the devciopment of the just war theory; second, the articulation of the While many refinements of the justwar theory were theory in modern society by John Courtney Murray; carried forward by Aquinas and the otherScholastics, and third, the peace pastoral. the key ethical issues had been articulated andaccept- The dominant position in the early communitywas ed. Christians could participate in the defenseof the that of pacifism, following from the general positirn state to restore jostice, protectan innocent neighbor, or of non-involvement in society indicated above. preserve the good of social order. I would like to jump Christians appeared to stay out of thearmy, in part now several centuries of devel- because of their refusal to takean oath to Caesar and opment to John Courtney Murray because herepre- mainly because of tt%eir following the Beatitudeb, with sents the best summary of the tradition after World a consequent refusal to kill. As far as can be deter- War II and thus sets the stage for the VaticanII discus- mined, this position remained dominant until the end sion and the American development.Among of the second century. Records of Christians in the Murray's mzny other accomplishmentswas a coher- army begin appearing in the lists of the legions of ent Sringing together of the received tradition of the Marcus Aurelius, of soldier martyrs, and from just war theory from Scholasticism and itspractical Galerius' efforts to eliminate Christians from hisarmy. implementation, particularly in light of thepapacy of Also the closer one live ?. to the borders of the empire, Pius XII. The following four principlesrepresent the more likely Christians were to be found in the Murray's interpretation of the received tradition. 1. All wars of aggression army, particularly since it had the primary function of are prohibited. The two police force. reasons for this are that the violence or war isa dis- proportionate means of achieving justice, and A series of critical moments were soon tocome. The interna- first of these was the formation of the Holy Roman tional structures to resolve disputes will bemore diffi- Empire under Constantine. In three centuries, cult to achieve if nations continue to take suchmatters Christianity passed from being a marginal Jewish into their own hands. 2. A defensive war to redress injustice reform sect to being the official religion of thenew is morally empire. An alliance with the state had been formed possible provided four criteriaare met: the nation which was to give the remainder of the history of must be attacked; the war is the last resort; there isa Christian social ethics a distinct shape. proportion between the harm nuffered and thevio- Second, Ambrose, previously the pretorian prefect lence released by war; and there isa limitation on of northern Italy but now the bishop of Milan, denel- force with respect to noncombatants andno use of weapons which would destroy all life within their oped an ethic of warmaking as a way for the empireto respond to the beginning barbarian invasions. radius. Drawing from the justification of war in the Jewish 3. Preparations for defenseare legitimate because scriptures appended to the Gospel and from Cicero's there is no international authority which controlsarms natural law ethics, Ambrose formulated the outlines and because the right to self-defense cannot be denied any nation. of a just war ethics. 4. Once a state legitimately declares Third, Augustine developed a full theory of justifi- war, conscien- tious objection is not an option. able war. Educated in the best schools of his time and under the tutelage of Ambrose, Augustine represent- These criteria formed the basic context in which the morality of the use of violence was justified. And they ed the flowering of a mature Christianity, buta Christianity at a time of peril, for only the power of were the major operative norms by which conscience the Roman army stood between the empire and its was to be formed. They represented the best of the tra- imminent destruction by the Vandals. dition as it made its first encounters with the nuclear nightmare of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Augustine was persuaded that order and the empire In the light of this nuclear reality, were preferable to chaos and destruction by the bar- pressure to reeval- barians. He also saw that in many ways the fate of uate the tradition began to build. The mainpressure Christianity was linked with the survival of the came from the call of Vatican II to examine war with empire. Were the empire to continue to exist and to an entirely new attitude. In the wake of the spirited remain Christian, the church might continue to give argument begun there, together with the beginnings guidance and achieve some sense of justice in the sod- of the legitimation of pacifism as a valid Christian option, I would offer five other specific forms of such

6 pressure. The first is empirical, relating to the devel- weapons. To help do this the bishopsprovide a set of opment of more and even deadlier nuclear weapons, very focused and detailed questions. more accurate delivery systems, the costof the devel- 2. The discussion of deterrence is the most complex opment and maintaince of such weapons, andincreas- section of the pastoral. But it offers some of the most ing awareness of the consequences of the use of such concise and clear statements of the major issues of weapons. The second is a growing peaceconstituency deterrence one can find. Thus even if one disagrees within the church. Beginning in the early 1993's, paci- with the conclusions the bishops draw, the section is fism began to exert a strong hold on the moral imagi- still extremely useful for setting up the moral ques- nation of many individuals: Dorothy Day and the tions. Catholic Worker Movement, Gordon Zahn and his The morality of deterrence is approached in two criticisms of the capitulation of the church to Nazism related ways. The first acknowledges that while there and the inadequacies of the just war theory in the is indeed a need for deterrence, not all forms DE deter- nuclear age, the brothers Berrigan, and even some mince are morally acceptable. Thesecond moral issue bishops. Third is the methodological shift from a nar- comes from the general moraltradition and provides row interpretation of natural lawabstractly consid- the basis for determining acceptability. It is wrong to ered to Vatican H's orientation to a readingof the intend to do what is wrong to do. Thus, simply stated, signs of the times, focusing on an empirical analysis of if it is immoral directly to target civilian population or the situation, the discernment of the community's indirectly cause massive and unacceptable civilian reading of the situation, and the affirmation of solidar- causalities while aiming at an acceptable military tar- ity with the human community and the world. Fourth, get, then it is equally wrong to intend to do this as within the strategic community, there was a question- part of a deterrence strategy. Thus the moralconclu- ing of the wisdom of a first strike posture by the sion hinges on an analysis of not only the act but also United States. This questioning was all the more sig- the intention, and this is why the moral evaluation nificant because it was done by the ones who previ- presents so many problems. To be credible, for exam- ously had put it in place. Finally, many bishops were ple, the enemy must be convinced that you will use beginning, in pastoral letters to their dioceses, to ques- your deterrent. But in so communicatingthis, you tion the appropriateness of the use ofnuc'ear may be intending the death of largenumbers of civil- weapons and the overallnuclear strategy of the ians in addition to significant ecological disasters, A United States. Thus, ordinaries such as Hunthausen, strict analysis would argue that even if one never Mahoney, Pi Ila, Quinn, and Mathiesen wrote influen- actually does this, the deterrence is still immoral tial letters, while others, such as Gumbleton and because of the intention. Sullivan, frequently spoke out in favor of pacifism and Yet, and this the other horn of the deterrence dilem- were strong critics of the status quo. ma, quickly to back out of allthe existing deterrent All of these pressures came together in a remarkable forces, treaties, and other relations with nations way in the lengthy process thatculminated in the around the world may be so destabilizing as to cause peace pastoral. While there are manygenuinely the outbreak of war. Additionally, one side or the unique features of this letter that deserve extended other might think that they had a momentary advan- commentarysuch as the consultative process used to tage, and a conflict could break out. develop it, the empirical nature of the document, and The bishops conclude with a strictly conditioned the explicit willingness to both tolerate and accept dis- moral acceptance of deterrence and provide a frame- sent from it, I will focus on the main contoursof the work for such a moral analysis. Three major criteria teaching of the letter. I will highlight three areas: the are: Any deterrence proposalsbeyond preventing the main teachings, deterrence, and the conclusions. use of nuclear weapons exceedthe purpose of deter- 1. There are three main teachings that set the content rence ano ,re objectionable; sufficiencyof deterrence and tone of the letter. First is the principle that"under force pr es an adequate strategy;deterrence must no circumstances maynuclear weapons or other be seen as a way station to disarmament. instruments of mass slaughter be used to destroy pop- 3. Althoagh the pastoral letter was hailed as a major ulation centers or predominantly civilian targets." step forwaxl and one of the most significant contribu- Second, the bishops say that they "do not perceive any tions to the question, the resolution of the deterrence situation in which the deliberate initiation ofnuclear issue was problematic for many. Gordon Zahn sug- war, on however limited ascale, can be morally justi- gested, for example, that based on their criteria the fied. Non-nuclear attacks must be resisted byother bishops could just as easily have given a deferred con- that nuclear means." Finally, because of theinclusive demnation. And in the light of the Reagan administra- nature of the policy debate concerning alimited tion's commitment to Star Wars, the detezrence issue exchange of nuclear weapons, the bishopsremain remained on the front burner. Eventually an episcopal skeptical about such uFe and place the burdenfor its commission wa3 set up to review the new situation in justification on those who choose to use such light of the criteria. Again, after several meetings and

7 prolonged discussions, the committee reluctantly a profit made from it. Consequently, as Noonan notes, returned the same verdict as before. Thus,we still "If money is a measure,. witha fixed value, deliberate- have the nagging problem of how to applycritically ly to valu it differently at different times isto distort the criteria in a pluralistic church and community.Yet unnaturally its formal character." Thusmoney the letter marked a significant advance and broughtto becomes the mean between the two terms ofa sale the discussion of nuclear wara new clarity and clear and cannot itself be the term ofa sale for this would criteria. give it the two different evaluations simultaneously. Therefore, usury, the act or intention of takinga profit THE MAGISTERIAL TRADITION OF JUSTICE on a loan, was both unnatural and a sin against jus- tice. Let us now turn to the other dimension of the dis- Yet after the 12th century, this prohibitionon usury cussion: justice. Let me note again the sectarian, other- was revised and modified. Noonan identifies three worldly background referred to at the beginning of key issues in this reevaluation. The first issue is the paper as the context also for the beginning of the our changed economic circumstances, most importantly social ethical tradition. In this section I a want to focus commercial revolution which required creditto sup- or three aspects of the justice question. First is a gen- port it. Second is a different analysis of the fact of eral orientation to some thematic issues. Second is eco- a nomics. This includes an introduction of the concept review of some of the magisterial teachingson justice. of risk, a different view of the concept of Third is a discussion if some of the themes in the money, and a eco- new view of different credit transactions. Third isa nomics pastoral. different attitude toward finance which includes Two themes are important in this general orienta- a tion. First is the teaching on private willingness to accept the good intentions, honesty and property. social utility of financiers and finding practicesaccept- Augustine taught that private propertywas a human able when the people most affected by them donot convention and that property was to held incommon. complain. Thus, as Noenan notes, "If practices flour- In his Decretals, Gratian repeated this teaching, basing ish and bring prosperity and are accepted by thecom- it on the teachings of the strange bedfellows of Plato mon conscience, it is generally reasoned that there and the Acts of the Apostles. must be some objective foundation for the profiis This teaching was modified cal micaHy by theasser- gained by them." tion that only in necessity was 'property to be held in This formal reevaluation, which took placeover sev- common, presented as a formulation of what Gratian eral centuries, permitted a profit really meant to say. Theologically, on money loans. In among the 1917, the Code of Canon Law createda presumption Scholastics a distinction was made between property in favor of the legal rate of interest. While there before the Fall of Adam and after, reflecting the dis- was a recognition that some interest rates might beexces- tinction Aquinas made between the Absolute Law of sive, profit on credit transactions became thenorm Nature and the Relative Law of Nature. Before the and usury the excepfion. Fall, property was held in common; after the Fall, While the story of this development is much because of sin, private property more was allowed as a way complicated that T have hinted at here, what is impor- of maintaining peace and order, and encouraging tant is the way in which the church interacted with human industry Thus, private property a was allowed, developing economic system and sought to influence but with a residue of the teaching that originallyprop- it. A critical part of this story is the gradual change of erty was held in common. the teaching from a condemnation to an acceptance of The second theme relates to the teachingon usury a a practice based on the good of society and the consci- practice which was originally prohibited. I wish entious acceptance of a practice by church members. briefly to highlight this teaching because it providesa Thus the tradition was not static, but developed in model of the interaction between the good of society relation to new insights and practices. and a developing moral tradition. Another part of this story is the development of the The teaching on usury brilliantly described by John magisterial teaching on social justice, and it is to this Noonan, was based on a concept of money derivative tradition that I now wish to turn. The focus will beon from a natural law perspective developed by Aquinas. the hierarchical responw to any number of developing This orientation argues that money is essentiallya socio-economic issues. Again, I jump several centuries measure and, therefore, changes which may affect the and pick up the Vory with the papacy of Leo XIII, purchasing power of money are only accidental which marks the beginnings of the use of the encycli- changes which do not affect its essence. Alsomoney is cal as a means of developing and promoting social assumed to have one fixed, stable value: its legal face teaching. value. Therefore, and this is at thecore of the usury This seventy-year period marked a formative and teaching, since it is formally or essentiallya stable critical phase in the development of magisterial social measum of all goods, money itself cannot be sold and teaching. While proclamations had been made previ-

8 ously by members of the hierarchy, the pontificate of Quadragesimo Anno, written in 1931. His primary moti- Leo XIII marks the development of a distinctive orien- vation for the letter, in addition to celebrating the 40th tation eithin hierarchical teaching: the use of the anniversary of Rerum Novarum, was the tremendous encyclical to enunciate principles of social justice and increase in the number of the poor in both urban and their relations to the social order. Gi ..n Leo XIII's sit- rural areas. The economic depression spreading uation it is remarkable that he even addressed the around the world was causing massive unemploy- question of social justice. The impact of the 'rench ment and social dislocation, and simulteneously revolutionary spirit was still being felt across Europe; wealth and power were being concentrated in the the temporal power of the pontificate had been lost; hands of fewer and fewer people. To re-establish jus- and there war general fear about the suspicious tice, Pius rejected a major premise of capitalism: the proposition that governments rested on the will of the regulation of the economy by the market. He did this governed and not on divine authority. because he saw that the market was not a five market, Nonetheless, Leo recognized the plight of the poor but rather was controlled by special interests and by and the workers and responded to them in Rerum the powerful. Such concentrations of wealth and Novarum. Here he argued that labor was not a com- power in the hands of a few argued ageinst the mar- modity to be bought and sold at market prices deter- ket as a just means of distributing goods and services. mined through supply and demand. To do so was to Consequently, Pius argued that workers ought to be deny the workers the dignity due them as persons and able to form unions to help them secure their rights to reduce them to the status of things. He also argued and that the state ought to ensure that competition be that the workers had the right, through the use of law- kept within just and definite limits. ful means, to escape their state of poverty. Finally, But Pius went even further. He disagreed with Leo because of their powerlessness, workers were entitled XIII and argued that justice ranks higher than order. In to state assistance. the third of a trilogy of encyclicals commenting on The justice that Leo proposes for the workers is a major social issuesMit brennender Jorge on Nazism, justice which is respectful of authority, augmented by Divine Redemptoris on communism, and Firmissimum charity, and restrained by the heavenly rewards to on Catholics in MexicoPius said: come. ...the Church ...condemns every unjust rebel- For just as religion requires the worship and fear lion or act of violence against the properly cons itut- of God so also it demands submission and obedi- ed civil power. On the other hand, ...if the case ence to lawful authority; itforbids any kind of sedi- arose where the civil power should so trample on tious activity and wills that the property and the justice and truth as to destroy even the very founda- rights of everybody be safeguarded; and those wno tions olautholity, there would appear no reason to are more wealthy shouldmagnanimously help the cmidemn citizens for uniting to defend the nation poor masses. Religion cares for the poorwith every and themselves by lawful and appropriate means form of charity; it fills the strickened with the against those who make use of the power of the sweetest comfort by offering them the hope of very state to drag the nation to ruin. (Firtnifsimum,1937). great and immortal good things which are all the Since later in the encyclical Pius argues that the more plentiful in the future inproportion to the means used should not be intrinsicallyevil and that extent to which one has been weighted down more they must not bring about greater harm than the evils heavily or for a longer time. (Quod Multum, 1886). they are to remedy, it is safe to assume that he is talk- Alen, in a comment relevant to contemporary dis- hig about using the power of the vote to effect this cussions, Leo states the limits to which people can go reform. The replacement of order as the highest social in seeking justice. value gives a new vision of social reform and the means by which it is to be established: justice. Should it, however, happen at any time that in the Pope Pius XII, who brings this era to a close, is inter- public exercise of authority rulers act rashly and esting in that while he spoke and wrote on almost arbitrarily, the teaching of the Catholic Church does every topic, he never wrote a major work onsocial without fur- not allow subjects to rise against them issues. Mystici Cotporis, of course, has social overtones ther warranty, lest peace and order become more and the liturgical movement to which it gave rise of and more disturbed, and society run the risk facilitated a new awareness of the organic unity of the greater detriment. And when things have come to human community. such a pass as to hold out no iurther hope,she Two observation of his are important for this i urgent prayer to teaches that a remedy be sough overview of justice in papal documents. First, Pius XII God. (Quod Apostolici Muneris, 896). was concerned about social stability.World War II had Pius XI continued this concern tor the poorin his effected many crises, and the reorganization of seciety contribution to the discussion uf social justice, was an imrortant considerationfor all. Within this

9 1 1 context, Pius argued that the prosperity of a country Thus, justice takes on even greater significanceas we was not to be measured exclusively by materialistic or work our way into even more complex social relation- quantitative means. The standard of living and the ships. The second is his argument for state interven- modes of distribution of goods and services must be tion to ensure that property achieve its social function. factored into the well-being of the country. Thus the FIe expected, as a requirement of justice, that individ- desire for order was to be guided by the needs of jus- uals could be compelled by law to utilize theirproper- tice. Second, in line with his predecessors, Pius ty for the common good. Thus John combinedsome of affirmed the right of private property. However, he Pius XII's priorities with his own liberal assumptions. departed from them in that he gave priority to the Vatican II was the vehicle through whichmany of right of all people to use the goods of the earth. Thus Pope John's ideas were actualized, although thecoun- the right of private property was subject to and quali- cil also represented the overflowing of ideas that had fied by the demands of the common good. been damned up within the church formany years. At the end of this first major phase of the develop- The council was also the culmination of the transition ment of a magisterial teaching on justice, we see sev- between the styles of church represented by Pius XII eral themes emerge. First, justice takes priorityover and John XXIII respectively. order. Second, justice must be factored into considera- While the process of the council temperedsome- tions of the quality of life within a state. Third, the what the optimism of John, it also solidified thecon- right to private property is qualified by the demands sensus on the liberal orientation of social teaching that of the common good. Pius XI's justification of the had been simmering in the church for several decades. defense of the nation by the non-violent overthrow of Thus the theological orientation of the council provid- an unjust regime, while having its precedents in the ed the basis for the developments thatwere to follow natural law tradition, will re-emerge in later docu- in its wake. ments and occasion inuch debate. Several themes of the council are important inour The death of Pius XII and the election of John XXIII consideration of justice. First, the council linkedpeace was the end of an era in many ways. The image of the and justice. Such linkage requires the putting right of rotund, smiling Pope John contrasted significantl) political grievances. Peace cannot be established if with the ascetic, thin Pius. John also seemed tomove injustice reigns in a country or between countries. more easily with people, to be at home with them. He Continuing a tradition of long standing, the councii did not convey the image of a recluse as Pius often recognized that the economic order must be recfified did. But it was John's calling of the Vatican Council as a precondition of peace. Peace cannot be achieved that defined his papacy and marked a newera in until there is a social order to support it. The achieve- Catholicism. ment of this order is the work of justice. While John's encyclicals Pacem in Terris and Mater et The second justice theme that the council articulated Magistra were characterized by the use of natural law dealt with our obligations to the poor. On theone as the key methodology, John brought to that method hand, the council presentedstrong moral warning to a new openness and style that liberated it from the the wealthy nations. It suggested that if the wealthy static assumptions it had accumulated over the years. nations did not share their goods with thepoor of the Also, in contradistinction to Pius XII, John shared the world, then the poor would rise up and take them. liberal assumption that new wealth could be created The council recognized that the poor would be justi- and that the first task of justice was to enlarge the pie fied in so doing because of their absolute need. This of national income. Thus, for John, the task of justice orientation is not new in Roman Catholic social ethics, was the generation of new wealth, not the equitable but it is unusual to see it so starkly stated by a council. distribution of what was available. He also assumed On the other hand, the council argued that this assis- that a wider distribution of property would narrow tance to the poor must not merely be from the super- the gap between rich and poor. In many ways, John's fluous wealth of the developed nations. Such dona- r ssumptions were the assumptions of his age: an tions, while obviously helpful, do not provide enough acceptance of the Western economic order, reforms money to solve the problems of the poor. Perhaps which would adjustbut not disruptthe status quo, more importantly, such a method of assistance main- and an increase in the role of the state. tains the status quo. That is, those who were poor Two features of his teaching are significant. The first would remen poor, and those who were wealthy is his emphasis on socialization, by which John meant would become wealthier. Assistance would be provid- an increase in the network of relations by which indi- ed, but everything would stay the same. viduals are connected to each other. John recognized By arguing that assistance to the poor must go that this interconnectedness of all peoples, brought beyond pnilanthropy, the council recognized that the about by modernization and urbanization,. would economic system itself was a problem to be dealt with. change how we think of each other and would neces- Until substantive adjustments were made, everything sitate the establishment of new modes of interaction. would stay the same. Thus ju,-:tice requires assistance

10 12 to the poor that does not merely replicate the status more equitable terms. He also arguedthat market quo. The status quo must be changed toeffect a redis- competition must be kept within the limits of justice. tribution of wealth. Only in that way will justice be Finally, he reminded us that the poor have .ights and served. that if they continue to be marginalized, they may be The third theme related to justice is the call for a justified in seizing what is theirs in justice. And while new relation between thechurch and poweror a Paul did not encourage revolution, neither did he see new way for the church to respond toits SOCii.i posi- it as a moral impossibility. tion. In a very dramatic passage, the councilcalls In Octogesima Adveniens in 1971, Paul continued to upon the church to eve up th. exerciseof legitimately develop several of his themes but also branched out acquired rights in situations where the possession or into new areas and, interestingty enough, engaged in exercise of such rights calls into question the sincerity self-criticism. Populorum Progressio was, obviously, a of its witness. file council explicitly calls on the strong endorsement of development theory. In fact, church to relinquish privilegeand the power and the slogan from the encyclical was that development status that go with itso that it can witness tothe was the new name for peace.However, after observ- truth in freedom. Only by being independent of sodal ing the theory in action for several years, it became structures can the church see them forwhat they are, apparent that the gap between the rich and poor could and only through such freedom will the churchhave not br, explained simply by the fact that the poor had the capacity to speak its vision of justice. not yet developed. In addition to the economic dimen- By emphasizing these themes, the council carried sion, there was the political dimension. And one had forward developments in justice that had been brew- to look to the political dimension and its inter-relation ing in the church for several decades. While remaining with the economic dimension to understand the caus- within the liberal tradition, the council also provided es of injustice. room for the prophetic tradition. Incalling for service The growing awareness of the historical, political, to the poor, a reorganization of theeconomic struc- and economic causes of injustice led Paul to see the ture, and a deprivilegization of the church, thecouncil need for a pluralism of approaches to resolve prob- called for a new standard of justice. lems of injustice. Two strong arguments for pluralism The work of the council and of John XXIli was car- emerged from this. First, there was the fact of diversi- ried out by his successor, Paul VI. Although often por- ty of potential solutions to injustice arising from dif- trayed as an enigmatic or Hamlet-like figure, Paul ferences in regions, cultures, and the political and eco- inherited a church enlivened by an ecumenical council nomic situation of a country. Second, because of these and by the strong winds of reform. Much of Paul's factual differences and legitimate responses to them, efforts were directed to implementing the reforms of Paul argued, in a rare display of papal modesty, that the council and also to mediating the different forces local churches needed to assume a greater responsibil- that were developing in the church. Paul had to suc- ity in evalthaing the regional situation and proposing ceed "Good Pope John," a task difficult enough in responses to it. The papal office was to provide leader- itself. But he also had to deal with the release of forces ship and inspiration, but the initiative and solutions that hr.cl been pent up in the church for decades. must come from below. 1%7 saw the publication of Populorurn Progressic, Paul VI contributed to the growing concern for jus- Paul VI's first social encyclical. His contribution to the tice in several ways, thet, His willingness to see the development of a theology of justice was located in an global causes of injustice in terms of the consequences analysis of the causes of poverty. He identified and of centuries of colonialism and neo-colonialism, his analyzed three: colonialism, neo-colonialism, andthe willingness to critique his own methodology, and his imbalance of power between nations. Colonialism emphasis on the empowerment of the disenfranchised caused injustice by making the colony dependent on helped to promote the cause of the poor and to estab- only one cash crop and this in turn subjected the lish a growing sense of the justice of their cause. colony to an economy that was dependent onprice Three other sources need to be addressed before fluctuations out of its control. Neo-colonialismcaused turning to the contemporary scene. First is the injustice by creating a privileged elite,disenfranchis- Medellin Conference of 1968. This conference, attend- ing the native population, and maintaining economic ed by Paul VI, defined the tone and context in which domination from abroad. The resulting powerimbal- the Latin American church would begin to address its ances gave rise toinjustices in trade because the problems. The conference distinguished between a colonies or underdeveloped nations could not spiritual poverty with its opening to Goda poverty approach the market as equals. of commitment which leads to solidarity with the Justice requires a rectification of this situation. Paul poor--and material poverty which results from injus- saw a need forinternational planning which would tice. The conference argued that the church should help shift the balance of power so that thedeveloping denounce such material poverty while becoming a nations would be able to gain entry to the market on church that is poor and a church of the poor. Thus the

11 church needs to live a life of spiritual povertyso it can We affirm the need for conversion on the part of achieve solidarity with the poor and be free to con- the whole Church to a preferential option for the demn the injustices in society. As the church realizes poor, an option aimed at their integral liberation. more the extent to which its members live in material poverty, it should provide the service of pressuring This option, demanded by the scandalous reality public officials in the areas in which people live. This of economic imbalances in Latin America, should service will thus aid in the liberation of the oppressed lead us to establish a dignified, fraternal way of life and will set the church on the path of justice. The con- together as human beings and to construct a just ference saw the goal of liberation as a goal for the and free society. whole person: liberation from physical oppression of Thus the intent of the option for the poor is not to material poverty as the context in which the liberafion engage in class warfare or to abandon the universal from sin can be experienced. mission of the church but to call the church to return Second, the 1971 Synod of Bishops made a strong to its origins, to its vision of liberation from sin and statement Jn justice which complemented many of tile injustice so that all can live in harmony. themes addressed by Paul VI and the Medellin Since the deaths of Paul VI and John Paul I and the Conference. This synod gave a strong mandate for the election of the first non-Italian pope in centusies, church to work for the transformation of the world, to much has !tappened in the church. Pope John Paul II denounce violations of human rights, and to stand for has clearly impressed the world with his charismatic the rights of humans in all societies. The synod sum- personality, his gesture of forgiveness and reconcilia- marized its orientation as well as the developing tion with his would-be assassin, his desim to charta emphasis on justice in the church in this way: course for a church that seemed to be adrift, his com- The Church has received from Christ the mission mitment to justice, and his desire to keep the church of preaching the Gospel message, which contains a free of political entanglements. call to man to turn away from sin to the rove of the It is difficult, frankly, to keep up with the pope. He Father, universal brotherhood and a consequent seems to be constantly in motion, speaking to any and demand for justice in the world. This is the reason all groups. He has issued encyclicals, given major why the Church has the right, indeed, the duty to addmsses, traveled almost everywhere, and called for proclaim justice on the social, national, and interna- a synod of bishops to re-evaluate Vatican II. Although tional level, and to denounce instances of injustice pope for a decade, John Paul is still in the process of when the fundamental rights of man and his very defithig the style of his papacy Obviously his contri- salvation demand it. butions are far from finished, but some themesseem Action on behalf of justice and participation in the to appear more frequently than others. transformation of the world fully appear to us as a A major link with the theology of Vatican II and the constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Latin American church is John Paul's deep commit- Gospel, or in other words, of the Church's mission ment to humanism or to a type of theological anthto- for the redemption of the human race and its libera- pology. He roots the dignity of the human in Christ tion from every oppressive situation. and sees the Christ as the locus for discovering our deepest human aspirations. As the pope says in his The third source is the 1979 Conference at Puebla. first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis: This Latin American conference is important not only for what it said but also because this is the first mOor Man in the full truth of his existence, of his per- use of the term "option for the poor" in a magisterial sonal being and also of his community and social document. By using the phrase and having it as a being--in the sphere of his own family, in the chapter title, the Latin American church signaled a sphere of society. .and in the sphere of the whole shift in its priorities, a shift in its relation to the state, of mankindthis man is the primary route that the and indeed to its position of privilege which had been Church must travel in fulfilling her mission: he is the primary and fundamental way for the Church, held for centuries. This orientation is in harmony with the way traced out by Christ himself. the mandate of Vatican II to surrender privilege so the church could be free to witness to its mission. Here the pope indicates that the deepest aspirations The intent of the adoption of the phrase "option for of being human are linked with the mission of the the poor" is to indicate the mission of the church to church. Both look to human liberation in its broadest proclaim and work for social justice. It is to put the dimensions. Both seek to help humans plumb the church in solidarity with the biblical theme of concern depths of their being. The continued affirmation of the for the poor, the marginal, the outcast. The following dignity of human beings and the full realization of quotation indicated both the personal and structural their potential in the Christ provide the basis for the reforms demanded by conversion to this rich biblical church's action to achieve social justice. theme of justice. The theme of justice is carried forward in an impor-

12 tant but unique way in Dives in Misericordia, published Latin America and the United States have made this in 1All. Pere John Paul links, in an ir-portant way, the much fairly clear, although one does need to %eep in vii tues of justice and mercy. In our qst to rectify the mind the image of the pope, on his visit to Poland, injustices of society, we have frequently forgotten other leading huge crowds in the singing of nationalistic folk virtues of the Christian life. Mercy, in the pope's judg- songs and religious hy-nns with their ownnationalistic ment, does not cancel the obligation of Justice. Rather it overtones. While not direct political action, thepope's set-) up a reciprocal relation whict deepens the mutu- mess:age eould quite clearly be inferredfrom his ality of the two parties involved. The critical insight actions. that comes from this is that justice is not achieved How this debate will resolve itself is quite unclear at when only the material condition!) of li:e have been the present moment. There are powerful forces at work rectified. Also required is mutuality between and in the church now, and many options are being exam- among humans which will perfect theirdignity Justice ined in theory and practice. Under debate am the rela- without mercy brings only material equity; justice with tion of the local hierarchy and the Vatican, competing mercy liberates humans and makesthem one. visions of the church, the role of the clergy and reli- The pope has continued to refer to the option for the gious in seeking social justice, and the church's relation poor in many of his speeches and tours.The recently to the state and the established order of sodety. completed Latin American tour will keep yet another These traditional but contemporary issues are being generation of commentators busy in trying to figure debated in light of a continuing and deepening com- out exactly what he means when he usesthe term. mitment of the church to social justice, to the rectifica- However, some dimensions seem to be reasonably tion of the great gaps in our world between the rich clear. and the poor, and to the establishment of human dig- John Paul certainly rejects any meaning of the term nity in all dimensions of life. The commitment of the that suggests class warfare or any narrowing of the chuirh to human dignity and social justice also man- universal mission of the church to offer salvation to all. dates an examination and debate over the means of He also firmly rejects any use of the term which will achieving this goal. The difficulty of that debate support the use of violence to achieve social justice. He should not, however, weaken the commitment of the does intend the term to be a call to solidarity withthe church to its vision, but it will require that we follow poor to work with them inachieving their dignity. This John Paul's advice and blend justice and mercy in our requires a sharing of one's goods with the poor, andit debates and actions. also requires that one work to transform the social structures that keep the poor fromachieving their JUSTICE AND THE U.S. ECONOMY rightful dignity. Donal Dohr, summarizing several themes inLaboram Considerations of justice and the U.S. economy are Exercens, published in 1981. describes the option for difficult because the topic under examination is so the poor in this way. complex. After all, the issue is the economic structure of a country and its relation to the international eco- What it implies is a dedicated and consistent effort nomic system. In addition, there is no one particular to disentangle oneself from the unjust structures, problem that is being examined. Rather a complex set practices and traditions that help to keep the poorin of relations, together with their causes and conse- poverty; and a serious commitment tobuilding quences, or projected consequences, isbeing exam- alternatives that will be just and truly human.The ined. As difficult and complex a topic as nuclear war reason why it should be doneis that we cannot is, it is a precisely definable problem with an historical evade responsibility for the injustices that mark our tradition of reflection and a specific agenda. Such is world. Almost everybody has some degree of om- not the case with ethical considerations of the econo- plicity in these injusticesthe well-off who protect my. Thus, application of atheory of justice will be dif- their own interest at the cost of the poorand the ficult and problematic. Let us consider how the bish- poo.. themselves who oftenremain sunk in apathy. ops evaluate this significant areaof social concern. Finally there remains the delicate and problematic Briefly, the biblical considerations focus on the issue of how the church acts out its mission toachieve themes of creation, covenant, and community. Within social justice in the world, That it has a mission todo this context, the themes of reciprocal responsibility, so is clear from its commitment to anintegral human- the communality of the good of the earth, and social ism. How it iE: tO do this is being debated at alllevels of solidarity are elaborated. From the perspectiveof the church. From his perspective, JohnPaul seems to these themes, particular orientations tojustice are have eliminated three means of achievingjustice: the derived: a rejection of idolatrythe replacementof use of violence, thepromoting of class divisions, and God with created things; a relativization of allhuman the direct involvement of clergyand/or religious in structures because of our eschatologicalhope; and the the political process. Recent speechesand events in rotection and assistance of the weakxpressed as

13 an option for the poor. The picture that emerges from Justice seeks to give people voice and choice topre- this overview of the biblical perspectiveon justice pre- vent or diminish as much as possible social, political, sented in the pastoral is that of a community charac- and economic marginaliza'ion. terized by discipleship, by an emptying of self, byan Third, justice as requiring the minimum level ofpar- awareness and concern for the dispossessed. ticipation highlights the theme of reciprocity. Justice is Impoeantly, wealth is seen in the context of idolatry achieved not only by fulfilling individuals' needs, but whereby"...it so dominates a person's life that it by enabling them to be productive and active. This becomes an idol claiming allegiance and giving secu- enables people to share in the economic life of the rity apart from God, or when it blinds a person to the community by contributing to the common goodas suffering and needy neighbor." Co'isequentlywe have well as by receiving from it what is required to main- a vision which calls us to examine the structtres of tile tain a life of human dignity. world in which we live and to measure them against Fourth, while this orientation to justice focuseson this image and to present alternatives by which our participation and production, the measure of produc- hopes can be expressed and actualized. tion is not exclusively quantitative. Because of thecen- The bishops move from this biblical perspective toa trality of human dignity and the vision of theecono- consideration of the traditional philosophical and my as a means of enhancing human dignity, patterns moral theological themes of justice, using theseas a of production must also be measured qualitatively, lens by which to focus the biblical perspective irour that is, with respect to how the economic structures contemporary socio-economic situation. relate to human needs, including standards of living, Since economic activity is to be at the service ofpeo- patterns of distribution, environmental impacts, and plefor otherwise it would be idolaLyit hasa so forth. Justice does not simply evaluate the produc- three-fold moral significance: as al. embodiment of the tion of goods and services; it also evaluates the capacity for self-expression and selt-realization; as a sources of production, the means of production, and means of self-fulfillment; and as a means of contribut- the patterns of distribution with respect to their ing to the human community. Following the lead of impact on human dignity. Vaticar II, the moral measure of the economic system Fifth, the themes of participation and production is the dignity of the human person. lead to evaluations of distribution. The criteria of dis- It [the economy] should enable persons to finda tributive justice proposed by the bishops include: significant measure of self-realization in their labor; Lhe basic moral equality of all human beings root- it should permit persons to fulfill their matetial ed in theh dignity as images of God; the different needs through adequate remuneration; and it needs of different persons; the level of effort, sacri- should make possible the enhancement of unity and fice and risk that people have undertaken in their solidarity within the family, the nation and the economic activity; the relative scarcity or abundance world community. of the goods to be distributed as well as the differ- Given that the economic system is to promote and ent talents and skills of the recipients; ard finally protect human rights, what is the ethical vision of jus- the overall human welfare of all persons in society tice by which we can evaluate this? The pastoral considered individually and collectively. answers this question by specifying the ethical norms Finally, given these criteria, as well as the realities of of economic life. I will first present these norms and human variability and sinfulness, various distribu- then comment on them, L3pecially in the light of the tions are possible. The bishops recognize the possibili- previously mentioned authors. ty of unequal distribution and provide the criteria for First, the bishops call for the development of a cul- evaluating them. tural consensus that places economic rights in the "First, unequal distribution must be evaluated par- same position of honor enjoyed by other social rights ticularly in terms of its effects on those persons whose such as civil rights, the rights of free speech, and the basic human needs are unmet." This creates a pre- right to privacy. The issue is the establishment and sumption against inequities in income or wealth while acceptance of the reality of such rights, not the precise there are poor, hungry and homeless people. The bish- means of their social realization. This aspect of justice ops argue that this presumption can be overridden " seeks to create an economic order that protects human only if an absolute scarcity of resources makes the ful- dignity by ensuring adequate participation in the fillment of the basic needs of all strictly impossible or if resources of the community. unequal distribution stimulatet productivity in away Second, such economic rights see iustice as demand- that truly benefits the poor." ing "the estabiishment of minimum levels of partici- "Second, unequal distribution of income, education, pation by all persons in the life of the human commu- wea'th, job opportunities or other economic goods on nity." Justice is realized when individuals and groups the basis of race, sex or any other arbitrary standard actively participate in the life of the community. can never be justified." The bishops base this reiection

ri 14 k of discrimination on the wot4h of the human being as a the vision of justice by which the American economic person having a unique %Tittle in his or her own self system can be evaluated. and also as a special creation of God. Racial and sexual discrimination have ly':en among the most destructive CONCLUSIONS forms of injustice in our country and the bishops here firmly reject them. The first area I wish to discuss is the vision of rights These elements, which form an outline of the theory underlying the pastoral. If one looks at the theory of of justice that the bishops oevelop, serve as the moral rights in medieval Catholicism, one can make the argu- framework for the policy analysis that the bishops-4nent that this is really a theory of duties that one owes carry out in the concluding section oftheir letter. society and its members, as well as a specification of Between this outline of a theory of justice and the the corresponding obligations that society owes its policy analysis stand what the bishops describe as pri- members. These duties are derived from one's social ority principles. These appeer to me to serve the func- position or role which was determined by one's birth tion of middle axioms or as means of ordering proce- into an hierrirchically organized society. This network durally the abstract principles of justice in relation to of social relations between citizen and community social policy. specified by one's social roles constitutes what 1. "The fulfillment of the basic needs of the poor is of Catholics understood as human rights. One had rights the highest priority." only in relation to duties and each was determined and 2. "Increased economic participation for the specified through one's role in an hierarchical and marginalized takes priority over the preservation of organically unified society. privileged concentrations of power, wealth and The theory of rights that emerged out the income." Enlightenment, the Btitish libertarian tradition, and 3. "Meeting human needs and increasing participa- the French democratic tradition saw rights as claims of tion should be priority targets in the investment of the individual against the state or as a means of creat- wealth, talent and human energy" ing a zone of privacy around the individual so he or The bishops state clearly that these are not policies, she was protected front the interests of other individu- but rather are the lens through which an understand- als. This theory of rights sees the individual as sepa- ing of justice ought to be focused on society. They are rate from society, as an isolated unit with a set of to mediate between the theory and practice andhelp in idiosyncratic interests. The function of rights is to establishing what social policies ought to be examined allow the individual to pursue those interests without and from what perspective. or with as little outside interference aspossible. These The biblical and ethical perspectives on justice pre- rights inhere in the individual as an individual and sented in the pastoral bring together a broad range of protect the individual from the potentially conflicting concerns and highlight a number of themes thathave interest of others or the state. been discussed over the centuries. The letter also exam- The vision of rights alluded to but not clearly ines several emerging trends in social ethics. Let me defined in the pastoral attempts te avoid either highlight a few of these before moving to a more the- extreme. On the one hand, it is clear that our society iF matic consideration of several issues in the conclusion. an heir more of the Enlightenmel it thanof feudal First is the centering of the theory of justice on the social structures. We simply do not have a society that concept of the dignity of the person. This aspectof the is organically or hierarchically structured th:: way feu- theoretical dimension of the pastoral fits well with the dal Europe was. On the (Aim hand, we are experienc- magisterial and ethical tradition of past decades. ing the consequei: of etc atomistic individualism of Second, the pastoral sees justice as participatory and the Enlightenment in that we seldom assume that reciprocal. Such a vision of justice focuses on the bonds individuals have anything in common, other than the that connect people in a society and stresses the mutu- desire to pursue self-interest. Autonomy, seen as the ality of rights and duties that come from such membcr- capacity for self-interested decision-making, is prized ship. This ()limitation focuses as much on what citizens as the highest social and personalgood. owe a society as on what asociety owes citizens. The operative understanding of rights in the pas- Third, the pastoral sees justice as demanding that we toral is an attempt to mediate between the medieval pay attention to the poor in ourmidst. While not a primacy of the community and the Enlightenment pri- document in the style of liberation theology, the theol- macy of the individual. I use the term"operative ogy of the letter is clearlyinfluenced by the option for understanding" because I do not think this view of the poor and the implications that option has for how rights is clearly articulated or, perhaps, even self-con- wealth ;Ind power are allocated. scious. The theory of rights is, in the tradition of As such, ;he pastoral incorporates several traditional Vatican II, located within the person, as opposed to themes of Catholic social justice teaching. It also assim- being a social role of the self-interested individual. ilates many developing themes and uses these toshape This allows the theory to maintain a social dimension

15 while holding on to personal liberties. Asa peraon, great private wealth, it can contribute to what the one needs a social context in which to mature. By founders of our republic called civic virtue. Indeed, in being in a community M personsas opposed to a revived social ecology, it would be a primary form of being in an aggregate of individuals--onecan be civic virtue." nourished because there is a communality of needs. Thus, the option for the poor, seenas the economic But precisely because one is a person, one tran- right of participation in community, isnc t warmed- scendsbut does not abandonthe community. over liberalism. It is the sine qua non of civic life. It is Such a vision of rights, centered as it is on the per- the means by which the minimal right of active partic- son in community, coheres well with an understand- ipation in the community can ha. guaranteed. ing of justice as reciprocal and participatory. People Second, the option for the poor demands developing receive their empowerment to become persons a vision which will help the church "to see things through participation in the life of the community. from the side of the poor, to assess lifestyleas well as Through the ereation of structures which make such social institutions and policies in terms of their impact participation possible in the first place, persons return on the poor." This aspect focuses on the dimensions of to others what t'sey themselves have been given. By responsibility and reciprocity that run through the active participation in the development of a society pastoral. One cannot simply take from the community that nurtures the majority of persons, one ensures a and do nothing in return. This is an inadequate vision society that seeks the good of all while protecting the of rights and human dignity and has led to much dis- rights of each. parity in our society But an equally inadequate view This is a vision that I sense is present in a beginning of community is one which denies access to its way in the pastoral. The pastoral is evidently attempt- nasources to individuals and then wonders why they ing to overcome some of the failures of atornistic indi- do not participate in social life. vidualism, but it cannot solve this problem simply by The option for the poor rejects this type of victim imposing a feudal framework of hierarchically estab- blaming and asks that we leave ourown personal lished duties on modern society. A vision of justice as achievements of human dignity and the power which participatory and reciprocal and of rights as centered it has helped us achieve and consider life from the in the category of the person is the beginning of the perspective of the marginalized. The option for the articulation of a position that can mediate between an poor requires that we ask how we can provide access exaggerated individualism and a suffocating commu- to society for marginalized individuals and thus nalism. ensure their active participation. The theme of the option for the poor calls us to This second dimension of the option for thepoor examine society from the category of marginalization. helps us understand that justice requires that both As noted above, if one is actively participating in soci- society and the individual understand the responsibil- ety, one does not need a protector. One has experi- ities each has, but that we recognize that society is enced one's dignity and the empowerment that comes larger and more powerful than the individual, conse- from that. Thus the pastoral notes that the first func- quently, the option fc r the poor requires us to startan tiou of the option for the poor is to serve as a analysis of justice from the perspective of ensuring "prophetic mandate to speak for those who have no participation in society rather than wondering wity one to speak for them, to be a defender for the people do not participate in the life of the community. defeiiseless who, in biblical terms, are the poor." The thioi dimension of the option for the poor is the From the perspective of the pastoral, the duty of jus- most radical for it requires an emptying of self, an tice and the vision of rights associated with it mandate experiencing "of the power of God in the midst of that we look at the dimension of access to life in com- poverty and powerlessness." This is related to the pre- munity. Access to comiaurity requires the right to vious point which requires us to abandon any position work, to be a productive menalper of that society. The of privilege we have attained through no inherent bishops approvingly quote 'John Paul II, v. ho said in merit oi our own and to consider life from that per- Lborem Exercens "Human work is a key, probably the spective. This perspective can help us perceive and essential key, to the whole social question." Work is understand the impact different familial, cultural, eth- the key to dignity because through work persons nic, religious, racial and sexual starting points have on achieve self-reahasation, find self-fulfirment and self- an individual's ability to participate in the life of the identity and can contribute actively to society. community. This religious orientation to this aspect of human This dimension of the option for the poor also helps dignity is caught well by Bellah who says: us recall one of the most ancient of biblical traditions "Undoubtedly, the satisfaction of work well done, on property: it is social in nature and, consequently, indeed the pursnit of excellence, is a permanent and the goods of the world exist for the good of all. This positive human motive. Where its regard is the appro- social understanding of property can help us enter bation of one's fellows more than the accumulation of into that emptying of self called for by the option for

16 the poor and will also help us avoid the idolatry of fism with the just war tradition as a legitimate property by calling us to life in "faithful stewardship response to violence. Such orientations set loose a rather than selfish appropriation or exploitation of more critical look at the reality of war and the what was destined for all." This aspect of the option weapons requited to conduct it. for the poor can help us re-establish an understanding Yet there remain the nagging comments that non- of the common good. violence will never work, the enemy will crush the Understanding property as the common trust of all people and the will to resist cannot be sustained. can lead us to collaborative ventures insharing and I propose that we may find a response to these com- preserving it. Such a call to the emptying of self ments in the decade of remarkable events in Eastern through a divestiture of an exclusive right to private Europe that reached a graphic conclusion in Berlin in property may be the most radical feature of the pas- the final months of 1989. In particular we might look toral, for this dimension of the option for the poor at Poland and the Solidarity movement as a specific does not ask, "Are you better off than you were four example of the power of non-violence and what I call years ago?" It asks the much moredifficult question, the exercise of democratic patience. "Is your neighbor better off than he or she was four The victory of Solidarity did not come overnight, years ago?" and it did not come w!thout struggle, suffering, set- In its theory of justice and its three priority princi- backs, and near despair. The flowering of Solidarity ples, the pastoral letter places concern for the poor at was halted, first gradually, then abruptly,when the the heart of a theory of justice. It does this because the movement was seen as getting out of hand, too popu- bishopstogether with many othersrealize that lar, too powerful. The movement was banned for ten only by ensuring active participation in the life of a long, painful years. But during these years of repres- community can a society provide that level of engage- sion, harassment, and dissent within Solidarity itself, ment necessary to promote human dignity and to the movement kept itself alive and engaged in acts of ensure the promotion of the rights of all. This is not resistance and dissent. Secret printing presses were liberalism; it is the best of the Cotholic theory of social used to keep information in circulation. Secret radio justice and the best of our American vision cf civic and television transmitters cut in on official programs. responsibility. The people continued to act as if they were free. This economic challenge we all face today has many Such acts were hard and dangerous. People were perallels with the political challenp.. that confronted arrested, people lived in fear, and invasion was a the founders of our nation. In oruer to create a new viable option, for the Russian army was there and kind of political democracy they were compelled to quite visible. Resistance required daily acts of develop ways of thinking and political institutions courage, daily acts of freedom, and daily acts ofresis- which had never existed before. Their efforts were tance. arduous and imperfectly realized, but they launched Resistance also required what I call democratic an experiment in the protectionof civil and political patience. Recall that during the Vietnam War it was rights that has prospered through the efforts of those Ho Chi Mihn who spoke of revolutionary patience as who came after them. Say the bishops: the foundation on which continuous acts of rebellion and revolution were grounded. He knew that revolu- We believe the time has come for a similar experi- _ not occur overnight, and so he preached ment in economic democracy: the creation of an tion patience. order that guarantees the minimum conditions of Neither does democracy occur overnight. It must be human dignity in the economic sphere for every planned for, it must be prepared for, it must be person. By drawing on the resourcesof the Catholic worked for in thousands of ways in the daily life of a woral-religious tradition, we hope to make a contri- people and each individual person. The people must bution to such a new "American experiment" in this be patient. letter. It is interesting to think of Panama in the light of the Even though the dominant mode of the evaluation decade of democratic patience of Poland. Changes of of the moral legitimacy of violence in theCatholic enormous magnitude occurred in Polandwith almost Christian tradition has been the just war theory,this no shedding of blood. A new government wasestab- theory carries with it the assumption that violence is lished which has the consent of tl.e people. There is no to be justified. That is, one must startthe moral analy- occupying army. The cities and their buildings are sis with the assumption that peace is to bepreferred. intact. This moral assumption has been given a newlegitima- Of course Poland does not have the promise of the cy in our day wh theVatican IT assertion that we US government to rebuild the cities it destroyed and must approach the evaluation of warwith an entirely to rebuild the economy. But the Poland with allits new attitude.Additionally, the peace pastoral of the economic problems, I suspect, does not want to be a American bishops recognized the co-equalityof paci- colony of the USA.

17 The USA could not wait for Noreiga to fall of his nizations, were living as if free. And inthe cauldron of own internal corruption. It could not wait for the peo- democratic patience a free peoplewas forged who ple to retlist Noreiga. It could not wait fordemocracy were ready tu assume their destiny. to seize the imaginations of the people and lead them Do not make the mistake of assumingthat democrat- to resist. The USA did not exercise democratic ic patience is passive, is unengaged, iswaiting around. patience. Anything but. Democratic patience requiresstrenuous Consequently almost every country in the world has action, daily courage, active participation in the lifeof condemned our actions, we have invaded another the country. What, also requires, though, isa cunning country and weakened our credibilitywe have set up and a sense of timing, knowing whento push and a government, we have destroyed a city, we have when to wait, when to stand and whento bend. It killed the innocent, andwe continue to think that accepts as equally valuable all the diverse acts ofits might makes right. people, those which may bemore public and those But look at the world united behind eastern Europe, which may be more private, for democraticpatience look at the almost totally intact cities, look atwith the knows that all acts make way for democracyto lay sole exception of Romaniathe almost totally peaceful hold of the imagination of people andto prepare them transfer of power. Decades of patiencewere required, for its presence. and during those decades the seeds of freedomwere The theory of rights outlined here, the optionfor the being nurtured, the flame of freedom being kept alive, poor, and non-violent democratic patience all takeus a people being prepared. Again with the exception of to a new way of being in society and provideus with a Romania, it has been utterly remarkable tosee new new method of social analysis. They will not change governing structures spring into place almost instantly. anything soon, but adopting their vision willtrans- Where did they come from; wherewere they hiding; form us and make us people able tosee when a new where did they learn to lead? reality is present, a reality which has beengrowing Such groups were in }ail, werPinhiding, were mov- within us and has now become ready to transformour ing among the people, were running clandestineorga- society.

18 The Role of the Laity in the World Some Reflections on. Christifideles Laici

Georgia Masters Keightley

A central theme of the 1987 Synod on the Laity was the temporal sphere. This is of real concern because as the church's mission to the world. And as the papal Vatican II and Christifide les Laid observe, in most areas exhortation Christifideles Laiciwhose publication of contemporary life, the church has a presence virtual- brought the synod to its official closemakes clear, the ly and only by means of its laity present situation is such that this task depends more It is not hard to understand, then, why a major than ever upon the committed and active participation emphasis of Christifideles laici is that responsibility for of all the members of the church. To this end, the synod the church and its mission belongs to laity no less than proposed to address the special and indispensable con- to clergy and to stress that this obligation has its ori- tribution of the Catholic laity gms in the rite of Christian initiation. For this reason, As Vatican II reminded us, the church does not exist Christifideles Laici reiterates Vatican II's claim that "with simply for itself. Although there have been periods in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in baptism and con- its history where self-interest and self-preservation firmation, the baptized share in the same mission of have appeared to predominate, the council clearly Jesus as the Christ, the Savior-Messiah" (#24). Like the taught that for the church to be the church, all of the former, Christifideles Laid also describes this responsi- baptized must constantly be about the work of evange- bility in terms of the baptized's share in the threefold lization. Individually and collectively, the church is mission of Christ as priest, prophet and king (#14). obliged to be a potent sign of the salvation to which According to most ancient tradition, the lay faithful are God calls men and women as well as the very instru- a priestly people in that their offering of self and the ment and means to this achievement. daily witness of their lives are conjoined to Christ's Once again, a conwrn for mission has acquired new own offering. And thus, as worshippers whose every urgency because of the church's changed time andcir- deed is holy, the world itself is consecrated by them to cumstance. Here one need only cite the declining num- God. The laity also share Christ's prophetic mission: ber of vocations to the priesthood and religious life. At Not only are they active in the work of teaching and the same time and in addition to the task of taking the catechesis but also their faith is proclaimed in the very gospel to new people and territories, it has now evidence of their lives. And, as participants in Christ's become necessary to re-evangelize those parts of the kingly mission, laity work for the spread of God's world once Christian. ln our context, this means that Kingdom in history. This they do not only by strug- the church must seek to recapture the allegiance of gling k,ainst the reign of sin in themselves; they also those whom sociologists call "cultural Catholics." seek renewal of the created order so that it might more Furthermore, evangelization itself is recognized to be a fully benefit human life and well-being. far more complicated affair. To be effective, there is There are two things to note about the baptismal need to inculturate the gospel's meaning and values priesthood besides the central place Christifideles Laici into the particular social context within which individ- gives it. First of all, lie document takes care to note uals live and work so as to enable their response to that participation in the three-fold office accrues to the God's Word. And, finally, with the opening up of min- individual because of his/her union with Christ. On istries within the church to the non-ordained, the hier- this basis, the obligation to Christian mission is clearly archy grows increasingly fearful that lay people have not optional. Neither may it be perceived as being subsequently abandoned any interest in transforming either deputed or derived; it comes directly from union with Christ himself. Secondly, and like Vatican II before it, Christifideles laici uses the three-fold office as Dr. Keightley is an assistant professor of theology at Trinity the model of what it means to be the church in the College in WaAington, DC. The original version of this paper was world. By this means, it underscores that the church delivered at Stonehill C(. !lege for the 1989 ACCLI Summer tAkes historical shape, becomes a concrete presence, in Conference on Justice anci Peace Education.

19 the activity of the baptized as they respond to the tates of a Christian conscience and their activity in encounter with Word and Spirit as this is realized in communion with their pastors in the name of the the activity of worship, witness and service. church" (#42). Accordingly, the church comes to be what God intends Besides the inherent ambiguity of such statements, it for it, precisely in and through its efforts on behalf of is highly questionable that, because of its essential the world. Implicit to this view, then, church and complexity, life today is or could be apprehended inso world are thoroughly relational concepts;one is consti- compartmentalized a fashion. Not only is it true that tutive of the other. what l.:appens in the workplace affects whatgoes on at When Christifideles Laici moves on to look more close- home; private life itself can be dramatically affected by ly at the nature of the lay task and at what the faith- events occurring in remote points of the globe. ful's participation in church mission involves, the dis- Certainly we increasingly come to appreciate the radi- cussion comes up shalt It does so in my view because cal interdependency of all persons and cultures. Thus, what it has to say on this subject is not in keeping with that a fundamental divorcement of church and world what has already been said about the baptismal priest- is the average lay person's experience must be chal- hood, its exercise and authority A substantial factor lenged. Theologically, of course, this view conflicts here is the way in which lay life and experience are with Christifideles Laices own description of the bap- construed and interpreted: Many of Christifidel% tismal priesthood; in these texts it seems understood presuppositions as well as its conception of lay life and that by virtue of regeneration and the Spirit's anoint- experience are either inappropriate or inadequate to ing, everything that the Christian does has implica- the reality. This must be attributed to the essentially tions either for or against the Kingdom. And, certainly clerical standpoint from which the documentwas writ- a rigid separation of church/world conflicts with ten and whose perspective it mainly reflects. Because Vatican II's deliberate attempt to place the church not of the fundamental importance of its subject and just in the world but at the very heart of the human because I believe the document intends to invite dia- enterprise, this for the purpose of bringing to light the logue and response from members of the lay church, I world's very meaning and value. would like to indicate how from the vantage point of In reality, this classic approach to church and world the lay theologian Christifidele5 Laid's examination of provides a way to identify what the hierarchy citesas the church's activity in the world and especially its being a major problem for the laity since the Vatican II; analysis of the laity's contribution in this regard misses i.e., the unwarranted separation of faith from life. This the mark. Mainly I wish to call attention to the several is a theme sounded repeatedly through Christifideles ways in which the discussion is inadequate to or does Laid, and Section #59 is entirely devoted to the general not coincide with lay experience. This discrepancy is of failure of Catholics to exhibit any deep commitment no little consequence because how one views the for the public, socio-political order. Because of the world will determine the sort of praxis one adopts. dualistic framework upon which this charge is based, Consequently, a misreading here can seriously the impression is given hem that one could havea very impede the church's carrying out of its divine charge. rich spiritual life on the one hand and yet be complete- ly unfeeling, oblivious as far as humanity's social ills THE RIGID SEPARATION OF CHURCH/WORLD are concerned on the other. But, besides being at odds with the basic precepts of Christian tradition, i.e., that First of all, an assumption implicit throughout one could be Christian and ignore one's neighbor, Christifideles Laid is that church and world are two Catholic moral theology has consistently taught that quite separate, independent realities. Thus we see persons always act out of their passions, commitments, statements to the effect that laity, as "members of the and values. More to the point, the presumption has church and dtizens of human society," have two differ- been that such motivations ultimately derive from ent sets of responsibilities. On the one hand, there are one's overarching beliefs about God, world, neighbor, those duties r. laining to the "spiritual life and its and self. demands"; on the other, there are those tasks associat- On this score, then, if one finds Catholic praxis want- ed with "secular life, that is, life in a family, at work, in ing, one must seek an explanation elsewhere. One social relationships, in the responsibilities of public life must, for instance, consider that something essential and in culture" (#59). Here it is suggested that on this may well be lacking in an individual's understanding account lay life risks taking the form of "two parallel of the faith, in his/her overall commitment to the full lives" (#59). In another section, however, instruction is demands of Christian discipleship. On the other hand, given that the lay faithful ought "to respect the autono- one could also see this supposed lack of concern to be my of earthly realities " But especially, care must be a direct result of the fact that traditionally, the moral exercised that a clear distinction is made between "the stipulations placed on the laity have been rather mini- activities of Christians acting individually or collec- malistic and relate to personal salvation almost entire- tively in their own name as citizens guided by the dic- ly. Practically speaking, such demands have tended to

20 be defined narrowly and almost exclusively in terms of improved standard of living, or perhaps some strug- sexual morality Indeed, it would not be inaccurate to gled-for personal success. Not only would laity tend to say that for laity the litmus test fororthodoxy has con- be more hopeful about the world than is evidenced in sistently been the observance of correct sexual practices. most recent church documents; some laity might even In this ',Ise what is needed is a vastly improved cate- go so far as to argue that life in theworld s far less chesis, a sustained effort by pastors and laity alike to oppressive than life within the church! make all the members of the church aware of the Because of this ambiguity about the world, two responsibilities that come with being the People of God; schools of thought eventually emerged in respect to the more importantly perhaps, whatis wanted is not a object of church mission. On the one hand, there were carping criticism but a joyful reminder that effort on those of the belief that everything temporal must ulti- behalf of the Kingdom is a possibility at every moment mately be brought into and made church. On the other of the Christian's life, in projects that are both great and hand, there were those who, convinced that the world small. is a source of sin and distraction, held that it was some- Perhaps what is needed most is a theological perspec- thing that the Christian ought to avoid and/or ignore. tive that is able to address lay experience in a realistic Social injustice in this case was simply attributed to way. What is necessary is aconstrual of experience that God's mysterious plan; it was also seen to be a way of reflects the sure insight of feminist theory; i.e., thatreali- testing the sturdiness of the believer's faith. But in both ty is best perceived in terms of a complexnetwork of cases, church mission was seen to center onthe effort to interlocking, interconnecting relations linking persons, bring individuals into the economy of salvation by systems, things. When considered in thislight, the tkisk incorporating them into the church. of the church's teachers is not only to help individuals Coalescence of Vatican II's positive assessment of the become aware of the multitude of relations that consti- world, rediscovery of New Testament eschatology and tute their lives; priority will then be given tohelping the critical efforts of libertion theologians, however, Christians see that the moral life involves a constant have served to underscore the fact that the gospel also attending to the quality of these relations. On this basis, commits the church to other equally indispensable the goal of praxis is to see that that complex of networks forms of service. As indicated above, evangelization is upon which our lives depend supportsand contributes seen to require not only the incarnationof Christian to the well-being of every man and woman. meanings and values into history and culture as a preparatio evangelium. It also demands attention to the THE DISTORTED VIEW OF CHURCH MISSION concrete situation of men and women, it requires the church to secure justice and liberation on their behalf. The rigid separation of church and wor14 raises ques- But practically speakingand due in part to the con- tions about their proper relation. How this isunder- tinuing influence of an old ecclesiology and to notions stc has implications for one's view of church mission associated with a neo-scholastic theology of grace, a as well as for one's ideasabout the particular responsi- distinction has informally been made between a specif- bilities of clergy and laity. ically religious, "official," mission which belongs to the First of all, because the category of world is regularly clergyi.e., that associated with proclamation and cel- defined over and against that of church, allthat is identi- ebration of the sacramentsand the "unofficial" mis- fied as "worldly" tends to be cast in negative terms. sion of daily witness and social outreach which Here one only need recall the longstandingbelief that belongs to the laity Vatican II, in fact, defines the laity life in the world was inferior to that of the clerical state, as those who seek "the Kingdom ofGod by engaging that attainment of Christian perfection simplyexceeded in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the possibilities of the laity because of theirsituation. the plan of God." The church's ministers, on the other Recently, and despite the emphasis given to thetheology hand, are described as those endowed with sacred of creation by Vatican II, there seems to be a return tothe power who "preach the gospel,shepherd the faithful pessimistic vision of the past. Thus we seeChristifuieles and celebrate divine worship as true priests of the Laki reading the "signs of the times" in termsof reli- New Testament' (I,G #28). gious indifference and athei1, radical secularism, con- Controversy in the post-Vatican II era over the tinued violation of human rights and dignity,material- degree to which involvement by clergy and religious ism, consumerism, threats to life, etc. (#s 3-6). in projects clearly social or politic '.1 in nature is consis- I would guess that most lay people, no matterwhat tent with their own charism has served tomake the their situation, would prefer to assesstheir lives in laity's unofficial mission more explicitly and exclusive- terms of the good things, e.g.,the simple pleasures ly theirs. John Paul II has been especially adamant that associated with the community of family andfriends, practical responsibility for the secular is to be restricted and to see the signs of the timesin terms of the to laity. However, such a division ofresponsibility, giv- progress humanity has madeagainst disease, the hard- ing clergy exclusive care of the church and laity care won achievementof human rights and liberties, an for the world, not only seems to contradict the teach-

21 ing about the baptismal priesthood but alsocreates a tendency to explain reality in dichotomousterms car- widening gap between clergy and lay, both interms of ries over into Chrishfideles Laid's descriptionof lily exis- status and task. At minimum, it createssevere difficul- tence. Hence, the latter is described rather simplistical- ties for a genuine collaboration betweenthe two, and ly and by way of such pairsas man/woman, nowhere does this become more obvious thanat the public/private, home/work, the person/society. parish level. One might also ask what assigningthe Again, while modern experience is pluralisticand church's social outreach primarily to laitysays about diverse, it is debatable that most individualsappre- the importance, the status, of this work, particularly in hend it in such either/or termsor by way of such iso- light of the laity's own ambiguous place withinthe lated, unconnected fragments. As indicatedabove, a church, in light of the paucity of ecclesialresources and relational paradigm seems far better ableto grasp the authority they can command, and in light of theirvir- lived reality of contemporary Catholics. tual inability to act collectively and publiclyin the A second misconception has to do withChristtfideles name of the church? Laid's failure to recognize the fact that inmany ways, Chrishfideles Laid does allow that clergy havea legiti- the lay struggle is simply to findany identifiable reli- mate public role, but this is essentially limited toa gious meaning in the routine business of theeveryday, prophetic, critical stance vis a vis society and culture. let alone understand the relevance of thisactivity for Nonetheless, a closer reading reveals that while laity church mission. Yet the truth is, it is precisely in theser- are assigned the actual work of transforming systems vice of the everyday that laity fulfill the church'smis- and structures, final discernment and judgmentas to sionary purpose. Unfortunately, because Christifideles how this should proceed is, in the end,a right zealous- Laid uses such general categories to describe thereality ly guarded and reserved to the church's pastors. In of lay existence (it speaks of lay life in such broadterms this, Christifideles Laid appears to depart quite dramati- as politics, economics, culture, marriage and family), cally from that attitude prevalent at Vatican II. Thatis the document somehow fails to make thepoint that it is to say, some council documents appeared quite content actually in the way we go aboutour daily business that to assign development of an authentic Catholic praxis 91e Kingdom is duly served. to the laity, this in recognition of their expertise and A third way in which Christifideles Laidmisrepresents superior knowledge of secular affairs. lay experience is in its tendency to identifyhuman cre- Such considerations, surprisingly, are scarcely to be ativity almost exclusively with the physicalcapacity to found in Christifideles Laid, and the overall impression reproduce sexually. In its dogged effortto promote its is given that the laity's basic charge is toenact a social preferred vision of marriage and family, Christifideles agenda devised by the magisterium, an agenda valid Laid unfortunately misses the opportunityto affirm for local churches everywhere because what is pro- that it is in the creativity of mind and imaginationthat posed is based on eternal principles deduced fromthe men and women also share in God's own image, the gospel and tradition. In Christifideles Laid, in other divine power. This neglectseems a particular irony in words, there appears to be a subtle return to the old light of the fact that much of this documentis really Catholic Action model as the ideal for lay/clergy col- about how human ingenuity must beput to work cre- laboration. Such an approachseems problematic, how- ating more inclusive structures, better forms ofsocial ever, in that it ignores the fact that, realistically, praxis life, in order to createa more humane worldand for takes shape in the decisions of the moment and these the Christian, a world that testifies to the truth tend to be culturally and socially bound. Too, it ignores that behind it is a beneficent power that upholds andsus- that in most sectors of experience, laityare far more tains it. expert than clergy that Catholic identity itself is articu- latedalbeit informallyin the day-to-day witness Mainly, however, Christifideles Laid completely misses lay life's essential character of "in-between-ness,"of and example of laity before the world. Furthermore, it existing in the "now-not-yet" between time of has been traditionally recognized that this witness of the Kingdom. In other words, there does notseem to be an lived faith itself has a distinct authority of itsown, that it too represents a significant locus theologicus. appreciation that for the church's lay members Christian existence is riddled with ambiguity since In respect to its overall view of church mission, about it is a matter of living in a less than perfect, sinful, and sin- the nature of the task and the specific roles andrespon- filled world. For one thing, thereare decided limits as to sibilities of church members, Christifide les Laid not only what each of us may or may not do. The daily business leaves many questions unanswered; it generates signif- of existence itsr icant new ones. simply dominates our lives. For another, we comniunly find ourselves obliged to make discomfiting compromises. Thus, while the magisteri- THE MISREPRESENTATION OF LAY LIFE AND urn teaches that we must be ardent peacemakers, EXPERIENCE some of us support our families by working in defense indus- There are several ways in which Christifideles Laid tries or at the Pentagon. And so while Christifideles Laid misrepresents lay life and experience. For example, the urges lay women to accept humbly their Christian voca-

22 tion to motherhood, many of usfor what in our judg- be the charge of Catholic professionals who would ment are extremely good reasonsopt to control fertili- gather regularly for diahgue and exchange in order to ty by means of artificial contraception. Many of us as elaborate moral criteria to facilitate both th2 creation we go about our business as financial manage-3,bro- and evaluation of the systems that regulate our life in kers, and bankers wonder what an "option for the community On the other hand, discussion about what poor" really means for someone in our situation. constitutes a suitable Catholic praxis in today's world, Neither can our political decisions be as clearcut as we whether in terms of family issues or public policy, would like. Sometimes we find we must decide in favor ought to be an on-going part of the life of each local of a candida te who does not support the church's church. A goal here would be to identify how the lives teaching on life issues but who does have an impres- of the individual members actually contribute to the sive record on such fundamental human issues as parish's witness; here too, a major effort would be to housing for the homeless, civil rights, and affirmative foster and support the unique charism with which the action. Spirit has gifted the local community. Because we do live in this period of the in-between One very important task of Catholic laity, and one and because of the ambiguity of the situations that about which Christifideles Iaici seems almost silent, is confront us, Catholic laity are in need of a supportive, the submission of new areas of experience to moral interim ethic to help shape our lives in an authentically scrutiny. A ready example is the growing presence Christian way. What is wanted is an ethic that holds us today of what is called the "New Class," a rising class to the basic values of our tradition. on the onehand but of individuals that earns its livelihood from the manip- on the other is also flexible enough tohelp us confront ulation of knowledge. The emergence of this new the new challenges life in this world continually pre- social elite with its power base in the knowledge sents. In short, it must be an ,,thic that takes for grant- industry brings with it distinctive ideological commit- ed that we are sinners and thai most decisions about ments and perspectives. Id, as sociologist Barbara our lives tend to be messy imperfect ones.Above all, it Hargrove suggests, the church cannot afford simply to must be an ethic that allows that compromiseitself can ignore this phenomenon or decry its appearance. oftentimes be a means to the Kingdom's growth. Rather, theologians must take care to identify an:.t then To facilitate the lay effort for the Kingdom then, affirm those positive values (e.g., the developed social Christifideles Iaici might have been better advised to interests, the concern for personal growth and free- take a more practical, realistic approach to life in the dom) that are implicit to this worldview at the -erne world. Instead, what it does set out is a rather clear time as they seek to temper New Class emphasis on agenda for the lay church as well as the moral princi- technical rationality, the disproportionate attention ples deemed necessary to its implementation. In doing given to skill and efficiency. Certainly this dialogue so, however, Christifideles faici seems notto recognize seems a necessary effort in light of thefact that that the priorities it espouses do not always coincide Catholic educational institutionsby means of their with those that life thrusts upon individual laity. And business and professional schoolscontribute to the too, laity because of their context and particular expe- growth of this class with each generation of students rience, may not see either the issues or the priorities in they produce. the same way as these may be seen from the hierar- chy's own limited standpoint. Likewise, Christifideles FAILURE TO TARE SERIOUSLY THE CHURCH'S Laid gives no indication that Christian values can CATHOLICITY indeed come into conflict, that hard decisions about these inevitably must be made. Neither does the text While Christifideles Laid is addressed to the entire seem to appreciate thatvalues/virtues are themselves body of the laity, its discussion of their nole in church radically socially and culturally bound; they will not mission pays little heed to the fact that the churchas only take on shades of meaning implicit to a specific essential to its unityis a community of pluralism, context, but they will also be determinedby the char- that indeed the local churches are quite diverse, that acter of the individual lives that incarnate anduphold this is a result not only of the variety of the charisms each has received but also a product of the differences them. And so, despite Christifideles Laici's claim that the created by their special cultural, historical, and social hierarchy must have virtual control over the articula- circumstance. Avery Dulles defines catholicity as "that tion of Catholic identity and praxis, it isevident that quality of being universal, complet, or all-embracing"; this realistic, interim ethic must be developed for the in this regard, Vatican II's Lumen Gentium asserts that most part by laity who have knowledgeand expertise each part of the church 'brings its particular gifts to in such areas as science, technology, economicsand the other parts and to the whole Church, so that the of course, theologyand who simply havethe experi- whole and the individual parts are enriched by the ence of living the life ofthe world. At the same time, mutual sharing of gifts and the striving of all for full- and certainly in the American context, suchought to ness in unity ..."(LG#13). While Christifideles Laici

23 4, duly acknowledges the Spirit's manifold gifts, themis Successful praxis then, will not only take intoaccount here no real effort to consider or explore the rich the interretatedness, the contextual character of all resources available for the church's mission to the experience it will also presume thatevery praxis is world by way of the charisms present within the body necessarily partial and limited inscope. To this end, of the world by way of the charisms present within the the task of looking after the structures of existence will body of the laity. While appreciation of the possibilities require a correct analysis of the situation,an honest here was expressed at the synod itself, Christifideles assessment of the resources available, andan effective Laid, strangely, neglects the opportunity to explore the collaboration between the differentsectors of the personal and collective resources, the skills, aptitudes, church. ingenuity, talents, the yoficiencies obtained through Again, by not taking .eriously the clnuch's unity in education, cultnral experience, and history thatare in diversity, Christifideles lirid has missed the opportunity plentiful supply throughout the church. Ofcourse, if to deepen the entire community's appreciation of what one does take the theology of charisms seriously, one the laity bring to the Body of Christ. More importantly would be obliged to admit that priests and religious perhaps, the document has missedan opportunity to too may be called to the worldly work of transfonAing ponder the meaning of catholicity and, in thisway, to the public systems by which we all live. advance the self-understanding of the entire church. More to the point, a reflection on the diversity of gifts would highlight the fact that laity are not called to THE COLLABORATIVE CHARACTER OF CHURCH a single type of service, that Catholics will carry out MISSION their baptismal commitment in many different forms of activity, and at all different levelsall because of That the church's outreach to the world isa collalx their different abilities and their diverse circumstances. rative venture is a premiss of the baptismal priestha . Thus, some Third World laity may contribute to the All those who are united in Christare understom to common good as bankers, lawyers, and government share responsibility for both the community's institu- workers while First World laity may doso as farmers, tional life and its mission. Collaboration is alsoa pre- clerks, day laborers, and babysitters. The point to be miss a! the ecclesiology of communion which is the observed here, of course, is that church praxis will not fundament upon which Chris tifideles Laici's entire nor need not be uniform, that realistically, the praxis teaching rests. Confirmation of this is to be found in der loped by First World laity will differ from that the tersely worded statement of paragraph #32: praxis appropriate to or even possible for the laity of "Communion gives rise to mission and mission is the Third World. On the other hand, it should notgo accomplished in communion." unremarked that Catholic energy expended in each Furthermore, one of the most interesting texts of context will inevitably seek convergence so as to Chrishfideles aid (Section #52) reads: "The coordinated become the source of an improved and more just presence of both men and women is to be pastorally national/international order. urged so that the participation of the lay faithful in the By taking the church's diversity seriously, the signifi- salvific mission of the church might be renderedmore cance of context for understandingand hence, for rich, complete, harmonious." Byway of emphasis, the reformingsocial systems themselves would also relation existing between man and woman, husband become evident. For example, Christian values will and wife, is then described as being the ideal form of take shape differently in democratic societies than in human collaboration. Not only does this ideal find Marxist societies. But this is to be expected ofa praxis support in the social argument: "it is natural forman that is authentically Catholic. Furthermore, the inherent and woman to share life together." Christifideles Laid relatedness of all social systems will better beseen and further testifies that this arrangement has sound theo- taken into account. As Michael Novak has well argued logical ground. That is, this state of affairs is said to be about democratic capitalism, because it is actuallycom- cart of the Creator's original plan. It was the divine prised of "three dynamic and converiging systems func- intent that man and woman be the "prime community tioning as one," if one system becomes skewed, the of persons, the source of every other community"; it other two will be necessarily and proportionately was also His plan that the relation between the two be affected. On this basis, if the economic system is judged a "sign" of that "interpersonal communion of love to be in need of correction so as to beng about a more which constitutes the mystical, intimate life of God, equitable distribution of its benefit:;, then the other Three in One." components of democratic capitalismthe polity and While in context, the point of this statement is to the moral-cultural orderneed adjustment as well. allay fears that efforts to promote women's increased In this way catholicity, besides being a fact o; the involvement in ecclesial life has brought abouta pro- church's life, has significant implications for the under- portionate decline in men's participation and perhaps, standing of church mission and, in particular, for then, even to suggest that pastors make sure that such delineating the laity's contribution in this regard. imbalance, where it exists, be carefully rectified.

24 4,0 Nonetheless, this text raises a rather obvious question: more effective form of Christian service; they arealso why shouldn't the model of collaboration recommend- seen as a means of creating a spirit ofsolidarity and ed for the laity be equally applicable for life through- strengthening of bonds among the laity Associations out the church? If a spirit of collaboration is natural to initiated by laity also give convincing testimony to the the human condition, if indeed it is part of God's plan, church's own communio. But here too, while why then shouldn't church structures themstives be Christifideles Laid extols the collaborative effort among based on this same mcdus aperandi? the laityit is said to be a natural way to operate This seems a worthwhile question to ask because the because we are inherently social beingsit is also notion of collaboration presupposed in this emphasized that all such efforts must in the end be instanceeven though it derives from the vision of subject to clerical review and judgment. The question married life thoroughly identified with western cul- is: doesn't such control by clergy actually take lway tureintimates a spirit of cooperation, mutuality gen- from the specifically lay character of such initiatives? erosity, accommodation, service, charity, and friend- Doesn't this involvement by pastors betray an unwar- ship. The service of Chrislians, if carried out in such a ranted paternalism? Finally, is such an attitude consis- way, would not only make animpressive witness to tent with the authority that comes with the baptism the gospel but would also be an effective means of car- into Christ and tne ordinary priesthood? rying out the church's worldly charge. But while recently there has been considerable interest in estab- CONCLUSION lishing a greater degree of collegiality among the hier- archy, as for example in the recent debate over the sta- With this brief diccussion of collaboratiln, this teflec- tus of bishops' conferences, it is not apparentthat there tion on the role of the laity in the world comes to a is a like concern that a spirit of collegiality beoperative close. If my remarks have appeared overly critical, it is at all levels of church life. But whyshouldn't this be simply because I believe Christifideles Laici to be an important document and one that certainly deserves to the case? Other texts of Christifideles Laid suggest a quitedif- be read and taken seriously by the lay church. The sub- ferent definition of collaboration. For instance, and as ject of church mission itself is a significant one and one we have already seen, there aretexts implying that that has potent implications for lay Catholic existence, while clergy bear responsibility for the church, laity both now and in the future. But as it stands, this docu- of all take charge of the world. In this case,collaboration ment does little to deepen our understanding appears to mean beingfaithful to one's explicit obliga- that is at stake here. The fundamental point I have tion, to be depended upon to carry outone's pre- wished to make is that ultimately, a successful and/or scribed task. There are other texts too that suggestcol- meaningiul Catholic praxis depends upon the correct- laboration means that laity simply carry out the ness of the community's visionof the world and, sub- instructions provided them by the hierarchy. Butin sequently, to this analysis, its understanding of what neither case is collaboration understood to require any the Catholic community's contribution must be. To this degree of mutuality and sharing such as thefirst defi- end, it would have been a distinct advantage if Christifideks Laid had been the product of a truly col- nition presupposes. One way in which Christifideles Laici marks an laborative venture undertaken by people, priests, reli- advance in the hierarchy's thinking is its advocacy and gious, bishops and pope together. support for groups founded on lay initiative.It is ret- But that perhaps, is the whole point! ognized that not only can such group efforts provide a Beyond the Ivory Tower: Some Guidelines for Social Justice Education

Edward A. Malloy, CSC

Some time ago, a futurologist writing in The Christian first become invohred in matters of ethics, of social jus- Science Monitor listed six great issues facing humanity tice and of peace. I suppose all of us haveour own sto- at the turn of the millennium. He had compiled the list ries, anecdotes that we can tell about our past, about based on interviews with leading personalities in the our upbringings, about the encounters that we had in United States and abroad. The first great issueand our neighborhoods and in our educations and after- the most prominentwas the dilemma of nuclearwar, wards. All I know is that some people are more acutely because it calls into question the very survival of the aware than others of questions of social justice. 'Dying species. The next four issues were as you might imag- to account for that, and, more importantly, hying to inefor example, the relationship between the First stimulate it in the next generation, is, I think, a central and the Third Worlds. But the last one was the most element of our collective mission. curious. This group of national and international lead- Let me tell my story of becoming "involved." As an ers felt that one of the most troubling issues to be faced undergraduate student at Notre Dame, I hadcome in the 1990s and beyond was the breakdown of public from a city, Washington, DC, in which I had known and private morality. Their fe,gr was that we could not and had some exposure to the whole question ofrace even begin to address some of the other pressing issues and its significance. I had observed in the District acer- unless we first could agree on common values with tain measure of the poverty that exists in any major which to build public consensus. These commentators urban setting. And I had come from a family that took felt that we desperately needed an operative frame- ieligious values seriously and, therefore, when major work within which we could address basic questions issues were debated in the newspapers or on television like the nature of a healthy family, the role of women, and radio, my sisters and I had only to ask to learn ecological sensitivity, world hunger, and other plan- what our parents' opinions were. As a family wewere etary crises. urban Catholics in a city with a majority black popula- Higher education can contribute to the solution of tion which was also the nation's Capital. these problems in a number of ways, including the My first two years at Notre Dame were relatively research carried on at our institutions and the open uneventful. However, one day during my junior year I forum we provide for discussion and debate on the overheard a conversation in the hall concerning a foremost issues of the day. Our principal contribution, group of students who were going to Mexico. Because however, is our preparation of studentsin the dacq- I was a scholarship athlete, I had a certain amount of room and beyondto be both able and willing to ta..A- economic flexibility in the summer, and this allowed le these issues. me to consider being part the project myself. The The education that comes beyond the classroom is idea came completely "out or me blue." All I can say is my focus here, in particular the idea of experiential that I happened to hear a conversation and my curiosi- education, the university as the setting for this kind of ty was aroused. As it turned out, however, that sum- education, and some related theses of my own. mer venture was for me the opening of a whole new world. I leanted during that and subsequent trips to EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION Peru and to other parts of Mexico that the kinds of questions I took back to the classrooms of Notre Dame I don't know, of course, how particular individuals were radically different from those I was accustomed to asking. I began to Lave a real awareness of inequali- Father Malloy is president of the University of Notre Dame. ty, of inequitable distribution of wealth, of cultural dis- This paper was first delivered as an address at Loyola Marymount crimination, and of many other conditions I had read University for the 1987 ACCU Summer Conference on Justia about in books and heard about in lectures, but which and Peace Education. until then had not sunk in in quite the same way. A

26 liveliness and an intense curiosity toward the educa- write about them and also should be given the oppor- tional opportunities available to me in the university tunity to compare notes with fellow students who setting flowed naturally from the experiences that I have had similar experiences. had in the summer. Whether one calls it an Urban Plunge or a Rural Twenty years later, I was provided another opportu.. Plunge or an Appalachian Experience, there is great nity to broaden my perspective of justice and peace value to these brief immersionsand because of the matters when I participated in a two-week Maryknoll modest demand on students' time, these programs program for university educators whichin some way offer fewer ',.xcuses for not participating. Our experi- replicated what I had been through as a student. ence at Notre Dame suggests that this seemingly mini- However, now I brought a different kind of vision. mal activity often is the beginning of a real commit- Now the relevant question was what could I do as a ment by students to assume a substantial, long-term teacher to communicate this intellectual experience in role in the pursuit of social justice. ways appropriate to the classroomand the pulpit. This second stage of experiential learning has its own Finally, under the auspices of the Association of necessary elements. The first is meaningful work sus- Catholic Colleges and Universities, seve:al years ago I tained long enough (Here is the importance of sum- went to Costa Rica to explore what therelationship mers.) that one can become part of the rhythm of life of might be between the United Natiens' University of a people and place, can allow the sights,the smells and Peace and various Catholic institutions. This time it the sounds to get into your soul, in a sense. Even now, was not so much a coming togrips with the reality of for example, I can call to mind some of the places that poverty, but rather exploring a relatedquestionwas I've been in Peru and Chile and Mexico and still can there an intercultural context in which the question of almost smell the garbage dumps that one walks by, the peace could be explored moreeffectively than just sewage, the dust in the air. I can see the bloated stom- within national boundaries? achs and the dilapidated housing and all the conse- On the basis of these personal encounters over some quences of the lack of water. The unemployed sitting 25years,Isee two kinds ofexperiential around, the neighborhood drunks making a scene at educationone a brie$ immersion and the other a sus- night keeping everybody awake, the dogs yapping, the tained, long-term commitment. Both have a place in cats yowlingwhether in this country or abroad, education, for often the second flows out of the first. becoming part of the rhythm of life is essential to hav- An example of the brief immersion is a program ing a real experience of poverty. called the Urban Plungea 48-hour exposure to a side Time for discussion and reflection, both with experts of American life with which most universitystudents and with the local people, is readily available in these are not personallyacquainted. It has the following longer-range projects and can help reveal the under- qualities: It's raw, i.e., it's a disjunctive situation; it side of things. For example, I am an "urban freak." I doesn't conform to what the typical student has like to give tours of cities. On occasion I have taken known firsthand before. It's concentrated: Students see people to a street corner in a major city and said, "I a great deal more than they canabsorb. And it's per- would like you to stand here for forty-five minutes, sonally unprecedented. Part of the impact is that the stu- and then I would like you to tell itz what you see. dents have not had that kind of opportunitybefore. Then we'll talk about it, and I'll tell you what I see The rawness, I think, makes a huge difference. If 7,nu since I may have a little more experience back- are going to structuresomething to jog or stimulate ground." The same can be done on a trip tr an urban someone's consciousness, it's got to be poignant park to watch the dynamics, or by having people enough to be different from what people are accus- explore the same setting in the morning, at lunchtime, tomed to. at dinnertime and at night. All of this is to get people A second feature of the brief immersion is that it to begin to appreciate the different worlds ofthe same must be structured. If a program is going tomake maxi- site, to give them new perspectives on what's really mum use of little time, studentschin spend it in cars going on. The panhandlers and the pickpockets, the or buses or walkingaround with no sense of what they sexual overtures, the drugsall those things are there, are seeing. Also crucialis the question of who super- but people often cannot see them. vises the experience. People who work day..fter day in The final component of the semester or summer pro- these same settings are the best guides. In fact, oneof ject is debriefing. What happens when people return the major problem's we've faced as a nationalschool from long-range projects? Who engages them in con- with Urban Plunges set up in more than 60 sites versation and reflection? What do they read? If they around the country is ensuring that there areenough have kept a diary or a journal, who helps them vort out willing and qualified supervisors. their experiences? This is the essential component that A third component of the brief immersion iswhat universities and colleges cai. provide to make experi- happens when the students return to campus.To rein- ential learning a pedagogically sound experience. force their experiences, studentsshould be asked to Once students have had these opportunities, what they

27 ry n bring to the books and to the classroom or into the lab- to form a community. We did all of this with the presi- oratories is considerably enhanced. dent of a local bank, with two corporate CEOs, with a local politician and others from the university. It was a THL UNIVERSITY SETTING very healthy interaction, one that established a momen- tum for the years ahead. From my vantage pointas a person who's been a Faculty involvement with and support of justice and teacher and lived in a dorm (and still does) and now as peace education is essential to the full integration of an administrator entrusted with responsibility for the these subjects into the academic life of the university institution as a whole, including social justice and Curriculum structuring is the first hurdle to overcome. peace educationat this particular moment of A number of years ago during his presidency of Notre American Catholic history, the question of institutional Dame, Father Hesburgh attempted to establish a values self-definition is critical. Institutional survival and well- seminar for seniors. Arts and Letters people nodded, being are a direct function of our preservation of a "Wonderful idea"; most of the rest of the faculty meaningful self-definition. What does it mean to be a sighed, "Who's going to teach this material?" Beset by Catholic college or university? We all know that debate; faculty fears of stepping outside their areas of profes- it goes on endlessly. (I am always amused to hear peo- sional training and by faculty indifference, the seminar ple not in Catholic education asking each other what it never got off the ground. Since then, proposals have means to be a secular institution. Anyway, we are not been made to require all studentc to investigate social the only people who go through this.) justice issues either through an experiential learning Institutional self-definitionfor us, what it means to project or through particular Lourses, but the closest be a Catholic schoolencompasses, I think, these we've come to that has been an improvement of our requirements: serious regard for the range of courses course offerings combined with meny extracurricular students take (including, for many institutions, activities. requirements in philosophy and theology); the provi- Iivhy are such proposals for a ct .ricular base for sion of opportunities for worship; concern for pastoral social justice issues resisted by the faculty? Partly, I care; and (and I stress the equal importance of this) the think, the reluctance stems from the absence of a inculcation of a commitment to social responsibility as preparatory graduate school specialization, partly it citizens and as members of the church. Because this last reflects our habit of passing along responsibility for objective can only be accomplished if students have social justice education, and partly it reveals a r al fear come to grips in some organized way with the major on people's parts that if they are forced to do this, they issues of the day, social justice education is crucial and are going to be so noticeably incompetent that their necessary for Catholic colleges and universities. careers will be somehow damaged. There also are peo- Administrators must thoroughly integrate social jus- ple, of course, who are just totally uninterested in social tice education into institutional priorities. This means justice. We have to admit that. But the larger Foblem structuring the common life to provide maximum has more to do with specialization and fear than with opportunities for students and others to grapple in lack of ,-nterest. some organized way with the great issues. It means A second faculty concern is whether justice and peace looking closely at both our sources and uses of funds. If education is soft or hard reflection. Is there room, they social justice is used as a goad to interest people in the ask, for analysis and criticism or will it be just a recita- university, but if the money raised in that way is spent tion of soft-hearted and idealistic progressivism. for other purposes, then our actions obviously are Answering this question makes it evident that scholarly inconsistent with our stated mission. nsideration of social justice must engage the very And administrators must serve as modelsinside best minds, and f.hat faculty who teach in this area full- and outside the university community. What the presi- time must be respected among their peers as teachers dent and the provost do. what the deans and other and scholars who can hold their own with anyone. administrators do with their timethe issues arid the Quality, that is essential. programs they are interested inall of this makes a sig- That said, the question of hard or soft reflection still nificant difference in how people view the university. is not an easy one to sort out, much like the question of At Notre Dame we have organized an Urban Pluniw quantitative versus qualitative analysis in economics for administrators and local community leaders. Fifteen or political science. Is all knowledge distilled in com- of us participated in a recent one. We went to about puter programs or are the real questions about social twelve agenciesthe welfare department, the county values unearthed in the research and writing we do? jail, the state prison. We visited alternate treatment pro- My instinct as an ethicist is always to beware the temp- grams for prisoners. We went to the county pro ecu- tation of the "quick fix" and to sc.te complexity rather tor's office and to an institution that takes care o the than simplicity. Give me any issue or problem, and I'll physically and mentally handicapped. We stopped 'At a usually identify 25 variables that must be taken into house where students and ex-cons live together and ',.ry account and perhaps seven alternative courses of action. That's the way I've been trained, the way I eagerly participate in a summer service project, for think, and when someone steps up to tell me there is example, may simply not be able to forego the income only one way to see a particular issue and only one from a summer job. At Notre Dame a program course to follow, my every instinctbristles and says, underwritten by our alumni clubs and by the James F. "That's just not true." Part of what pecple mean by the Andrews Scholarship Fund (established in memory of distinction between hard and s..ft analysis is the recog- the Notre Dame alumnus who cofounded Universal nition that reality is much more diverse and complex Press Syndicate) addressee this problem by providing than simple schemes of amelioration often allow for. Social Concerns Tuition Scholarships of $1,400 to eligi- The third area of faculty involvement in social justice ble students who spend eight weeks as part of a project education is ethics. We must continue to push across the assisting the poor in an alumni club city. Aside from boundaries, not to allow faculty to rekgate all consider- solving students' financial problems, this program pro- ation of ethics to the College of Arts and Letters. The vides all the other benefits of interaction I mentioned inclination to consider these issues generally is stronger earlier. Before, during and after the experience, the stu- in the humanities, the social sciences anc' the fine arts dents have rebular opportunities to discuss social con- and may not be prevalent elsewhere in ',.he university cerns with the members of the sponsoringalumni club, Ethics actually is a growth business right now. In with the social service professionals involved in the recent academic history, it began withthe Hastings p ()grams, and with the peoplebeing assisted. Institute, which focuses on biomedical ethics. Hastings So successful has this program been, in fact, that Yale was followed by theKennedy Institute at Georgetown and Stanford now are establishing their own programs and then a number of other centers and institutions based on ours. devoted to ethical discussion. The topics taken up have One concern at Notre Dame -dhich I suspect also ranged from war and peace to business ethics. applies to other schools is hew to increase participa- More recently, all of the major professions have been tion ir these programs by men, whoat least propor- subject to intense scrutiny. When a prominent denizen tionatelyare far less likely than women to become of Wall Street gives $20 million to the Harvard involved. One of the healthy characteristics of the Business School to solve the profession's problems, American Catholic Church, compared with the church that would appear to signal a general malaise. Inlaw, in Europe, has been the widespread involvement of in medicine, in government service, in education, in men in every facet of churchlife, including voluntary the ministry, in fact throughout the so-called classic associations. That image, however, is called into ques- professions, there are symptoms of failurenot in tion when it comes to male student involvement in terms of the rigor of preparation, not in termsof the social justice, matters. It's a situation that needs to be difficulty of entry, not in terms of existence and com- publicly aired and addressed. munication of codes of ethics, but in terms of adher- Minority student participation in social justice work ence to and enforcement ofthose codes by members of also lags. Many who have lived or live close to the raw the professions. This is the persistentdilemma of pro- experience in their own lives are reluctant to revisit fessional life in our time, and its solution must involve such situations. They are striving to be part of the suc- educational institutions. But what of students? How cess story, the elite who havebroken out. To be too can they be motivated tobecome interested and quicny thrust back into an all too familiar situation involved in social justice education? I have suggested can be a very frightening andunpleasant experience. experiential education as the first step. But what will Ironically, then, those students with the most relevant prompt them to volu Meer in the first place?It's not personal experiences don't want to relive them, enough to trust to chanceto imagine thatthny, as I although if they would, they could be great inter- did, will overhear someone talking downthe hall pretf es and bridge builders. when they happen to have a summer free andade- quate financial support to permit them toparticipate. SOME THESES First, we have to be better at public relations. Thelead- ers among our students mustbe identified and culti- By way of conclusion, I offer the following assorted vated, which means confronting head-on the prema- thesesall apropos to education for justice and peace. ture professionalization of ourstudents and their Experience enlivens consciousness. prepackaged career paths, i.e. "I'm pre-med; Idon't This is not a new nor a dramatic claim. Experience have any time for that stuff" or"Engineering takes cannot, however, always be firsthand.The direct, every hour that I have."One approach is to give immediate experience of poverty or violence or conflict increased prominence and visibility tostudents who is only one vehicle for involving people in mattersof already have pal ticipated in social serviceprojects and justice and peace. There is also the way of the imagina- can be effectivespokespersons among their peers. tion, of symbol, of story. In my personalreading on Another fact to be met head-on is thefinancial neixt questions of war and peace, for example,Walter of many individuals. Students whootherwise would Miller's novel A Canticle for Lebowitz intensely moved

29 31 me. Similarly, in Stanley Kubrick's film Barry Lyndon overwhelmed in the process, either from lack ofsup- there is a striking image of the insanity ofwartroops port or because their understanding of the burden they marching across a field into intense cannon fire, never had assumed was too naive. The worst altemativeis to ducking but marching upright in classic 19th century lose hope. military style. The same film examines the irony of dueling with its code of honor and rubrical niceties. Colleges and universities as institutionsare better at analy- sis than at advocacy. Novels and films such as these, as wellas thematic art, certainly have enhanced my ability toengage in This is perhaps a controversial theory, but, Ibelieve, sophisticated and subtle discussion aboutwar and its accurate. Colleges and universitiesare best suited to alternatives. dissect problems, describe their components andorga- Universities and colleges are particularly well suited nize alternatives. There is alwayspressure on institu- to promote this artistic stimulation Readings, film tions, however, to advocate movements,causes or series and art displays ought to cean integral part of prophetic stances. When institutions and their leader- our efforts to enliven the consciousness of our commu- ship refuse to become formal advocates ofvarious nities. causes, accusations of weak will and lack of courage inevitably follow. My response is that theway we Reality is complex, and progress toward ju3tict andpeace is ucture ourselves is in itself a kind of advocacy, but usually slow and difficult. with regard to particular causes, I continueto counsel If one is fully reflective and reads the literature and great caution. Advocacy is best left to the variouscon- works with the people in the front lines, it iseasy to cerned organizations that flourish within the universi- become discouraged and lose hope. That's why it'sso ty or college community difficult to sustain people's interest in these issues. To Colleges and universities are and should be places where the recognize signs of progress, to celebrateeven minor church does its thinking. victories, is crucial to the process of developinga life- Father Ted Hesburgh insisted time commitment to social justice andpeace. on this point through- out his career, and I wholeheartedly agree. One of the The worst alternative is to lose hope. great achievements in Catholic history is the system of We need stories of success. We need heroic figures. higher education in this country. Not to appreciate the We need to repeat again and again the stories of indi- success and the influence that our institutions have viduals like Martin Luther King, Jr., and Dorothy Day had on the well-being of the churchas well as thr and others of their calibre v persisted in protest nation is, I think, very short-sighted. The church against injustice, even sacrificing their lives, euher indeed does its thinking in our institution. Our institu- directly or more slowly over time. On the other hand, tional self-definition, our mission, our role, is indis- how many individuals have taken on an impressive pensable to the church as a community of thinking and agenda of service activities only to be emotionally discourse as well as of service.

30 Homily ACCU Conference on Justice and PeLce Education Chapel of Mary Stonehill College July 8, 1989

John J. Egan

Each of us hearing the readings today may be think- ', toomises which will, in God's time, bring all of us ing to himself or herselfhow do I measure up in my to a Kingdom that will be ours because it will be His. life and work to what is required? What is the level The community of scholars in the Catholic college or and quality of my mercy kindness, patience, forgive- universitystudents, faculty, administrat6rs, yes, and ness? Am I true to His word? Do I think and act as a alumni and friendsshould create for students that "true believer"? model of respect for the dignity of all and of learning We know, of course, that Jesus' words were spoken to how people live and work together. Students expect a communityHis small bandof disciples. Paul was more from their professors than professional compe- successfulto my mindbecause he had the genius to tence. They expect from them a shared vision of what organize local churches. His letters were written not to is worthy of attention as they search for their own individuals, except in a few instances, but to communi- arenas of commitment and dedication. ties of Christians. The Catholic college or university worthy of the As a faith community, we continue to explore the name must train students andfaculty that their meaning of life and the complexity of motivation in mission as Christians is to love and sacrifice for the our liveswhat is theframework for meaningand people with whom they work and live, in the neigh- how far do we walk, work and suffer for the other? borhoods, the cities and towns, the nation. What we are abotit in justice and peace education Our concernand indeed enmeshed in the very fab- programs in our colleges and universities, IL seems to ric of every dimension of the college and universi- me, must be the building of thosetough and commit- tymust be empathy with the impoverished parent ted communities of conscience, as Father Bryan Hehir struggling to feed children, with handicapped persons terms themgroups committed to the pmpositionthat who strive to rise above their disabilities, with the the justice issue is not an extra-curricular activity but elderly, the homeless, the unemployed, the disenfran- at the heart of the total Gospel,which is thoroughly chised. Rooted deeply in our Gospel values, the social. Catholic college and university must always fight for It is our task, as Pope John Paul declared to the edu- justice for those caught at the outskirts of our society. cators in his first U.S. visit, "to train young menand Will our graduates be signs of the presence of Christ women of outstanding knowledge,who, having made in the family, in their workplaces, in their neighbor- a synthesis of faith andculture, will be both capable hoods? We labor to help them understand and carry and willing to assume tasks in the service of the com- out their responsibilities in the areas where life fash- munity....and to bear witness to their faith before the ions salvation. We struggle to encourage their collec- world." tive reflection on daily ethical issues which arise on the Today, our personal lives, social organizations and job. We urge their growth in a well honed ability to institutions, including the church, and even humanity examine their work in the light of faith in the searing itself, all are bound up in a bewildering processof concrete settings in which they will continually find social and cultural change which place the future in themselves. our own hands. The Catholic college and university must help them The Lord has given each of us tlat special call to be ask the critical questions. What does it mean in a plu- among His people in the midstof life. We announce ralistic society to combine authentic faith with contem- the Good News that history does have meaningand porary questions and peer pressures?What is the rela- life has purpose, that there are promises still tobe real- tionship between medicine and health in this commu- nity? Is there an enviable relationship between law and Msgr. Egan is assistant to the president for community affetirs at justice in the courtrooms, jails and parole systems of blePaul University. our city?

31 3 3 How can people who work in these systemsand munities, our students will not learn the principlesor otherscombine experience, values and skills to help organization and commitment to the "long haul." each other make those systems function for thecom- As Father Ferree told us four decadesago: The act of mon good? social justice is organization. The American bishops' voices stirus to ask: What is So much of our concern has centeredon justice and our economy, national and international, doing to peo- peace on the international scene and with much justi- ple and fnr people and how do people participatemore fication. So a great many of our studentsare more exer- fully in it? cised, if at all, about China, Panama, Guatemalaand We know at the very least we need a dramatic revival Afghanistan than they are about thenew robber barons of concern for the common good, for commitmentto in our stock exchanges, the practices of discrimination the public interest. We know that we must inspire and in the workings of real estate boards,or the racial motivate for the required shared sacrifices which will exploitation of corporations, and the corruption ofour be demanded of us all. Most of allwe need a revival of city councils. hope and of intelligence, of willingness to faceour A quarter of a century ago, Father James Burtchaell of problems honestly, the imagination to developnew Notre Dame chaired a conference ofmen and women ideas and the courage to test them through experimen- concerned about religiously committed higher educa- tation. tion. Beware of the tragic "seven last words" from the faint "Those who share in the work," he said, "should ask of heart: "We never did it this way before." how they can become more flexible yet effective, proud The road to justice at home, and ultimately to justice and explicit rather than bashfulor devious about their and peace in international relations, lies througha religious commitment, more aggressive in their critique revival of dedication to the public life ofour local com- of an unquestioned Americanway of life." munities, states and nations. At the conclusion of their days together, theconfer- "The laity are the key social action agents of the ence participants published a statement which read in church in the world. They are the critical point of inser- part: "(The task of the Christian college) is to developa tion in transforming Christian action in the arenas of community of scholars through which Jesus Christ is economics and politics," writes Jesuit John Coleman in witnessed to the in world by their persistent pursuit of his An American Strategic Theology. further truth, no matter how discomfiting, by the spirit Therefore, we have to ask: Are our justice andpeace of comradeship they share among themselves, and by education programs aimed at helping lay peoplepre- their resolution to offer whatever wisdom is theirs for pare themselves to play their own autonomous role as the service of their brothers and sisters." Christians in the tempora: order? Are we personally If we do our work well in justice andpeace education, and our programs stimulating and adequately oriented it is our graduates, as Christians, as workers,as citizens, toward the formation of authentic lay leaders who will as a caring community, as a community of conscience, exercise their apostolate, not in and through church informed and inspired and supported by the church, organizations, but in their secular occupations? who will act on behalf of justice and participate in the I come from the generation that was fashionedon the transformation of the world. philosophy and apostolate of "like to like"lawyer to lawyer, teacher to teacherbut we lacked the ecclesiol- Then. ogy and courage to make it a dynamic reality. Kindness and truth shall meet; In former days, we referred to some of our numberas justice and peace shall kiss. "labor priests" and, therefore, they were treated as out- Truth shall spring out of the earth, !,ide the mainstream of Catholic life. We must not let and justice shall look down from heaven. this happen with justice and peace education. The Lord himself will give his benefits; Unless our justice and peace education programs our land shall yield its increase. move beyond theorywhile the students are in college, Justice shall walk before him and yes, in high schooland into involvement in corn- and salvation, along the way of Es steps.

32 Peace with God the Creator Peace with All of Creation

Pope John Paul II Message far the January 1,1990, World Day of Peace

INTRODUCTION woman, and only then as we readcould he rest "from all his work" (Gn. 2:3). 1.In our day there is a growing awareness that Adam and Eve's call to share in the unfolding of world peace is threatened not only by the arms race, God's plan of creation brought into play those abilities regional conflicts and continued injustice among peo- and gifts which distinguish the human being from all ples and nations, but also by a lack of due respect for other creatures. At the same time, their call established nature, by the plundering of natural resources and by a a fixed relationship between mankind and the rest of progressive decline in the quality of life. The sense of creation. Made in the image and likeness of God, precariousness and insecurity that such a situation Adam and Eve were to have exercised their dominion engenders is a seedbed for collective selfishness, disre- over the earth (Gn. 1:28) with wisdom and love. gard for others and dishonesty Instead, they destroyed the existing harmony by delib- Faced with the widespread destruction of the envi- erately going against the Creator's plan, that is, by ronment, people everywhere are coming to understand choosing to sin. This resulted not only in man's alien- that we cannot continue to use the goods of the earth as &ion from himself, in death and fratricide, but also in we have in the past. The public in general aswell as the earth's "rebellion" against him (cf. Gn. 3:17-19; political leaders are concerned about this problem, and 4:12). All of creation became subject to futilit. waiting experts from a wide range of disciplines are studying in a mysterious way to be set free and to obtam a glori- its causes. Moreover, a new ecological awareness is ous liberty, together with all the children of God (cf. beginning to emerge which, rather than being down- Rom. 8:20-21). played, ought to be encouraged to develop into con- 4.Christians believe that the death and resurrection crete programs and initiatives. of Christ accomplished the work of reconciling humani- 2. Many ethical values fundamental to the develop- ty to the Father, who "was pleased . .. through (Christ) ment of a peaceful society are particularly relevant to to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in the ecological question. The fact that many challenges heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross" (Col. facing the world today are interdependent confirms the 1:19-20). Creation was thus made new (cf. Rv. 21:5). need for carefully coordinated solutions based on a Once subjected to the bondage of sin ard decay (cf. morally coherent worldview. Rom. 1 21), it has now received new life while "we wait For Christians, such a worldview is grounded in reli- for new heavens and a new earth in which righteous- gious convictions drawn from revelation. That is why I ness dwells" (2 Pt. 3:13). Thus, the Father"has made should like to begin this message with a reflection on known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery ... the biblical account of creation. I would hope that even which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of those who do not share these same beliefs will find in time, to unite all things in him, all th; igs in heaven and these pages a common ground for reflection and action. things on earth" (Eph. 1:9-10). 5.These biblical considerations help us to under- I. "AND GOD SAW THAT IT WAS GOOD" stand better the relationship between human activity 3.In the book of Genesis, where we find God's first and the whole of creation. When man turns his back on self-revelation to humanity (Gn. 1-3), there is a recur- the Creator's plan, he provokes a disorder which has ring refrain: "And God saw that it was good." After cre- inevitable repercussions on the rest of the created order. ating the heavens, the sea, the earth and all it contains, If man is not at peace with God, then earth itself cannot God created man and woman. At this point the refrain be at peace: "Therefore the land mourns and all who changes markedly: "And God saw everything that he dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and had made, and behold, it was very good" (Gn. the birds of the air md even the fish of the sea are taken God entrusted the whole of creation to the manand away" (Hos. 4:3).

33 r, 44, ) 11..." The profound sense that the earth is "suffering" is On another level, delicate ecological balancesare also shared by those who do not professour faith in upset by the uncontrolled destruction of animal and God. Indeed, the increasing devastation of the world of plant life or by a reckless exploitation of natural nature is apparent to all. It results from the behavior of resources. It should be pointed out that all of this, even people who show a callous disregard for the hidden, yet if carried out in the name of progress and well-being,is perceivable requirements of the order and harmony ultimately to mankind's disadvantage. which govern nature itself. Finally, we can only look with deepconcern at the People are asking anxiously if it is still possible to enormous possibilities of biological research. We are remedy the damage which has been done. Clearly, an not yet in a position to assess the biological disturbance adequate solution cannot be found merely in a better that could result from indiscriminate genetic manipula- management or a more rational use of the earth's tion and from the unscrupulous development ofnew resources, as important as these may be. Rather, we forms of plant and animal life, tosay nothing of unac- must go to the source of the problem and face in its ceptable experimentation regarding the origins of entirety that profound moral crisis of which the destruc- human life itself. It is evident to all that inany area as tion of the environment is only one troubling aspect. delicate as this, indifference to fundamental ethical norms or their rejection would lead mankind to the II. THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS: A MORAL PROBLEM very threshold of self-destruction. 6.Certain elements of today's ecological crisis reveal Respect for life, and above all for the dignity of the its moral character. First among these is the indiscrimi- human person, is the ultimate guidingnorm for any nate application of advances in science and technology sound economic, industrial or scientificprogress. Many recent discoveries have brought undeniable bene- The complexity of the ecological question is evident fits to humanity Indeed, they demonstrate the nobility to all. There are, however, certain underlying principles of the human vocation Iparticipate responsibly in which, while respecting the legitimate autonomy and God's creative action in the world. Unfortunately, it is the specific competence of those involved,can direct now clear that the application of these discoveries in the research toward adequate and lasting solutions. These fields of industry and agriculture have produced harm- principles are essential to the building ofa peaceful ful long-term effects. This las led to the painful realiza- society; no peaceful society can afford to neglect either tion that we cannot interfere in one area of the ecosys- respect for life or the fact ihat there is an integrity to tem without paying due attention both to the conse- creation. quences of such interference in other areas and to the well-being of future generations. In. IN SEARCH OF A SOLUTION The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the 8.Theology, philosophy and science all speak ofa related "greenhouse effect" has now reached crisispro- harmonious universe, of a "cosmos" endowed with its portions as a consequence of industrial growth, massive own integrity, its own internal, dynamic balance. This urban concentrations and vastly increased energy order must be respected. The humanraci.: is called to needs. Industrial waste, the burning of fossil fuels, unre- Aore this order, to examine it with duecare and to sticted deforestation, the use of certain types of herbi- make use of it while safeguarding its integrity cides, coolants and propellants: All of these are known On the other hand, the earth is ultimatelya common to harm the atmosphere and environment. The resulting heritage, the fruits of which are for the benefit of all. In meteorological and at:spheric changes range from the words of the Second Vatican Council, "God des- damage to health to tK possible future submerOnn of tined the earth and all it contains for the use ofevery low-lying lands. individual and all peoples" (Gaudiwn et Spa, 69). This While in some cases the damage already done may has direct consequences for the problem at hand. It is well be irreversible, in many other cases it can still be manifestly unjust that a privileged few should continue halted. It is necessary, however, that the entire human to accumulate excess goods, squandering available communityindividuals, states and international bod- resources, while masses of people are living in condi- iestake seriously the responsibility that is theirs. tions of misery at the very lowest level of subsistence. 7.The most profound and serious indication of the Today the dramatic threat of ecological breakdown is moral implications underlying the ecological problem is teaching us the extent to which greed and selfish- the lack of respect for life evident in many of the pat- nessboth individual and collectiveare contrary to terns of environmental pollution. Often the interests of the order of creation, an order which is characterized production prevail over concern for the dignity of by mutual interdepettdence. workers, while eronomic interests take priority over the 9. The concepts of an ordered universe and a com- good of individuals and even entire peoples. In these mon heritage both point to the necessity of a more cases, pollution or environmental destruction is the internationally coordinated approach to the manage- result of an unnatural and reductionist vision, which at ment of the earth's goods. In many cases the effects of times leads to a genuine contempt for man. ecological problems transcend the borders of individu-

34 al states; hence their solution cannot be found solely on many countries, for example, have led to subsistence the national level. Recently there have been some farming and to the exhaustion of the soil. Once their promising steps toward such international action, yet land yields no more, many farmers move on to clear the existing mechanisms and bodies are clearly not ade- new land, thus accelerating uncontrolled deforestation, quate for the development of a comprehensive plan of or they settle in urban centers which lack the infrastruc- action. Political obstacles, forms of exaggerated nation- ture to receive them. Likewise, some heavily indebted alism and economic intereststo mention only a few countries are destroying their natural heritage, at the factorsimpede international cooperation and long- price of irreparable ecological imbalances, in order to term effective action. develop new products for export. In the face of such sit- The need for joint action on the international level uations it would te wrong to assign responsibility to does not lessen the responsibility of each individual the poor alone for the negative environmental conse- state. Not only should each state join with others in quences of their actions. Rather, the poor, to whom the implementing internationally accepted standards, but it earth is entrusted no less than to others, must be should also make or facilitate necessary socio-economic enabled to find a way out of their poverty. This will adjustments within its own borders, giving special require a courageous reform of structures as well as attention to the most vulnerable sectors of society. The new ways of relating among peoples and states. state should also actively endeavor within its own terri- 12. But there is another dangerous menace which tory to prevent destruction of the atmosphere and bio- threatens us, namely war. Unfortunately, modern sci- sphere by carefully monitoring, among other things, ence already has the capacity to change the environ- the impact of new technological or scientific advances. ment for hostile purposes. Alterations of this kind over The state also has the responsibility of ensuring that its the long term could have unforeseeable and still more citizens are not exposed to dangerous pollutants or serious consequences. Despite the international agree- toxic wastes. The right to a safe environment is ever ments which prohibit chemical, bacteriological and bio- more insistently presented today as a right that mustbe logical warfare, the fact is that laboratory research con- included in an updated charter of human rights. tinues to develop new offensive weapons capable of altering the balance of nature. IV. THE URGENT NEED FOR A NEW SOLIDARITY Today, any form of war on a global scale would lead to incalculable ecological damage. But even local or 10. The ecological crisis reveals the urgent moral regional wars, however limited, not only destroy need for a new solidarity, especially in relations human life and social structures, but also damage the between the developing nations and those that are land, ruiniAg crops and vegetation as well as poisoning highly industrialized. States must increasingly share the soil and water. The survivors of war are forced to responsibility, in complementary ways, for the promo- begin a new life in very difficult environmental condi- tion of a natural and social environment that is both tions, which in turn create situations of extreme social peaceful and healthy. The newly industrialized states unrest, with further negative consequences for the envi- cannot, for example, be asked to apply restrictive envi- ronment. ronmental standards to their emerging industries 13. Modern society will find no solution to the eco- unless the industrialized states first apply them within logical problem unless it takes a serious look at its their own boundaries. At the same time, countries in lifestyle. In many parts of the world, society is given to the process of indastrialization are not morally free to instant gratification and consumerism while remaining repeat the errors made in the past by others andreck- indifferent to the damage which they cause. As I have lessly continue to damage the environment through already stated, the seriousness of the ecological issue industrial pollutants, radical deforestation or unlimited lays bare the depth of man's moral crisis. If an appreci- exploitation of non-renewable resources. In this con- ation of the value of the human person and of human text, there is urgent need to find a solution to the treat- life is lacking, we will also lose interest in others and in ment and disposal of toxic wastes. the earth itself. Simplicity, moderation and discipline, No plan or organization, however, will be able to as well as a spirit of sacrifice, mustbecome a part of effect the necessary changes unless world leaders are everyday life, lest all suffer the negative consequences truly convinced of the absolute need for this new soli- of the careless habits of a few. darity, which is demanded of them by the ecological An education in ecological responsibility is urgent: crisis and which is essential for peace. This need pre- responsibility for oneself, for others and for the earth. sents new opportunities for strengtheningcooperative This education cannot be rooted ir mere sentiment or and peaceful relations among states. empty wishes. Its purpose cannot re ideological or 11. It must also be said that the proper ecological bal- political. It must not be based on a rejection ,-)f the mod- ance will not be found withoutdirectly addressing the _.rn world or a vague desire to return to some "paradise structural forms of poverty that exist throughout the lost." Ir ,tead, a true education in responsibility entails world. Rural poverty and unjust land distribution in a genuine conversion in ways ofthought and behavior.

35 07 Churches and religious bodies, non-governmental and Even men and women without any particular reli- governmental organizations, indeed all members of gious conviction, but with an acute sense of their society have a precise role to Flay in such education. responsibilities for the common good, recognize their The first educator, however, is the family, where the obligation to contribute to the restoration ofa healthy child learns to respect his neighbor and to love nature. environment. All the more should men and women 14. Finally, the aesthetic value of creation cannot be who believe in God the Creator, and who are thus con- overlooked. Our very contact with nature has a deep vinced that there is a self-defined unity and order in the restorative power; contemplation of its magnificence world, feel called to address the problem. Christians, in imparts peace and serenity The Bible speaks again and particular, realize that their responsibility within cre- again of the goodness and beauty of creation, which is ation and their duty toward nature and the Creator are called to glorify God (cf. Gn. 1:4ff; Ps. 8:2; 104:1ff; Wis. an essential part of their faith. As a result, they are con- 13:3-5; Sir. 39:16, 33; 43:1, 9). More difficult perhaps, but scious of a vast field of ecumenical and inter-religious no less profound, is the contemplation of the works of cooperation opening up before them. human ingenuity. Even cities can have a beauty all their 16. At the conclusion of this message, I should like to own, one that ought to motivate people to care for their address directly my brothers and sisters in the C-Aholic surroundings. Good urban planning is an important Church, in order to remind them of their serious obliga- part of environmental protection, and respect for the tion to care for all of creation. The commitment of natural contours of the land is an indispensable prereq- believers to a healthy environment for everyone stems uisite for ecologically sound development. The relation- directly from their belief in God the Creator, from their ship between a good aesthetic edLcation and the main- recognition of the effects of original and personal sin, tenance of a healthy environment cannot be over- and from the certainty of having been redeemed by looked. Christ. Respect for life and for the dignity of the human person extends also to the rest of creation, which is V. THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS: A COMMON called to join man in praising God (cf. Ps. 148:96). RESPONSIBILITY In 1979, I proclaimed St. Francis of Assisi as the heav- enly patron of those who promote ecology (cf. aNstolk 15. Today the ecological crisis has assumed such pro- letter Inter Sanctos: AAS 71 (1979), 15090. He offers pnrtions as to be the responsibility of everyone. As I Christians an example of genuine and deep respect for have pointed out, its various aspects demonstrate the the integrity of creation. As a friend of the poor who need for concerted efforts aimed at establishing the was loved by God's matures, St. Francis invited all of duties and obligations that belong to individuals, peo- creationanimals, plants, natural forces, even Brother ples, states and the international community This not Sun and Sister Moonto give honor and praise to the only goes hand in hand with efforts to build true peace, Lord. The poor mart of Assisi gives us striking witness but also confirms and reinforces those efforts in a con- that when we are at peace with God we are better able crete way. When ecological crisis is set within the to devote ourselves to building up that peace with all broader context of the search for peace within society, creation which is inseparable from peace among all we can understand better the importance of giving peoples. attention to what the earth and its atmosphere are It is my hope that the inspiration of St. Francis will telling us; namely, that there is an order in the universe help us to keep ever alive a sense of "fraternity" with which must be respected, and that the human person, all those good and beautiful things which almighty endowed with the capabiliq, of choosing freely, has a God has created. And may he remind us of our serious grave re, 1.tonsibility to preserve this order for the wen- obligation to respect and watch over them with care, in being of future generations. I wish to repeat that the light of that greater and higher fraternity that exists ecological crisis is a moral crisis. within the human family. What is Happening to Our BeautifulLand

A 1988 Pastoral Letter of the Episcopal Conferenceof the Philippines

INTRODUCTION their world at close range, have cried out in anguish. Also men and women who attempt to live harmo- The Philippines is now at a critical point in its history. niously with nature and those who study ecology have For the past number of years we haveexperienced tried to alert people to the magnitude of the destruc- political instability economic decline and a growth in tion taking place in our time. The latter are in a good armed conflict Almost every day the mediahighlight position to tell us what is happening since they study one or other of theseproblems. The banner headlines the web of dynamic relationships which supports and absorb our attention so much so that we tend to over- sustains all life within the earthly household. This look a more deep-seated crisis which, we believe,lies at includes human life. the root of many of our economic andpolitical prob- lems. To put it simply; our country is in peril.All the A CALL TO RESPECT AND DEFEND LIFE living systems on land and in the seas around us are being ruthlessly exploited. The damage to date is exten- At this point in the history of our country it is crucial sive and, sad to say, it is often irreversible. that people motivated by religious faith develop a One does not need to be an expert to see what ishap- deep appreciation for the fragility of our islands' life pening and to be profoundly troubled by it. Within a systems and take steps to defend the Earth. It is a mat- few short years brown, eroded hills havereplaced luxu- ter of life and death. We are aware of this threat to life riant forests in many parts of the couintry.We see dried when it comes to nuclear weapons. We know that a up river beds where, not solong ago, streams flowed nuclear war would turn the whole earth into a fireball throughout the year. Farmers tell us that,because of and render the planet inhospitable to life. We tend to erosion and chemical poisoning, the yieldfrom the forget that the constant, cumulative destruction of life- croplands has fallen substantially. Fishermenand forms and different habitats will, in the long term, experts on marine life have asimilar message. Their have the same effect. Faced with thesechallenges, fish catches are shrinking in the wake ofthe extensive where the future of life is at stake, Christian menand destruction of coral reefs and mangroveforests. The women are called to take a stand onthe side of life. picture which is emerging in everyprovince of the We, the Catholic bishops of the Philippines,ask country is clear and bleak. The attack onthe natur.a Christians and all people of goodwill in the country to world which benefits very few Filipinos israpidly whit-. reflect with us on the beauty of the Philippine land tling away at the very base of our livingworld and and seas which nourish and sustain our lives. As we endangering its fruitfulness for future generations. thank God for the many ways He has gifted ourland As we reflect on what is happening in the lightof the we must also resolve tocherish and protect what Gospel, we are convinced that this assault oncreation is remains of this bounty for this and future generations sinful and contrary to the teachings of on.faith. The of Filipinos. We are well aware that, for the vast major- Bible tells us that God created this world(Gen. 1:1); that ity of Filipinos, the scars on nature, whichincreasingly He loves His world and is pleased withit (Gen. 1: 4, 10, we see Pll around us, mean lessnutritious food, poorer 12, 18, 21, 25, and 31); and that Hecreated man and health and an uncertain future. This willinevitably woman in His image andcharged them to be stewards lead to an increase in politic .al and social unrest. of His creation (Gen. 1: 27-28).God, who created our world, loves life and wishes to share thislife with every WE SEE THE BEAUTY AND THE PAIN OFTHE creature. St. John tells us that ksus sawHis mission in EARTH this light. "I have come that they mayhave life and As you read this letter or listen to sections of itbeing have it to the full" (Jn. 10:10). read, scenes from your barrio may come tomind. In We are not alone in our concern.Tribal people all your mind's eye you 1,tay seewell laid out rice pad- over the Philippines,who have seen the destruction of

37 c, dies flanked by coconuts with their fronds swaying in CREATION IS A LONG PROCESS the breeze. Or you may hear the rustle of thecogon grass on the hills behind your barrio. These scenes You might ask: Why is it important to rememberthe mean so much to us and are beautiful. Yet they do not original state of our land? First of all, it remindsus of represent the original vegetation with which God has how God, in his wisdom and goodness, shaped this blessed our land. They show the heary hand of human land in this part of the world. It didnot happen over labor, planning and sometimes short-sightedness. night. It took millions of years ofcare and love to For generations the hunting and food gatheringtech- mould and reshape this land with all its beauty,rich- niques of our tribal forefathers showeda sensitivity ness and splendor, where intricate pathways bind all and respect for the rhythms of nature. But all of this the creatures together in a mutually supportivecom- has changed in recent years. Huge plantations and munity Human beings are not alien to this communi- mono-crop agriculture have pitted humans against ty. God intended this land for us, his specialcrea- nature. There are short-term profits for the few and tures, but not so that we might destroy it and turn it even substantial harvests, but the fertility of the land into a wasteland. Rather, He chargedus to be stew- has suffered and the diversity of the natural world has ards of his creation, to care for it, to protect itsfruit- been depleted. So our meditation must begin by fulness and not allow it to be devastated (Gen. 1:28, reflecting on the original beauty of our land, rivers and 9:12). By protecting what is left of the rainforestwe seas. This wonderful community of the living existed insure that the farmers have rain and plants for the for millions of years before human beingscame to food that sustains us. these shores. OUR FORESTS LAID WASTE THE FORESTS How much of this richness and beauty is lefta few When our early ancestors arrived here, they founda thousand years after human beings arrived at these country covered by a blanket of trees. These abounded shores? Look around and see where our forests have in living speciesover 7,500 species of flowering gone. Out of the original 30 million hectares there is plants, not to mention animals, birds and insects. now only 1 million hectares of primary forest left. These were wate ed by the tropical rains whichswept Where are some of the most beautiful creatures who in from the seas and gradually seeped down through used to dwell in our forests? Theseare God's master- the vegetation and soil to form dear flowing rivers and pieces, through which he displays hispower, ingenu- sparkling lakes which abounded in fish and aquatic ity and love for his creation. Humans have forgotten life before completing the cycle and returningto the to live peacefully with other creatures. They have sea. An incredible variety of insects lived in the forest destroyed their habitat and hunted them relentlessly. and were busy with all kinds of tasks from recycling Even now many species are already extinct and the dead wood to pollinating flowering plants. Thecom- destruction of species is expected to increase dramati- munity of the living was not confined to creatures who cally during the next decade as the few remaining walked on the Earth. Birds flew through the air, their strands of forest are wiped out by loggers and bright plumes and varying calls adding color andsong kaingineros. What about the birds? They used togreet to the green of the forests. Birds are also the geatsow- us each morning and lift our spirits beyond the hori- ers. They contributed greatly to the variety of plant life 'ons of this world. Now they are silenced. In many which is spread throughout the forest. Finally, small places all we hear now are cocks crowing. Where is and large animals lived in the forest and feastedon its the soaring eagle circling above the landor the color- largesse. Our land born out of volcanic violence and ful kalaw? earthquakes brought fourth a bounty of riches. We stand in avve at the wisdom of our Creator who has THE HEMORRHAGE OF OUR LIFE BLOOD fashioned this world of life, color, mutual support and After a single night's rain look at the chocolate fruitfulness in our land. brown rivers in your locality and remember that they are carrying the life blood of the land into the sea. OUR SEAS Soil, instead of being the seed bed of life, becomesa The beauty did not end at the shoreline. Our islands cloak of death, smothering, retarding and killing coral were surrounded by blue seas, fertile mangroves and polyps. Soil specialists tell us that we lose the equiva- enchanting coral reefs. The coral reefs were a world of lent of 100,000 hectares of soil one meter thick each color and beauty with fish of every shape and hue year. We are hardly aware of this enormous loss darting in and out around the delicate coral reefs. which is progressively eroding away our most fertile Per las ng Silanganan was an appropriate name for this soil and thus our ability to produce food foran chain of wooded islands, surrounded by clear seas, expanding population. Any comprehensive land studded with coral reefs. reform must address this most serious threat toour food supply.

38 4 DESERT IN THE SEA WE CAN AND MUST DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT How cm fish swim in running sewers like the Past It is already late in the day and so much damage has and so many more rivers which we have polluted? been done. No one can pinpoint the precise moment Who has turned the wonder world of the seas into when the damage becomes so irreversible that our liv- underwater cemeteries bereft of color and life? ing world will collapse. But we are rapidly heading in Imagine: Only 5% of our corals are in their pristine that direction. Even now there are signs of stress in state! The blast of dynamite can still be heard on our every corner of our land. As we look atwhat is hap- coastal waters. We still allow niuro-atni fishing methods nening before our eyes, and think of the horrendous which take a terrible toll both on the young swimmers consequences for the land and the people, wewould and the corals. Mine tailings are dumped into fertile do well to remember that God, who created this beau- seas like Galancan Bay in Sta.Cruz, Marinduque, tiful land, will hold us responsible for plundering it where they destroy forever the habitat of the fish. and leaving it desolate. So will future generations of Chemicals are poisoning our lands and rivers. They kill Filipinos. Instead of gifting them with a fruitful land, vital organisms and in time they will poison us. The all we will leave behind is a barren desert. We, the ghost of the dreaded Minamato disease hangs over bishops, call on all Filipinos to recognize the urgency towns in the Agusan river basin and the Davaogulf. of this task and to respond to it now. As Filipinos we can and must act now. Nobody else RECENT DESTRUCTION CARRIED OUT IN THE will do it for us. This is our home; we must care for it, NAME OF PROGRESS watch over it, protect it and k ie it. We must be partic- ularly careful to protect what remains of our forests, Most of this destruction has taken place since the rivers, and corals and to hcal, where ever we can, the beginning of this century, a mere wink of an eye in the damage which has already been done. long history of our country. Yet in that time we have The task of preserving and healing is a daunting one laid waste complex living systems that have taken given human greed and the relentless drive of our millions of years to reach their present state of devel- plunder economy. But we must not lose hope. God opment. has gifted us with creativity and ingenuity. He has We often use the word progress to describe what has planted in our hearts a love for our land, which bursts takm place over the past few decades. There is no forth in our songs and poetry. We can harness our cre- denying that in some areas our roads have improved ativity in the service of life and shun anything that and that electrichy is more readily available. But can leads to death. we say that there is it realprogress? Who has benefit- ted most and who has borne :ate real costs? The poor SIGNS OF HOPE are as disadvantaged as everand the natural world has been grievously wounded. We have stripped it Despite the pain and despoliation which we have bare, silenced its sounds, and banished other creatures mentioned, there are signs of hope. Our forefathers from the community of the living. Through our and our tribal brothers and sisters today still attempt thoughtlessness and greed we have sinned against to live in harmony with nature. They see the Divine God and His creation. Spirit in the living world and show their respect One thing is certain: We cannot continue to ignore thmugh prayers and offerings. Tribal Filipinos remind and disregard the Earth. Already we are experiencing us that the exploitative approach to thenatural world the consequence of our shortsightedness andfolly. is foreign to our Filipino culture. Even though we squeeze our lands and try to extract The vitality of our Filipino family is also a sign of more from them, theyproduce less food. The air in hope. Parents share their life with their children. They our cities is heavy with noxiousfumes. Instead of protect them and care for them and are particularly bringing energy and life it causes bronchial illness. solicitous when any member of the family is sick. This Our forests are almost gone, our rivers are almost is especially true of mothers; they are the heartbeat of empty, our springs and wells no longer sparklewith the family, working quietly in the home to create an living water. During the monsoon rain, flash-floods atmosphere where everyone is accepted and loved. sweep through our towns andcities and destroy No sacrifice is too demanding when it comes to caring everything in their path. Our lakes and estuaries are for a sick memlxe of the family. The values we see in silting up. An out-of-sight, out-of-mindmentality our families of patient toil, concern forall and a will- allows us to flush toxic waste and mine tailingsinto ingness to sacrifice for the good of others are the very our rivers and seas in themistaken belief that they can values which we must now transfer to the wider no longer harm us. Becausethe living world is sphere in our efforts to conserve, heal, and love our interconnected, the poison is absorbed by marine land. It is not a mere coincidence that women have organisms. We in turn are gradually beingpoisoned been at the forefront of the ecological movement in when we eat seafood. many countries. The tree planting programof the

39 Chipko in Indip popularly known as the "huga tree" justice and to preserve the integrity of creationare two movement, and the Green belt movement in Kenya inseparable dimensions of our Christian vocation to spring to mind. work for the coming of the kingdom of God inour We call to mind that, despite the devastation which times. has taken place in our forests and seas, we Filipinosare sensitive to beauty Even in the poorest home, purents CHRIST OUR LIFE (COL. 3: 4) and children care for flowers. We are also ener trrageci by the growth in environmental awareness among As Christians we also draw our vision from Christ. many Filipinos. Small efforts which teach contour We have much to learn from the attitude of respect ploughing, erosion control, organic farming, and tree which Jesus displayed towards the natural world. He planting can blossom into a major movement of gen- was very much aware that all the creatures in God's uine care for our Earth. We are happy that there have creation are related. Jesus lived lightly on the earth been some successes. Both the Chicho darn project was and warned his disciples against 'oarding material suspended and the Ratnan nuclear plant mothballed possessions and allowing their hearts to be enticed by after massive local resistance. This year the people of the lure of wealth and power (Matt. 6:19-21; Lk. 9:1-6). San Fernando, Bukidnon and Midslip, Zamboanga del But our meditation on Jesus goes beyond this. Our Sur defended what remains of their forest with their faith tells us that Christ is the center point of human own bodies. At the Santa Cruz Mission in South history and creation. All the rich unfolding of the uni- Cotabato serious efforts are underway to reforest bald verse and the emergence and flowering of life on hills and develop ecolcgically sound ways of farming. Earth are centered on him (Eph. 1:9-10; Col 1:16-17). The diocese of Pagadian has chosen the eucharist and The destruction of any part of creation, especially, the ecology as its pastoral focus for this year. These are all extinction of species, defaces the image of Christ signs for us that the Spirit of God, who breathed over which is etched in creation. the waters, and originally brought life out of chaos is now prompting men and women both inside and out- MARY, MOTHER OF LIFE side the church to dedicate their lives to enhancing and protecting the integrity of Creation. In order that these We Filipinos have a deep devotion to Mary. We turn drops will join together and form a mighty stream in the to her for help and protection in time of need. We defense of life we need a sustaining vision to guide us. know that she is on the side of the poor and those who are rejected (Lk. 1:52). Our new sensitivity to OUR VISION what is happening to our land also tells us that she is on the side of life. As a mother she is pained and sad- We will not be successful in our efforts to develop a dened when she sees people deltroy the integrity of new attitude towards the natural world unless we are creation through soil erosion, blast-fishing, or poison- sustained and nourished by a new vision. This vision ing land. Mary knows what the consequences of this must blossom forth from our understanding of the destruction are. Therefore as Mother of Life she chal- world as God intends it to be. We can know the shape lenges us to abandon the pathway of death and to of this world by looking at how God originally fash- return to the way of life. ioned our world and laid it out before us. Taken together, the various strands of our Christian This vision is also grounded in our Faith. The Bible vision envisage a profound renewal which must affect tells us that God created this beautiful and fruitful our people, our culture, and our land. It challenges us world for all his creatures to live in (Gen 1: 1-2:4), and to live once again in harmony with God's creation. that He has given us the task of being steward of His This vision jf caring for the Earth and living in harmo- creation (Gen. 2:19-20). ny within can guide us as, together, we use our inge- The relationship which links God, human beings, nuity and many gifts to heal our wounded country. and all the community of the living together is empha- sized in the covenant which God made with Noah THIS IS WHAT WE SUGGEST after the flood. The rainbow which we still see in the sky is a constant reminder of this bond and challenge In the light of this vision we recommend action in (Gen. 9:12). This covenant recognizes the very close the following areas. bonds which bind living forms together in what are a)What each individual can do: called ecosystems. The implications of this covenant Be aware of what is happening in your area. Do not for us today are clear. As people of the covenant we are remain silen when you see your environment being called to protect endangered ecosystemslike our destroyed. Use your influence within your family and forests, mangroves and coral reefsand to establish community to develop this awareness. Avoid a fatalis- just human communities in our land. More and mor tic attitude. We are people of hope, who believe that we must recognize that the commitment to work for together we can change the course of events. Organize

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4 42 people around local ecological issues. Support public tion to make to related departments like education, officials who are sensitive to environmental issues. health, natural resources and agriculture. There is also Become involved in some concrete action. There is a need to encourage research into the eco-systems of much that can be done by individuals to reforest bald our land end the problems they face in the future. The hills and prevent soil erosion. department should publish a state of the environment b) What the churches can do: report for each region and for the country as a whole Like every other group, the church as a community each year. Above all, the department needs legislative is called to conversion around this, the ultimate pro- teeth to insure that its policies and programs are life issue. Until very recently many religions, includ- implemented. ng the Catholic Church, have been slow torespond to d) What non-governmental organizations can do: the ecological crisis. We, the bishops, would like to Non-governmental organizations have a very impor- redress this neglect. There is a great need for a Filipino tant role to play in developing a widespread ecologi- theology of creation which will be sensitive to our cal awareness among people. They can also act as a unique living world, our diverse cultures and our reli- watch-dog to ensure that the government and those in gious heritage. The fruits of this reflection must be public offices do not renege on their cow mitment to made widely available through our preaching and cat- place this concern at the top of their list. echetical programs. Our different liturgies must cele- brate the beauty and pain of our world, our connect- edness to the natural world and the on-going struggle CONCUTSION for social justice. We would like to encourage the This brief statemc.,t about our living world and the administrators of our catholic schools to give special deterioration we see all around us attempts to reflect importance ;o the theme of peace, justice and the the cry of our people and the cry of our land. At the integrity of creation in their schools. root of the problem we see an exploitative mentality, Since programs, however laudable, will not imple- which is at variance with the Gosrel of Jesus. This ment themselves, we suggest the setting up of a Care expresses itself in acts of violence against fellow of the Earth ministry at every level of church organi- Filipinos. But it is not confined to the human sphere. It zation, from the basic Christian communities, through also infects and poisons our relationship with ovr the parish ?tructure and diocesan offices right up to land and seas. the national leve!. This ministry could help formt ate We reap what we sow; the results of our attitude and implement pOicies and strategies which flow and activities are predictable and deadly. Our small from our new and wider vision. The idea is not so farmers tell us that their fields are loss productive and much to add another activity to our pastoral ministry, are becoming sterile. Our fishermen arefinding it but rather that this concern should underpin every- increasingly difficult to catch fish. Our lands, forests thing we do. and rivers cry out that they are being eroded, denud- c)What the government can do: ed, and polluted. As bishops we have tried to listen We ask the government not to pursue short-term and respond to their cry. There is an urgency about economic gains at the expense of long-term ecological this issue which calls for widespread education and damage. We suggest that the government group immediate action. We are convinced that the challenge together into an independent department all the agen- which we have tried to highlight here is similar to the cies which deal at present with ecological issues. This one which Moses put before the people of Israel department should promote an awareness of the before they entered their promised land. fragility and limited carrying capacity of our islands' "Today I offer you a choice of life or death, blessing eco-systems and advocate measures designed to sup- or curse. Choose life and then you and yourdescen- port ecologically sustainable development. Obviously dants will live" (Dt. 30:19-20). the department should have an important contribu-

41 4 3 Our Relationship with Nature

A 1987 Pastoral Letter of the Episcopal Conference of the Dominican Republic

1. On August 10, 1982, on the eve of the installation The determining factor in this serious situation of the new government, we stated: has been the impunity with which nature's We can't keep on being careless with the preservation and aggressors have been able to act. improvement of our living environment. The ecological bal- Another important factor is the situation of ance cannot be violated with impunity. Man's sin against poverty which forces many Dominicans to nature always comes home to roost. To mention just one destroy nature. example, the stripping of the forests without an efficacious There must be some superior organism with program for replanting the trees is already bearing fatal con- authority to enforce, coordinate, and orientate. sequences for our rivets, our soil, and our climate. There is an went need for an exigent, well planned pollabout this Above all, there is a great need fora national serious national problem (Pastoral letter, August 10, 1982, political will to channel funds, human resources, n. 2). The situation not only hasn't improved, but has legal and educational decisions and actions as worsened. high priority goals in defense of this basis of our exif :nee, the physical nation. 2. In his first encyclical, Redemptor Hominis, (1979), Pope John Paul II affirmed: "Sometimes it seems that 6. The growing awareness of the ecological prob- we aren't aware of other significant aspects of our nat- lem, the sincere preoccupation of many people and cer- ural environment, but only those which serve our tain concrete initiatives which have been put into prac- immediate use and consumption. However, it was our tice and are progressing in the midst of all kinds of dif- Creator's will that we enter into relationship with ficulties, fills us with satisfaction and hope. Church nature as an intelligent, noble 'master' and 'pardian' personnel have been present in some of these initia- and not as a conscienceless 'exploiter' and 'destroyer" tives. (Redemptor Hominis, 15). 7. Thee is no doubt that the scientific and technical 3. In the Domiaican Republic, this isn't just a possi- aspect of this subject is important. That aspect doesn't ble future danger that must be avoided, but is already come within the cor petence of the bishops, though it a sad reality we must confront and drastically remedy. interests us enormously and we should keep it in This situation demands that we no longer postpone mind. But, besides this aspect, there is the ethical, fulfilling the promise we made some time ago to write moral dimension of the problem which surely is part of about our relationship with nature, or on the national our mission and function. That is the aspect we most ecological problems, as is said today. wish to develop here. 4. We are encouraged by the countless other voices I. THE NATIONAL REALITY IS DISTURBING AND raised recently calling our attention 10 this very serious DANGEROUS problem aid inviting the whole community to respon- sible action in this area. There have been the voices of Tht Soil experts in the field, voices of serious, conscientious persons, voices of those moved and indignant at the 8. There are many of us who continually repeat that specific crimes against nature which they have wit- we are an agriculturally blessed land. The truth is nessed with their own eyes. somewhat different, and all we Dominicans should be very-scious of this. 5. There have been five points where these voices have been in agreement: 9. At,ording to data contributed by technicians, less than 13 percent of our territory is laud good for agri- Instead of being resolved, the ecological problems culture. Another 8 percent can be Ated, but with have grown more serious.

42 serious limitations, demanding able and specialized 16.This situation not only compromises the possibili- management. Almost 25 percent is land suitable only ty of life for future generations, whom we will leave a for pasture, and a little more than half the country is desert as an inheritance, but even compromises our adequate only for forest. We also know that a great present hope of using water to produce the electric part of OU7 land is thirsty, waiting for a sound irriga- energy our people need to live a moderately civilized tion system. existence, and to irrigate the land in the arid valleys for producing the food so scarce and so necessary to 10.The country has a population of almost 125 inhabitants per square kilometer, and approximately resolve the problem of hunger of our people without having to import. half live in rural areas. 17. Human beings are born, grow up and mature 11.These statistics indicate that our soil is a very scarce resource when it comes to feeding ourpopula- within a complex, closed, interrelated system. Nature tion and giving productive work to so many is their living home. Our existence and the quality of Dominicans who live in rural areas. So, the soil is a our life depend on it, and it depends on us whose intelligence and skill (scientific and technical) should resource which should be used with the greatest possi- conserve, defend, improve, and perfect it. In this whole ble wisdom if we are to obtain from it the produce to of many and varied interrelated checks and balances, fulfill present and future needs. the breakdown or disturbance of one of them has a The Forests negative repercussion on the rest. 18.The tragedy is that interrupting the balance of 12.The technicians inform us that of the 53 percent adequate for forest and needed to protect our water nature and the chain reactions which follow can be so resources, barely 14 percent is still woods today. devastating that they make life for the human species difficult or impossible in a given place. So it is no 13.The stripping of the forests has extended its longer a question of the greater or lesser riches in a demolishing activity to the national parks - juae de place, but of the quality, or existence of life itself. Carmen Ramirez, El Este, the Sierra de Neiba, the Sierra de Bahoruco, the Haitises - and it has just been 19.What Paul VI warned about is already a reality in possible to stop its depredations in the vital Park J. the Dominican Republic. "Because of an irrational and Armando Bermu(4.!z on the Nothern slope of the negligent exploitation of nature, human beings can Cential Range. There is an urgent need for reforesta- destroy it and become the victim of idegradatic tion to diminish the erosion of the land, provide wood (Octoge,:ima Adveniens, 21). for firewood, reduce future importation of wood, and 20.In the chapter on causes, we found that the protect our river basins. increasing growth of the population with the resulting increase in the demand for food, resources, and energy, 14.The farmers who strip and burn, those who burn wood to produce charcoal, and other unscrupulous negligence in general, lack of adequate measures, the persons, have decimated our remaining forests. They eagerness for gain at any cost, and the misery of those have already levelled the majority of our hydrographic who inhabit rural areas are what are producing among basins, leaving the soil seriously eroded or exposed to us such a degradation of the environment that the nec- erosion, drying up streams and reducing the rivers' essary balance between ourselves and nature and flow to alarming levels. Of course, the damage done to within nature itself are already seriously threatened. our dams is incalculable. That is how we squander our 21.For that reason, the problem of the forests and the non-renewable resources, such as the dams, and soil isn't just a technical problem but a problem with destroy our future production of hydroelectric energy deep social and moral implications. and the recovery of extensive zones for agricultural 22.It isn't the poor rural worker who is most respon- production through irrigation. sible for the degradation of our natural resources, con- 15.Without forgetting our preoccupation about our cretely the deforestation and severe erosion of the land. marine resources, presently attacked by contamina- Public authorities have lacked foresight, control, strict- tion, and our fishing, which continues without any ness, and responsit.;e and efficacious planning. There control, and witlumt forgetting the so-called environ- has been negligence, complicity, and rapaciousness mental pollution produced by heavy industry, mining, among many of those very authorities incharge of and the abuse of pesticides and insecficia?s, we under- conservation. There has been avarice and unforgivable stand that the most pressing of all the environmental carelessness among owners incredibly insensitive to problems are the destruction of our forests and the ecological problems. degradation of our soils by erosion, with the subse- 23.But, it is also true that there have been plenty of quent danger for our water supply. The soil and the negligent farm workers among us. However, most of water are the main support of our materiallife, now the time the scarcity of land, the lack of adequate tech- and in the future. nical preparation, the absence of any aid, rhe lack of

43 4 5 access to necessary credit, and finally, a life of misery 33.Having endowed this patrimony with marvelous have forcel them into marginal lands with the only and often mysterious laws which include immense option the nhtensive use of land without the proper possibilities of maintaining and imprctring the quality cautions. That has caused the destruction of the vegeta- of human life through combinations of these laws, God tion and even the soil itself. imposed on us the task and obligation of "dominat- 24.While it is true that formerly the majority of those ing," of "being lord of' this earth through science and whe exploited the woods destroyed almost all our for- technology We are meant to make it ever more useful est riches with complete impunity, and while it is for ourselves, capable of perfecting human beings and equally true that in recent times many unscrupulous society (see Genesis 1, 26-28, and Psalm 8, 5-9). Dominicans took adva age of their positions of influ- 34.Thus, to use the human intelligence and skills ence to continue pillag,ag nature for their own advan- (science and technology) to destroy the earth or threat- tage, it is also true that a very numerous group of our en it, or not to use them when difficulties or new chal Dominican brothers, among them the poorest of the lenges arise from different sources, goes against country live la the mountains with the "stripping and human reason, is a violation of the divine plan, and burning" of the woods their only means of survival, of shows disobedience to the Mil of the Creator, absolute eking out a precarious living and so place our eco-sys- Lord of the earth and of humanity. tern and future well-being in danger. Principles Fauna 35.This presentation includes various basic princi- 25.What we have said of our forests, water, and land is also true of our fauna. That is, our four-footed beasts, ples from which derive basic moral requirements we wish to stress: birds, and fish. a) The earth with all its goods is humanity's patrimo- 26.It is as though there were within us an instinct for destruction. Any bird which takes wing or lands is ny. /t is our inheritance and we should administer immediately attacked. This is killing for the sake of and distribute it with justice and equity and pass it on to future generations not only without deteriora- killing. tion, but improved. 27.Also, the closed game seasons aren't respected. There isn't the slightest scruple in violating such laws. b) The earth with all its goods is a challen e to the capacity for labor, the skill, and the intelligence of Species and specimens are decimated with no consider- ation even for the reproductive season. Negligence and human beings, considered as individuals and as social beings. ignorance reign. c) The destiny of earth with all its goods is universal. 28.We have reached the extreme that in a country The individual or group appropriation of this patri- with little variety in its fauna some species of birds and animals have already disappeared and others are in mony is legitimate only if restricted to portions ade- quate to the needs of the individual rmr group, or if it danger of disappearing forever. is managed so it makes more real alid effective that 29.Clearly the recovery and protection of all the basic universal destiny. resources we have described is an inescapable obliga- d) Science and technology are the fruit ami the patri- tion which can't be postponed. mony of humanity. Any individual's discovery, no II. GOD'S MARVELOUS DESIGN FOR NATURE matter how eminent he may be, makes up only a part of humanity's science and technology. We are God's Plan always in debt to former or simultaneous discover- 30.God, through his wisdom and might, created ies. This social debt should be paid by resrecting brought into existence without any pre-existing mat- and making effective the social function of science, terthe cosmos, and within the cosmos, the planet technology, and all human work. earth, according to the admirable laws with which he e) Human beings are always just usufructuaries, endowed this cosmos he created. administrators, perinters, and guardians of this 31.We are witnesses that on this earth the Lord creat- common patrimony, the earth and all its goods. They ed the mineral world and life. First, vegetable and ani- should fulfill these functions nobly and intelligently. mal life, then human life. He endowed us with intelli- f) For that reason, we read in the inspired Book of gence, the capacity to love, different skills, and respon- Wisdom: "God of our Fathers, Lord of mercy, who sible freedom, and made us both the hub and the peak with your word made the universe and with your of this earth. wisdom created us to dominate the beings created 32.He gave this "tuman being"all present and by you, to rule the world with holiness and justice future humanitythe earth and all it contains as his and to exercise authority with righteousness of spir- common patrimony. it, give me the wisdom which sits next to your

44 throne" (Wisdom 9: 1-4). demand other projects which, in comparison to this Nature demands of the human being wisdom, recti- national emergency, become secondary. tude, justice and holiness and so, forbids carelessness, 42.In the case of non-renewable resources, the highly ignorance, irrationality, avarice, exploitation, aggres- developed industrialized nations cannot monopolize siveness, perversity, and impiety the exploitation and use of those resources without g) God made earth a paradise for us. Our sin is that considering the present and future needs of the coun- we transformed that paradise into "an accursed tries supplying the resources. Nor should these coun- land." "Because you ate of the forbidden tree, the tries themselves hand over the present and future land will be cursed through your fault. You will eat of national patrimony and invest the income unwisely for it through the sweat of your brow while you live and short-term economic interests. weeds and thorns will flourish" (Genesis 3, 17-18). 43.If nature has taken millions of years to give us Morality and Ecology natural resources, their extraction calls for reflection and prudence. At best more millions of years would be 36.According to what we have said, the obligafion of needed to produce them again, and some can never be the human being to God and others includes very seri- reproduced. ous obligations to nature, on which we depend, and to which we owe our very selves, and those relationships 44.The income generated by the exploitation of non- of nature with us and us with nature haven't been left renewable resources should be invested so it becomes to our free choice, but rather have been determined by a permanent solution for the inhuman and unjust God. God's will is shown to us in the very laws of poverty which exists and generates an income for nature itself and in Revelation. Of course, our relation- future generations which won't receive the benefit ships with nature include our relationships with others from the exploitation of these resources. and with God. 45. A large part of the income received from opera- 37.From the principles stated, a series of moral crite- tions which disturb the necessary ecological balance ria for reflection and directives for action are derived. should always be used to recover, in so far as possible, We wish to make them explicit: Natural resources the lost balance in nature. should never be exploited for rapid enrichment, using 46.The renewable resources such as the forests, the what we could call a miner's criterion, careless of their soil and the water, so necessary for sustaining life, correct management and the reforestation of the should be used so the constant renewal of resources is woods. They are meant to fulfill the needs of the whole assured for the good of future generations. human family, present and future. Our woods, with 47.There must be constant vigilance and measures few.exceptions, have been sad examples of this type of taken so that neither the exaggerated desire for gain abuse and plundering. nor the immediate needs of the poor harm the conser- 38. It isn't acceptable for so many rural workers to be vation of natural resources. permanently condemned to extreme poverty because 48.When there have been favored groups who have of lack of access to land. This often forces them to a benefitted greatly and irrationally from these renew- fatal over-exploitation of the land and the result is the able resources, it is unjust for the whole cost of the deterioration and even real destruction of the soil. renewing of these resources to fall on the poor. Such destruction because of the scarcity of tillable land and, most especially, for lack of an adequate cultiva- 49.It is just as contrary to the Creator's plan to waste tion of the hillside in the mountainous zones is as or use irrationally nature's resources as it is to prevent unfortunate as deforestation. their use to satisfy the needs of the whole population. 39.It isn't just for those who have greater 50.It is everyone's obligation, not just the govern- incomes(countries, cities, groups, and persons) to tend ment's, to preserve and defend the necessary ecologi- to wasteful consumption. Besides being an insult and a cal balance. The abuse of natural resources is an provocation for the poor, it is a wicked waste of natu- offense against nature, against human beings who ral resources needed for the dispossessed. steed .such resources, and against God, the Creator oi nature and of human beings. 40.Those who have the authority to orientate the use of natural resources can't let their conduct be ruled i1 The most extraordinary scientific progress, the only by immediate economic and political benefits most spectacular technological feats, and the most without taking the future into account. prodigious economic growth return to haunt us and nature if simultaneously there isn't genuine moral and Correct behavior and the common good itself 41. social progress of individuals and of society. should encourage us to set and respect priorities in the use of the limited resourcesavailable to the govern- 52.The ideology of work as the uncontrolled domina- ment (at this time). At a time when reforestation is ari tion and exploitation of material is false. The search for urgent national necessity, it is usijust and irrational to maximum production or pmfit from production as an

45 4 e d in itself is a mistake. The myth of limitless efficien- III. THERE IS NEED FOR URGENT ACTION cy and a hedonistic consumption leading to extrava- gance is a trap. The fascination with and the idolatrous 58.These will all be words carried away by the wind attitude toward science and technology, capable of if nothing or little is done. There isan urgent need for increasing and transforming natural rcserves, but not of effective and coordinated action. creating them, are a risk and a danger. 59.However, the measures taken should be ofa dou- Spirituality and Ecology ble nature: technical and ethical. Bothare necessary. Neither alone is enough. 53.Christ, to whom all things are subject (1 Corinthians 15), who freed them from the slavery of 60. We understand the problems involved in refor- corruption (Romans 8, 21), taught us during his lifetime estation and the rational use of the soil because of the on earth to admire and respect nature, to use it and present state of deterioration, the chaotic situation enjoy it without sullying or using violence against it. reigning in this aspect of our material life, and because He taught us to be inspired by it and to love it. of the social causes which have broughtus to this chaotic situation. 54.To explain different aspects and oonditions of the Kingdom of God that Jesus came to establish on earth, 61. We consider correct the measures taken tocom- he turned to such realities as the sowing, the harvest, pletely stop the deforestation to be the first ofa series the weeding, the grain of mustard, the fig tree, the vine- of measures needed to overcome the serious problem yard, the sun, the rain, the lilies of the field, the birds: of national ecological deterioration. (Matthew 13, 18-23; Mark 4, 13-20; Luke 8, 11-15; Mark 62.However, .we believe that the diversity of the 4, 26-29; Matthew 13, 24-30; Mark 4, 30-32; Luke 13, 18- groups which were responsible for destroying renew- 19; Matthew 5, 45; Luke 12, 27; Matthew 6, 28; Luke 12, able resources should be taken into account now and 4-7). He always liked the mountain for reflection and later. It isn't right to judge everyone equally. Eachcase prayer (Matthew 17, 1; Mark 6, 45) and at the foot of the calls for special treatment. Among the groupswe wish mountain, with the blue sky as the only roof, he pm- to mention are the following: claimed the beatitudes to the world (Matthew 5, 3-13; Luke 6, 17-20). After calling together the first disciples a) Those who became rich be destroying nature. there (Luke 5, 1-11; Mark 1, 19-20), he returned again b) Those who took advantage of their position of and again to the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of 'Tiberias, and influence to benefit at any cost. the Lake of Genesareth to preach, perform miracles, c) Those who destroy nature out of necessity, havim and rest (Mark 1, 21-28; Matthew 13, 1-52; Mark 4, 35- no other immediate choice unless it is given them 41; John 21, 1-14). d) Those who, though not in direct contact with natu- 55.The gradual perfecting of human nature also ral resources, nevertheless depend in large parton includes an ever increasing improvement of the natural those resources, such as the poor who cook with environment of which humanity is mastk..., guardian, charcoal and wood. and intelligent and faithful administrator. e) Groups which, in good faith, want to establish a 56.St. Francis of Assisi, with his gentle and enchant- more productive use of the soil through forestry ing nature, now Patron of Ecologists, always called industries which will benefit the country nature his "Sister." And he treated it like a sister. In his Canficle to brother sun, he says: 'Praised be, my Lord, 63.It would be unjust to treat all equally for the pur- for our sister, mother earth, which sustains and governs pose of assuring the physical survival of our country. us, and produces different fruit with colored flowers Of these groups, the farm workers and urban poor, and herbs." who depend on charcoal, need special treatment. Francis of Awisi is a living, limpid call not only for 64.The margination of the farm worker and the conse- the reconcilip tion among human beings, but of our- quent poverty, the cause of our ecological problems, selves with nature. For that reason, he is an extraordi- should be resolved simultaneously, as an essential, not narily valid and opportune figure today. secondary, part of the ecological problem. The defense of 57. St. Ignatius of Loyola, a faithful servant of the nature isn't an end in itself, but tends to a balance church, liked to see God in nature. He said: "Seeing between the environment and ourselves by creating a how God is present in creatures: Oving being to the ele- more human world for all by improving the quality of ments, growth to the plants, feeling to animals, and nature. understanding to human beings. And to me, giving me 65.Just as it woold be unacceptable to permit those being, encouraging me, making me feel and under- who ruined our foAs for business reasons to continue stand" (Spiritual Exercises, n. 235). In this profound their destructive action, so it is also unacceptable to way, he presents the relationship of everything with sink even deeper into misery those poor farm workers nature. from the mountains or the arid :.,,ones whom our soci-

46 ety has left no choice except a nomadic agriculture or reforestation to graduate from secondar) school or the burning of a sack of charcoal. It would also be the university. unacceptable to stop the supply of the only fuel the c) Design programs which can guarantee an ade- poor have to cook their food without having first quate means of earning a living for those who now sought real alternative solutions. are forced by misery to live as destroyers of natural 66.As complementary steps to the measures taken resources. against deforestation, the following seem opportune: d) Educate the general Dominican population on a) To continue the rigorous vigilance over the critical environmental issues through mass meant of com- zones of the national terntory. munication and formal education and insist on the b) To organize production of the minimum of fuel preparation of the technicians and farm workers indispensable to allevilte the situation of so many who will dedicate their lives to agro-forestry. Dominicans who are suffering because they have e) Reinforce and take advantage of the experiments nothing with which to cook their food. taking place in the country for the agro-forestry edu- c) To carry out a census among the farm workers in cation of the farm workers. the mountains substantially affected by the neces- 69.As for the non-renewable resources, we are also sary prohibition to cut down trees infragile zones so worried about the use being given to the profits as to be able to relocate many of thosefamilies to derived from our mines. other land or other occupations where they can earn 70.These mining resources have been there for mil- a living. lions of years and belong to au Dominicans, present d) To have a debate of the different opinions among and future. national and foreign technicians and the farm work- 71.Consequently, it is immoral for the profits gener- ers from the mountains to clarify theexisting confu- ated by mining resources to benefit c-niefly internation- sion about the true dimension of the problem and al syndicates, or for the governing authorities to feel about the real possibilities of a solution. forced to spend those profits on present needs which e) To start up again the agricultural and tourism pro- aren't of high priority. The extraction of these mining jects which will benefit the country but will not resources is only fully justified if the profits areused noticeably affect the ecosystem. for permanent investments which will permit future 0 To dedicate a meaningful part of the national bud- Dominicans to find a country where they can work and live in conditions for human beings. get to reforestation every year. The profits coming from the extraction of non- g) Not to forget fruit trees when doing the reforesta- 72. renewable natural resources could very well be invest- tion. ed to cover the cost of the ecological recovery of the 67.Ultimately, the reforestation of critical areas must country, once the crushing problems of the moment are be faced. According to the experts, at least 600,000 overcome. hectares of the essential hydrographic basins must he reforested. The two parks of the Central Range, among 73.We are aware that the recovery and care of ou- renewable natural resources is everyone's task, but the others, must be preserved. Both measures are essential to assure the nation's water needs. To do this within a Government, as State Administrator, has the obligation prudent periodi light call for the equivalent of 10% of to orient and coordinate this important task. All citi- zens should understand this. the national budget every year. To prepare for this tremendous task, which can't 74.The State, representing future generations, should 68. guarantee the use of natural resources to satisfy pre- be postponed, we would like to iee the following mea- sent needs while keeping clearly in mind future gener- sures put into practice in a mediam term: ations. a) Determine with the help of national and foreign The strengthening of a higher organization with technicians how each hectare of Dominican soil 75. real authority to encourage, coordinate, reflect on, and could best be used. Revise the laws and pass laws on rule on everything related to natural resources in their the adequate use of soil, in(lependent of who pos- ecological dimension is an urgent need. sesses the land. The church can do a lot in the moral sphere and b) Elaborate a national strategy for the renewal of the 76. technical aspect country's forests. This strategy which, as we under- even through collaboration with the through promotion and help with emergency needs. stand it, would be useless without the previcrls mea- Faithful to its multi-secular tradition, the church com- sure, could include special trainingfor groups of farm workers, members of the armed forces and mits itself to this task. national police and certain labor requirements in 77. Parish priests, assembly presidents, lay ministers,

47 41 and all pastoral agents should insist on our obligation tion which gives emergency aid to those in need, andto to nature. Feepare a speciPI catechesis on the subject. the different diocesan and parish cent(rs for human Organize periods of study and reflection. Adapt the promotion to include in their plan andprograms the liturgical seasons creatively and establish special litur- ecological problem in all its complexity. They will gical celebrations on the day of the tree or the begin- always have Jur support and encouragement. The ning or end of the harvest of a specific fruit (coffee, majority of these programs should be carried out in chocolate, sugar-cane, tobacco, etc.). At the proper coordination with the pastors. moment, see that the people are aware of sins against 82.Last of all, we ask the Catholic high schools and the the environment and against nature. Support warmly schools generally to impart ecological formation from all initiatives which tend to defend or improve nature. the earliest years. Sow responsibly in future generations Let us not be afraid of proposing, to accomplish this a deep love and respect for nature and make them aware goal, some kind of a "lay ministry." There are surely that morality also includes ecologicalconcerns. places where the parish and community are the ideal institutions to take charge of the zone's "tree 83.We will conclude with some inspirational reflec- seedlings," "seedbed," etc. tions from Ecclesiasticus: "The works of Godare all good and fulfill their purpose in good time. With his 78.We congratulate the pastors who are already word he united the waters, at his order theycame developing initiatives and actions among their faithful together. His will is fulfilled every moment and noth- in preparation for reforestation. ing refuses to serve him. He has before him the actions 79.In the country, there are five radio stations with of every living thing, and nothing is hidden from his great influence among rural inhabitants because they sight. Since all time and for all time he is watching and have justly earned the confidence and esteem of the his salvation is without limits. Nothing is smallor farm workers. They are "Radio Santa Maria," in La minute for him, nothing is difficult or impossible. It is Vegas; "Radio Seibo" in Sabo; "Radio Enriquillo" in meaningless to ask, 'What is that good for?' since Tamayo; "Radio Marien" in Dejabon; and "Radio ABC" everything has its assigned functions. It is meaningless in the capital. We ask them to make this a special cause. to say 'This is worse than that,' as everything has value Get together and plan common programs. Exhort, at its proper time" (Ec. 39, 16-21). encourage, inform, instruct, denounce every negative 84.Last of all: We wished to write this Pastoral Letter practice, propose necessary positive ones, support on a theme which affects all of us Dominicans on the every useful initiative, give your collaboration and feast of the Virgin of Altagracia, our National Protector. always be on alert. There is much you can do in the She has always interceded in our behalf before God. ecological field. Do it with enthusiasm and creativity. She has done that especially in critical moments and 80. We order the national Catholic Weekly, "Camino," when it is a question of something serious. We ask hen to stress this preoccupation. We make the same sugges- again, to protect us maternally and we place under her tion the rest of the Catholic publications. care and protection this area, so urgent for the 81.We also make a public request of Dominican Dominican people, the reforestation of our country. Caritas, a consciousness raising, promotional institu- The American College in the EcologicalAge

Thomas Berry, CP

INTRODUCTION power to control it. Yet the earth is still seen as somuch quantified matter. Life and consciousness as integral The American college may be considered a continua- and pervasive dimensions of the earth have until tion, at the human level, of the self-education processes recently found little understanding or appreciation of the earth itself. Universe education, earth education, except as more advanced phases of mechanistic pro- and human education am stages of development in a cesses. Because of this the humancommunity, the psy- single unbroken process. We cannot adequately discuss chic component of the earth in its most complete any stage of this developmentwithout seeing it within expression, has become alienated from the larger this comprehensive context. dynamics of the planet and thereby has lost its own By universe education I do not mean universal edu- meaning. That we are confused about the human is a cation or university education but the education that consequence of our confusion about the planet. identifies with the emergent universe in its variety of This disturbed situation is affecting our educational manifestations from the beginning until now. So to be programs at their deepest levels. Some,looking for earth education I do not mean education aboutthe answers in th traditional civilizations, suggestthat we earth, but the earth, within the solar system, as the rediscover our educational principles in the humani- immediate self-educating community of those living ties. Some suggest that we turn more fervently to our and nonliving beings that constitute the earth and spiritual-moral traditions. Some put their hope in prag- among whom we must number thehuman component matic adaptation to the world through acceptance of its of the community. I might also go furtherand desig- imperatives.as known by physical sciences, by politics, nate earth as the primary educationalestablishment or economics, or sociology. Some consider that our best the primary college with a record of extraordinary suc- guidance comes from psychology. cess over some billions of years. What is really needed is a functional cosmology. The Such fundamental issues need to be discussed because difficulty is that the term "cosmology" is so exclusively we need to be absolutelyclear abote the whole issue of physical in its accepted meaning that it does not indi- what we designate as "education" and what we are con- cate the integral reality of the universe. Forthe same cerned with when we talk about a "college." Ourdiffi- reason the term "geology' does not indicatethe intepal culty in appreciating the earth community as primary reality of the earth, but only its physical aspects. Thus, educator is that we have little sense of or feelingfor the these terms are not usable terms for the subject under natural world in its integral dimension. Serious attention discussion. Indeed, we do not presently have a termi- in terms of real values seems to be gwen to the spiritual nology suited to a serious consideration of the earth. world or to the human world. Our concern for the natu- This preserts us with something of an impasse since ral world is one of utility or as an object tosatisfy intel- any significa It discussionof the human must deal lectual curiosity or aesthetic feeling. with the human as an invention of the earth, as fulfill- A sense of the earth and its meaning isparticularly ing a role in the earth community of beings, and as by urgent just now for the different scienceshave (11vel- Lefinition that being in whom the earth attains con- oped an immense volume of information about the nat- sciousness of itself. ural world in its physical aspects and acorresponding The earth in turn can be designated, in its solar con- text, as a self-educating community of beings, just asit is a self-emergent, self-sustaining, self-governing,self- Father Berry is director of the Riverdale Center forReligious healing, and self-fulfilling community The earth is the appearedin Research. This essay, and the two following it, central locus in the ,iniverse of the three later phasesof an earlier version was pub- Religion and intellectual Life, VI, 2; the fourfold evolutionary process; first, the evolution in The Dream of the Earth(San Francisco: Sierra Club lished of the galaxies and the elements; secondly, theevolu- Books, 1988).

49 5 1 tion of the solar system and of the earth with its molec- lions. The invention of such a fantastic complex of ular and geological formations; thirdly, the evolution genetic codes so interrelated that each dependsupon of life in all its variety; and, fourthly, the evolution of all others is an accomplishment ofsupreme compe- consciousness and the cultural developments of the tence. But then to establish a genetic coding that deter- human order. mines a being to transgenetic cultural development is It is especially important in this discussion torecog- a much more amazing achievement. nize the unity of the total process from that first The human in alliance with the earth is genetically unimaginable moment of cosmic emergence through mandated to invent a second level of itsown being, a all its subsequent forms of expression until thepre- cultural realm, a realm freely developed in which the sent. This unbreakable bond of relatedness that makes human gives itself its own identity in time andspace of the world a universe becomes increasingly apparent and expands its activities in language and imagination to scientific observation, although this bond ultimately and in that vast complex of activities thatwe indicate escapes scientific formulation or understanding. In by the term of human culture. To continue all these virtue of this relatedness everything is intimatelypre- humanistic activities in association with the world of sent to everything else in the universe. Nothing is physical being and genetic determination has required completely itself without everything else. This related- special educational processes to communicate the cul- ness is both spatial and temporal. However distant in tural tradition from generation to generation. These space or time the bond of unity is functionally there. educational processes must not only communicate The universe is a communion and a community. We some fixed cultural form but also act as creative prin- ourselves are that communion become conscious itself. ciples of further self-transformation for the human As regards the plrinet earth any adequate description community and for the planet. must include its every aspect. The simpler elements Whereas in other beings the genetic coding provides are not known fully until their integration into more sufficient guidance for life activities with only mini- comprehensive modes of being is recognized. On the mal teaching after birth, in the human the genetic cod- other hand later complex unities are not fully intelligi- ing establishes only certain directions and the freedom ble until their component parts are understood. We and intelligence needed to activate these other realms would not know the real capacities of hydrogen,car- of accomplishment in their particular determinations. bon, oxygen, and nitrogen were it not for their later These in turn give to life its human qualities. Human expression in cellular life and indeed in the entire education can be defined then as a process whereby world of living beings, including the remarkable the cultural coding is handed on fromone generation world of human consciousness. So with consciousness; to another in a manner somewhat parallel to the man- the thoughts and emotions, the social forms and ritu- ner by which the genetic coding of any living being is i Is of the human community are as much "earth" as is communicated to succeeding generations. This cultur- the soil and the rocks and the trees and the flowers. We al coding is itself differentiated in a wide variety of can reduce the flowers to the atoms or the atoms to the patterns that characterize the various societies that are flowers. There are no atoms that are just atoms, no distributed over the planet. flowers that are just flowers. There is not earth without There is also a historical sequence in cultural coding the human; no human without the earth. Any other that offers a parallel to the evolutionary mutation of earth or any other human is a pure abstraction. prehuman species. Thus we have not only the diverse Having said all this we might come more directly to patterning within a certain level of cultural develop- ourselves, to our identity and our function within this ment but also historical change of cultural level. So far comprehensive context if we are to achieve any ade- in the course of human development we can identify quate sense of what education is, or what a college is, four basic states of such macrophase transformation. or what the American college should be doing. This These we might indicate as the tribal-shamanic- question identifies with the question of what the earth neolithic vilhige phase, the classical cultural phase, the is, what it idoing presently, and what are its direc- scientific-technological phase, and now the emerging tions into the future. Human education is primarily ecological phase. the activation of the possibilities of the planet in a wa,, The educational problem is especially severe at these that could not be achieved apart from human intelli- moments of change into a new historical mode of cul- gence and the entire range of human activities. In this tural patterning. The difference between the tribal- sense human education is part of the larger evolution- shamanic and the great classical cultures is much ary process. greater than the difference between the tribal cultures among themselvec. It is also greater than the differ- CODING: GENETIC AND CULTURAL ence between any of the greater classical t iltures. The earth's evolutionary process is planetary self- Transition from the classical cultural patterns to the education. The planet has, in a manner, taught itself scientific-technological cultural pattern is especially the arts of life in the vast variety of their manifesta- severe, so severe indeed, that we still do not compre-

50 hend just what has happened. The human creators of goddesses appeared at this time as the supreme the scientific-technological age had only minimal expressiun of the world of the sacred. The mysteries of awareness of what they were doing. This type of sci- woman provided the deepest human experience of the entific life context has required some centuries of universe in its numinous qualitie-s. As patriarchy came functioning before its creative and destructive aspects to be expressed in the transtendence of the sacred and could be revealed in any effecfive manner. in power relationships so the matricentric culture of The next transition, from the dominant scientific- this early period came to be expressed in immanence technological period to the ecological period, is turbu- and in nurturance. An emphasis on these cultural ori- lent indeed. This turbulence establishes the context of entations is especially important in understanding the our present educational discussions. course of Western civilization since all the later con- Just as each of the great evolutional periods from the trolling establishments of the Westthe great physical shaping of the earth to the emergence of life empires, the ecclesiastical establishment, the nation and of consciousness is an irreversible and unrepeat- states, and our modern corporationscan be consid- able process, so too, in the larger time sequence, each ered as patriarchal establishr:,ents with all the of these historical phases of human cultural develop- grandeur but with all the inherent destruciveness of ment is an abiding achievement in the psycho-physi- such a cultural formation. cal dimensions of earth development. The second macrophase historical period of human The tribal-shamanic-neolithic village phase initiates development is that of the classical religious cultures. ways of integrating the human, thephysical, and the These cultural patterns dominated the educational numinous aspects of the one world, the one planet. program in the classical Hindu period, in Confucian Each of these, the human, the natural, and the divine, and Buddhist cultures, in the classical Mediterranean, is infimately present to the others in an encompassing Chrisfian and Islamic, in the Mayan, Inca, and Aztec community. The psychic perceptions of the human cultures. Education varied in each of these, but we can require a capacity to establish power relations with say that they generally included intense awarenessof the spirit forces of the earth, as well as the capacity for a pervasive numinous presence, an extensive ritual technical skills relating to the physical forces of the order, interior disciplines of spiritual formation, earth, and emotional-social dispositions in dealing thought, literary and artistic development, complex with human relationships. social and political forms. The educational process in this context of develop- In the mature phase of these classical cultures, for- ment can best be considered as initiation into a unified mal academic education becomes distinct from the life program with ritual evocation, technical training, familial education and general social education that personal discipline, and social responsibilities. Life has been based on the fundamental cultural pattern in and education are integrated into a single activity. life orientation, value norms, social observances, reli- Everything interacts with everything else in the sea- gious rituals, spiritual disciplines, technical skills, and sonal processes of renewal of the planetary commu- artistic expression. Formal education advances verbal nion in which the human is one of a multitude of com- understanding, literary style, historical awareness, ponents. philosophical thought, and advanced religious learn- It is important to recognize that the visions and ritu- ing. Specialized training establishes professional sta- als and languages and literature and artistic expres- tus, leadership rank, and social distinction. sion of tribal peoples are as truly productions of the Elaboration of functional roles reqvires extensive earth as are the other natural phenomena such as the training in thought, linguistic expression, and social flight of binds through the air and the swimming of functioning. Creative literature, critical commentary, fishes in the sea. That language and ritual and dance and analytical thought combine with later profession- and music are so universal at the human level indi- al development to establish a great volume of learning cates that they must somehow be rooted in the genetic generally carried in written form. This eventually process itself and even more deeply in theprebiologi- turns in on itself and we get the academic type caught cal dynamics of the earth. Cultural productions are as up in formal learning, frequently with lossof inner natural as are the flowering species that came forth so vitality and cultural creativity. Although in this period mysteriously and covered tie planet some millions of of classical cultures there is the clear differentiation of years ago. The voice of the human aswell as the song the sacred, the natural, and the human as distinctive of the birds and the croaking of the frog are all the phases of reality these three modes of being remain in voice of the earth and revelatory of the deeper nature profound communion with each other. As with the of the earth itself. All this is particularly clear at this tribal-shamanic period the r ..ist significant achieve- early level of human cultural formation. ments of this period must ultimately be the expression This period can also be designated as the prepatriar- of deeper forces at work within the planetary process. chal period when the fertility powers of women were A third rnacrophase period is attained in the scientific central to the entire cultural expression. The great technological period of understanding the dynamics

51 of the planet earth, and of technological controls over logical age is fcd in the sciences themselves, eve- earth's functioning. This period, which emerged first cially in the biological sciences. Finally, after genera- in the European context, spread throughout the entire tions of analytical preoccupation with taking the earth world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with apart, the sciences begin a new phase of synthesis, of its new mode of understanding and with its new pow- seeing the integral majesty of the natural world, the ers for exploiting the planet. During this pericd an need that every form of life has for every other form, effort was made to keep the religious faith (-4 the past, and the in\ olvement of the human in the total process. the moral and spiritual values, and the humanistic Science hat; given us the basis for a metareligious education. vision that provides not only the intelligibility of the As the cultural coding of this third period estab- ecological period but also the energy needed to bring it lished itself, however, it became progressively less ori- into existence. ented toward the numinous experience of the divine, Beyond the formal scientific world, however, are the more oriented toward secular values, more exploita- more pervasive countercultural movements that are tive in relation to the natural world, more mechanistic taking place throughout American society in all areas in its conception of the universe, more egalitarian in of human activities. Indeed, the more creative events its social forms. are taking place outside the formal establishments, Education in this context became more an external outside the institutions or professional training, at a conditioning than an interior discipline, more a train- depth of human consciousness that is seldom reached ing in manipulative techniques than initiation into by formal training processes. These primordial-type religious rituals. The skills to be mastered were not movements are themselves now transforming all our the contemplative skills or imaginative capacities for contemporary institutions, our professions, and indeed dealing with numinous presence or with the:.sthetic all human activities. The interaction now taking place insight into the inner structure of reality; they were between the spontaneous and the trained is often dom- rather the skills needed to bring forth the natural inated by the instinctive and intuitional modes of resources out of the hidden depths of the planet by awareness not bound by established dogmas of the industry, the skills to shape them in the manufactur- existing professional worlds. ing establishments, and to make them available to a This mode of historical transformation is indeed fol- consumer-oriented society. lowing the customary path whereby new codings take Behind the entire endeavor was the vast scientific place in the genetic and in the cultural orders. Yet as effort to understand the universe in quantitative soon as its influence is felt on this scale there is a need terms, mainly by an analytical reductionism of appar- for the spontaneous and intuitional to establish their ent wholes to their component parts. These compo- own critical reflection and their capacity for develop- nent parts were seen as the true reality with the ing formal processes lest their achievements be dissi- design of the who'e being seen as secondary and pated or trivialized. adventitious. But while this quantitative universe, Establishing this new mode of cultural expression seen as the integral reality of things, was really an can be considered asfinal overcoming of the inherent abstraction, it did achieve an experience of the uni- destructiveness of patriarchal establishments in favor verse of such impact as to alter human consciousness of a more integral matricentric cultural form based on on a scale associated with religious revelatory experi- nurturing rather than dominating relationships ences of the past whereby the earlier cultural codings between the human and the natural, between the mas- had been established. culine and the feminine, between the governance and The difficulty has been in the inability of the scientif- the people; a greater sense of th.e air, the water, and the ic venture to understand the significance of its own land as a revered commons would also obtain. achievements. As a consequence, the cultural coding At such moments of cultural transformation the edu- could not be established in an integral form; education cational process must go through a period of groping remained dependent on its earlier structures for its toward its new formal expression. This groping period humanistic meaning. has been especially difficult in recent times because of Meanwhile there was a frightening disruption in the the magnitude of cultural change that is involved. human-natural world taking place, and this on a geo- Education in this context is precisely the subject of this logical and biological rather than simply on a human paper. Yet, before a &tailed presentation of the educa- historical scale. As tits situation has become aggravat- tional program that is needed, we might note that the ed, the demand tor a further cultural mutation into an cultural coding of the ecological age is asserting itself ecological cultural coding has been experienced. already in all areas of contemporary life, but in the The fourth macrophase period,the ecological period of confused and groping manner that we have indicated. cultural coding, mandates a reintegration of the This integration of the human with an organic func- human process with the earth process in all its living tional world, after detaching the human from the forms. The deepest involvement in the emerging eco- mechanistic world, can be considered among the most

52 5 difficult of all historical transitions. The feel for life, effective response. The most common solution in cul- the skills for creative interaction with the earth pro- tural terms has been to reinstate past forms of human- cesses: these have been suppressed overseries of istic studies in a core curriculum, a curriculum that generations. The land is now naved over, production includes philosophy, ethics, history, literature, reli- is automated, the automobile has so taken over the gious studies, and perhaps some form of general sci- roadways that walking has become dangerous. In this enceall of these in a critical rather than a context new forms of physical conditioning as well as commitment context. Yet somehow these programs do cultural adaptation and technical training ;.ire required not seem to kke. A functional cultural canon does not before the relationship between the human and the emerge that can do for our world what the religious earth can become fully functional. and cultural orientations or earlier religious cultures Formal educational programs cannot fulfill all of did for the societies of those centuries. The program these requirements. The education needed must be a does not activate the human energies that are needed pervasive life experience. The proper role of formal for a vital human mode of being. Ther is an inability education would be that of providing the integrating to bring together the scientific secular world with the context for the total life functioning; it would also pro- religious believing world or with the humanist cultur- vide the instrument of historical continuity and devel- al world. Each of these eventually finds that it must go opment of the new coding of the ecological age. its own way. Consequently all three remain trivial- Finally, especially at the higher levels of formal educa- ized. No unifying paradigm emerges. Effective educa- tion, the needed processes of reflection on meaning tion does not take place. No larger context is estab- and values would take place within a critical context. lished in which the college can envisage itself or its educational mission. THE AMERICAN COLLEGE THE NEW ORIGIN STORY Here we might identify the American college and think somewhat about its role in this expansive con- At such crisis moments we need to return to the text of the ecological period. Education is an awesome mythic norms governing the world of reality. The process, a process as deep and as broad as the uni- entire college project can be seen as that of enabling verse itself. College should be a center for creating the the student to awaken to the new origin myth and the more encompassing visions as well as for communi- immense journey of primordial energy through its cating such visions to students. Above all, the college long series of transformations until the present. student needs to be involved in a significant historical Cultural coding at whatever level of expression can be as well as a significant personal process.Neither of presented in terms of a journey story. these can exist without the other. Presently our i-ollege Perhaps our difficulty is that we have never before students need to feel that they are participating in one appreciated the fact that the entire scientific venture of of the most significant ventures ever to take place in modern times has found its intellectual fulfillment in the entire history of the planet. Yet it is first necessary this story of how the universe came to be by an emer- for college administrations and kculties themselves to gent evolutionary proc,as, and how the entire techno- envisage the creative urgencies that are upon them. logical venture of modern times finds its fulfillment in The contemporary college is admitted to be less ade- the role it plays in shaping the present and future quate and less effective than is desired. The difficulty course of this immense journey. Never before has the is in the transition from the mechanistic culture of the origin myth and its related journey story been so scientific-technological period to the integral culture clearly presented as by contemporary accounts based of the ecological period. on observation of the dynamism of the universe from Even more devastating, however, is the fact that the its beginning until now. While this account is scientif- transgenetic cultural coding is so extensively devel- ic, it is also mythic as a coherent presentation of the oped, has attained such insight into the mechanics of universe against backgrounds far beyond anything the earth ar.d suca control over its functioning, that that rational intelligence can properly understand and the human has assumed an Olympian status above that is often trivialized by such terms as "Big Bang." and beyond the entire earth process. Alienation from Almost every term used by science carries with it the earth venture has led to confusion about the more mystery than rational comprehension. Thus the human venture. all-pervading sense of the mythic at the heart of the In this situation the college has no adequate social or scientific process. Thus, too, the role of myth and sym- cultural context in which to function. Religious col- bolism in scientific discovery. leges could always feei that somewhere in the back- Although as yet unrealized, this scientific account of ground there was a meaningful world that could pro- the universe is the greatest religious, moral, and spiri- vide from without what was not vailable from within tual event that has taken place in these centuries. It is the college process itself. But this has not been an the supreme humanistic as well as the supreme scien-

5 3 5 5 tific event. The sublime mission of modern education found sense of mutual pmsence of the student and the is to reveal the true importance of this story for the universe to each other. But most powerfully, thestu- total range of human and earthly affairs. dent looking at his or her own hand and considering The importance of this story of the universecan be the time span of fourteen billion years that it took to seen in the f,ct that for the first time the peoples of the produce such a hand could feel a personal importance entire worle, insofar as they are educated in a modern in the scheme of things. This would be further context, are being educated within this origin story It enhanced by consideration of, those great moments provides the setting in which .:nildren everywhere, when the universe found its way through themany whether in Africa or China, in the Soviet Unionor apparent impasses that it faced. Such a moment South America, North America, Europe, or India, are occurred after life began, when the life forms hadcon- given their world and their own personal identity in sumed the conditions of their own survival and life time and space. While all the traditional origin and was threatened with extinction; at this moment photo- journey stories are also needed in the educational pro- synthesis was suddenly invented, the processupon cess, none of them can proOde the encompassing con- which ali future life development depended. If Virgil text for education such as is available in this new could say, "It was such a labor to build Rome,"we can story; this new story is the mythic aspect of our mod- siy with infinitely more truth that it has been "such an em account of the world, how the universe emerged effort to build the world" that we inherit. into being, the phases of transformation through Finally, there could be communicated to the student which it has passel, especially on the planet earth, the responsibility now borne by the human mode of until its present phase of development was realized in being to the entire earth process and even to the uni- contemporary human intelligence. verse process. The urgency for this type of a compre- What is needed, however, is the completion of this hensive course can hardly be exaggerated. Its value is story given by modern inquiry into its physical enhanced when we consider that this interpretative dimensions by an awareness of the numinous and context for the universe as well as for human exis- psychic dimensions of the story. The primordial atom- tence is bound in only a minimal way to any prior cul- ic particle is already radiant with intelligibility and tural context, but is available to all the peoples of the with unfathomable mystery as well as with the physi- world, and is indeed at present the most powerful sin- cal energy that is articulated within its structure. gle intellectual force in enabling the over 150 nation- While this story is the basic context of the entke societies of the planet to communicate with each other educational proeess, it cannot be appreciated by stu- in a meaningful way. dents at elementary and high school levels in an inte- This mode of experiencing the universe and human gral reflexive manner. This is the excitement of the col- life can serve as a common ground for both the tradi- lege years. At that time the story can be understood in tional religious-humanistic personality and the mod- its more profound implications. It can become func- em scientific-technological personality While in earli- tional in every phase of those professional activities er times the scientist was more absolute and unrelent- for which students are being prepared. This consti- ing in his or her insistence on the mechanistic and tutes what might be called both a philosophy and a purely random aspects of the universe, this is less true program for college education. of the thinking scienfist of the present. So too with the religious or humanist personality; while there has fre- THE CORE CURRICULLIW quently been an aversion to or an inability 'to under- stand the scientific presentation of the universe shown A set of core courses could be indicated as the prac- by such religious-humnist personalities, there is now tical fulfillment of these suggestions; it would consist a greater feeling for the imaginative power, the intel- of the following: lectual insight, and the spiritual quality of the scientif- AFirst Course,perhaps the most difficult, would pre- ic vision. The fruitful interaction between the scientific sent the four evolutionary phases of this functional and the religious-humanist vision is our greatest cosmology: The form ion of the galactic systems and promise for the future as well as the great task of the the shaping of the elements out of which all future educator, both in comprehending this for oneself and developments took place; the formation of the earth in communicating this integral vision to future gener- within the solar system; the emergence of life in all its ations of students. variety upon the earth; the rise of consciousness and A Second Coursein the proposed curriculum could human cultural development. be a course on the various phases of human cultural This course, if related to the stars we see, to the air development: The tribal-shamanic phase, the neolithic we breathe, the water we drink, the food we are nour- village phase, the period of the great religious cul- ished be), the earth we stand on, the natural life of the tures, the scientific-technological phase, and the environment as well as the cities we inhabit, the soci- emerging ecological phase. This course would enable eties of which we are a part, could serve to give a pro- the student to envisage a comprehensive human

54 development ;n its historical stages as well as in its principles of civilized order known to the human com- cultural differentiation. Persons could see the continu- munity. These traditions until now have been seen as ity and support of their own personal cievelopment in the most formidable barriers to chaos that the human the prior development of the universe, of the earth, community possesses. The problem, of course, is that and of all human histor) these traditions cannot remain static; they must enter A feeling of identity with the entire human venture into a new phase of their oi history. No longer will could be activated in the student. Thus a person could each be isolated from the others, no longer will the more easily appreciate the genius of the time when the economies of the various peoples be independent ot languar:, of the human community took shape, when the others. the religions and arts and social forms of the world One great difficulty of these civilizations, born in a were developed, when the great humanistic cultures dominant spatial experience of reality, is the difficulty were formed, when the elementary technologies were of entering into a dominant temporal experience of invented; how the modern sciences merged within the reality. How to do this and be strengthened rather than European cultural region; and now the need for a new disintegrated is the challenge to these cultures and to adjustment of human modes of being and activity to those societies in which these cultures have found their the dynamics of the natural world. Such an overview finest expression. would enable students to discover their personal iden- In different parts of the world a special emphasis tity in historical time and cultural space. It would could be given to that special humanist-religious tradi- assist the college generations in envisaging the histori- tion to which the students generally are heirs. Since the cal mission of their times. This would provide a life American student lives within the humanist traditions meaning that might not otherwise be available. of Western society, a certain emphasis needs to be Special attention should be given to the neolithic vil- given to this tradition in all the richness of its develop- lage or matricentric phase of cultural development. ment, in its spiritual as well as in its humanistic This was the 'period when the great goddess agures aspects. A serious understanding of Western traditions dominated human affairs, when the fertility rituals becomes especially important when we consider the were most highly developed, and for awhile, in the extent to which the entire world of life and thought prepatriarchal phase, a more effective balance in the and values has been influenced by these Western cul- feminine-masculine determination of the social and tural traditions. The tragedy is that the dark, destrac- cultural orders obtained. live aspect of Western patriarchal civilization has A Third Course might deal with the period of the become virulent just at this time when the influence of great classical cultures that have dominated human the West has become so pervasive throughout the development over the past several thousand years human community and when its technological capaci.. and that have given to the human community its more ty for plundering the earth has become so elaborated patterns of linguistic expression, of reli- overwhelming that all the basic life systems of tha gious formation, spiritual disciplines, its critical phase planet are being closed down. in the arts and sciences and literature, its political and A Fourth Course that might be proposed is the ctudy social structures, its ethical and legal norms, its of the scientific-technological phase of human devel- advanced craft skills and its popular recreations. opment, culminating in the awakening of human con- While these cultures have been widely differentiated sciousness to the time sequence in the story of the uni- in the cultural patterns that cover the planet, they verse, of the earth, of life, and of the human communi- have achieved throughout the Eurasian, American, ty. This course should be especially concerned with the and African worlds certain basic expressions of the power that has come under human control in and human that seem to be definitive achievements. Even through the technological inventions of recent cen- though these expressions will surely be extensively turies. The consequences of this new power, its helpful modified in the future, they will always be present in and harmful aspects, could be considered along with the psychic structure of the human, at least for the those social, economic, political, and cultural change:: foreseeable future. From these cultures the student that we have witnessed in the past two centuries. should learn the powerful impact of the divine, the While this period has so far lasted only a few hun- need of spiritual discipline, the majesty of art, the dred years in contrast .to the several thousand years of great literature and music and dance and irama the classical civilizations and the sixty to a hundred which befit the human mode of being, as well as how thousand years of the tribal exi.tence of modern to achieve economic well-being through technological human beings, these centuries of science and technol- know-how. ogy deserve consideration more as a geological age While these traditions are now undergoing the most than as an historical period, because the physical profound alteration they have experienced since they alterations of the planet that have taken place are so came into existence, they still accountfor, and in the great. This is above all the age of the dominance of the immediate future will continue to supply, the main human over the natural; it is also the period when the

5 7 numinous presence pervading the universe,as destructive for commerce as well as for. lehuman diminished in human awareness in favor of a domi- community and constitutes an ultimate blasphemy nant preoccupation with human reason, hu-nan against a sacred reality. The entire system of book- power, and the sense of the machin2 as the fiominant keeping needs to be revised to bring it out of its fic- metaphor for understanding the reality of things. tional context into some relation with reality by Yet this is also the period when a profound social including the cost to environment, the invaluable consciousness was developed. The globe was affected nature of irreplaceable resources, the awareness of the by political, social, economic, and religious adjust- need to integrate the entire industrial-commercial ments that have shaken the planet with unique severi- enterprise with the ever renewing cycle of the natural ty. It has been the period of medical advance, of world. increased humarm population, of release from many of These are simply a few of the issues that give umen- the physical as well as the social ills of former times. cy to courses on the ecological age. Mainly, these A Fifth Course could deal with the ememging ecologi- courses should envisage activities already taking cal age, the 74 g e of the growing intercommunion place, or in preparation, to establish centers of human between all the living and nonliving systems of the occupation in terms of biocultural regions; that is, planet and even of the universe entire. A study of this regions where the economic and cultural life of the age should concern itself with reestablishing the human social group would be established in !elation human within its natural context. Above all, it should to the geological and climatical conditions of a given deal with the integral functioning of the biosphere, the region, and in relation to the life forms native to the healing of the damage already done to the dynamics of place. the earth, the fostering of a renewable economic order by integration of the human within the ever renewing Values cycles of the natural world as these are sustained by A Sixth Course could be a course on the origin solar energy. and identification of values. This course would seek to This course might also deal with the mewal of all discover within the context of this new way of experi- human roles and all human institutions within this endng the universe just what can be a foundation for context after the adventurism of the former period values. This foundation for values should supply in dominated by the mechanistic and exploitative pro- our times what was supplied in medieval times by the cesses of science, technology industry, manufacturing, doctrine of natural law. This becomes especially and commerce. urgent since we no longer accept the earlier doctrine Law in this new ecological context would function of the fixed nature of things that in former times with a greater sense of the inherent rights of natural determined the natural goodness or evil of things or realities, that is, the rights of living beings to exist and actions. Obviously we cannot simply transpose values not to be abused or wantonly used or exterminated, from the medieval to the modern period. We need to whether directly or indirectly, by exploitative human discover the values indicated by reality itself as we processes. Consideration of natural beings simply as experience it. physical or material realities would be recognized as In terms of the educational process as we have been an inadequate or false perception, or even criminal if discussing it, we will find these values in the self- made the basis of action. emergent processes of the universe, which are the self- Medicine in this context would envisage the earth as governing processes of the universe and also the value primary healer, and integration with its functioning as manifestations of the universe. The universe emerges the primary basis of health for the human being. The as a differentiation process. Without differentiation 4n of the physician would be to assist in interpreting there is no universe, there is no existent reality. From arth-human relationship and guiding the huma the beginning, after its brief period of almost formless community in its intercommunion with the earth, with radiation, the universe articulated itself in unique, its air and water and sunlight, with its nourishment, identifiable, intelligible energy constellations or pat- and the opportunity it offers for the expression of terns. Reality is not some infinitely extended homoge- human ph'ical capacities. neous smudge. Each articulation is unrepeatable and Religion u...uld perceive the natural world 'is the pri- irreplaceable at whatever level, from the sub-atomic to mary mvelation of the divine, as primary scripture, as the galactic, from the iron core to the earth to the flow- the primary mode of numinous presence. Christian er, the eagle in flight, or the human persons who walk religion would cease its antagonism toward the earth over the land. Each of these is a unique expression of and discover its sacred quality. the total earth pmsence. At the human level the indi- Commerce would recognize that a base exploitation of vidual becomes almost a species; the unique quality oi the planetthe poisoning of earth, air, and the individual becomes such a commanding presence. watercannot be justified as an acceptable mode of This, then, is the first value. commercial or industrial activity. It is ultimately self- The second value is subjectivity. Not only is the artic- ulation of the individual reality absolute in reference to CONCLUSION othernees, but this identity carries with it an interior depth,special quality, a mystery that expresses not Much else might be said here. I will end, however, only a'Ienomenal mode but an archetypal realization. with a ?ersonal view that the first college to announce This enables each articulation of the real to resonate that its entire program is grounded in the dynamics of with that numinous mystery that pervades a:1 the the earth as a self-emerging, self-sustaining, self-gov- world. '1'his quality of things is universal but its activa- erning, self-healing, self-educating community of all tion in the human order provides the creative dynan the living and nonliving beings of the planet will have ics of the thinker, th t. poet, the writer, the scientist, the an extraordinary future. farmer, the craftsman, the political leader, the trader, Professional education should be based on aware- the educator, and whatever other role is fulfilled by ness that the earth is itself the primary physician, pri- human beings in the functioning of the universe. mary lawgiver, primary revelation of the divine, pri- A third basis of value is communion, for every reality mary scientist, primary technologist, primary com- of the universe is intimately present to every other real- mercial venturer, primary artist, primary educator, ity of the universe and finds its fulfillment in this and primary agent in whatever other activity we find mutual presence. The entire evolutionary process in human affairs. depencic on communion. Without this fulfillment that General education should likewise be explained on each being fii3 in beings outside itself, nothing would the basis of the courses that have been suggested. ever happen in the entire world. There would be no These could provide the cultural and historical con- elements, no molecules, no life, no consciousness. ext that students need to provide for themselves a This law of communion finds its most elementary functional identity. expression in the law of gravitation whereby every Business education also should be grounded in this physical being in tIle universe attracts and is attracted appreciation of the dynamics of the planet. The great to every other physical being in the universe. need of the commercial-industrial-financial world is to Gravitation at this elementary level finds an ascending escape from the inflationary processes that it has sequence of realizations through the variety of life imposed upon the planet by wanton exploitation of forms and their modes of generation up to human both renewable and nonrenewable resources and by affection in its n lost entrancing forms. excessive pressures it has exerted to force the earth to The universal and intensity of this communion indi- produce renewable resources beyond what the earth cate its immense value. But even more evident Is the can reasonably bring forth on a sustainable basis. fact that human K.tvival depc--.ds so immediately and Business has a great mission to fulfill in establishing a absolutely on this capacity for intimate human relation- viable economy for the human community by inte- ships, a capacity that requires a high level of human grating the human economy within the renewable development for its proper human fulfillment. Thus cycles of earth economy. there Is the need for extensive interior discipline and Liberal arts, the humanities as they are called, can development if this value is to be realized in any satis- experience a grand renewal within this context. The fying human form. deeply felt antipathies between the scien7es and the The communion whereby the universe becomes humanities could be eliminated. The amazing new reflexively present to itself in human consciousness is discovery by science of the story of the universe completed by the communion attained in the affective would be recognized as a suprerrl humanistic and in the aesthetic experience the universe attains of achievement and as providing a basis the further itself in its human expression. These modes of self-ful- expansion of all the traditional humanistic cultures. filling experience are in some manner reminiscent of The educational process itself would have through the ancient Western religious teaching of the inner life this program a cultural, an historical, and a cosmolog- of a trinitarian deity. ical context of meaning that can be accepted on a One of the difficulties experienced by the human, one broad scale by persons of different ethnic and cultural of the causes of our planetary, human, and educational backgrour ds. Within this context the American col- disarray, is that we have.not adequately developed this lege could understand in some depth its role in creat- capacity for communion. We have been especially ing a future worthy of that larger universal communi- delinquent in fulfilling this law of communion in rela- ty of beings out of which the human component tion to the natural world, a failure that this proposed emerged and in which the human community finds its college program is intended to remedy. proper fulfillment.

r a 57 t);-", A Terrestrial Dogmatism

Everett Gendler

When I first heard of Father Berry's timely attempt to One part of the price we pay as persons was tren- formulate an appropriate curriculum for the American chantly expressed by D.H. Lawrence: College in the Ecological Age, I expected to find myself in natural alliance with him. After all, for the past Oh, what a catastrophe for man when he cut himself twenty years my teaching and congregational involve- off from the rhythm of the year, from his union with ments have been significantly circumscribed by the the sun and the earth. Oh, what a catastrophe, what demanding privilege of helping food grow on the small a maiming of love when it was a personal, merely acreage where we live in northern Massachusetts. personal feeling, taken away from the rising and set- "Seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and sum- ting of the sun, and cut off from the magic connec- mer and winter, and day and night" (Gen. 8:22) did not tion of the solstice and the equinox! That is what is pass unnoticed, nor did I often fall prey to the illusion the matter with us. We are bleeding at the roots, that my human life was detached from sun and soil. because we are cut off from the earth and sun and How surprising, then, and somewhat troubling, that stars, and love is a grinning mockery, because, poor Father Beny's proposal draws from me only a qualified blossom, we plucked it from its stem on the tree of rather than a fully appreciative assent. Life, and expected it to keep on bloomin 3 in our civ- Why is this so? It is surely not for the lack of some ilized vase on the table. valuable suggestions for a new and comprehensive Where, then, do I have difficulty? With 't number of core curriculum. The sequence beginning with cosmol- the terms used as well as with what seems to be a ogy and moving through human cultural development basic assumption of the proposed reintegration. Let to our present age is appropriately sweeping, and the me be specific. attempt to anticipte the emerging age and respond Father Berry asserts that "any significant discussion with formulations of values is both relevant and of the human must deal with the human as an inven- responsible. These proposals strike me as well worth tion of the earth, as fulfilling a role in the earth tom- exploring further, even if, as will become evident, I do munity of beings, and as by definition that being in have some disagreements about certain of his evalua- whom Vie earth attains consciousness of itself." With tions of these stages. the latter two clauses specifying human functions in Neither have I anything but praise for Father Berry's relation to earth I have no quarrel. Surely we do play persuasive insistence on the urgent need to reintegrate a pivotal role among our fellow beings on this planet; ourselves with the life-sustaining earth processes. We so far as we know, we do bring consciousness to have, indeed, become alienated from the natural world fullest expression on earth; and insofar as we are of which we are such a distinctive and unique feature, earth, this may be earth attaining consciousness of and not only our environment but we ourselves are itself. paying dearly for this severing. Theologically speaking, But what of that opening clause, "the human as an our disregard for the sustaining gift of earth represents invention of the earth"? Is this simply a formulafion a breach of God's f4 .st biblical covenant, which extends to make certain that we do not lose our sense of con- not only to Noah, his descendants, and all living crea- nection with earth, or does it purport to be the ade- tures, but to earth itself (Gen. 9:13). Surely our way to quate statement of our origin and lineage? From the redemption neost pass through creation, not around it. characterization of earth as "a self-educating commu-

nity of beings. .self-emergent, self-sustaining, self- Everett Gendler is rabbi to Temple Emanuel, Lowell, governing, self-healing, and self-fulfilling," it seems Massachusetts, and Jewish chaplain and instructor of philosophy clear that it is the latter; and so by fiat of definition we and religious studies atPhillips Academy, Andover, are declared children of earth, period. Is transcen- Massachusetts. dence thus banished, with God renamed Gaia? Is this

58 , t) the intent of Father Berry's words, or do I misunder- our personal dimensions. Copernican in relation to the stand and misinterpret them? vast time of emergent evolution, how puzzlingly Nor 13 this inflation of earth made more convincing Ptolemaic he becomes in another view of the universe: by some of the subsequent argument. That "conscious- "The earth is central locus in the universe of ...the ness, the thoughts and emotions, the social forms and evolution of life in all its variety and ...the evolution rituals of the human community are as much earth as of consciousness and the cultural developments of the is the soil and the rocks and the trees and the flowers," human order." Concerning the cultural developments is in one sense true: These human developments are of the human order there is no room for doubt: Earth is earthly by virtue of our connectedness with earth. But sumly the central locus of this life experiment. But is they are also distinguishable from those aforemen- earth the only locus for the evolution of life and con- tioned components of earth, and the consciousness sciousness in the universe? It is the one we know, and that Father Berry rightly esteems has often expressed it is to be cherished and cared for as intensely as this uniqueness of the human, figuratively speaking, Father Berry urges. But to move from this to the cer- as clay touched by God, a singular combination of the tainty that ours is the only locus of such development earthly and the Divine, the dust of the ground with life in the vast universe? What sustains such a geocentric breathed into it by God. Is such a formulation inferior claim? More encompassing, yet simultaneously mom to the contrived language that attempts to make earth modest, seem to me these two perspectives, one classi- so inclusive a term that it loses specificity and con- cal rabbinic, one modern poetic: trast? Whence this apparent fear of the transcendent? Rabbi Abbahu said: For if it is not seine such fear operating, why such con- tortions to avoid more traditional and, for at least ...the Holy One, blessed be s/he, kept creating some of us, more moving and coherent formulations? worlds and desolating Is there an unstated suspicion that considerate treat- them, creating worlds and desolating them, ment of the earth cannot be included in a scheme that until God created these worlds of heaven and derives from a transcendent, though concerned, earth. Creator? This is hardly the case, as the following Then God said: 'These please me; those did not Midrash will attest: please me.' In the hour when the Holy One, blessed be s/he, 0 TAKE HEART, MY BROTHERS created the first human being, Even now...with every Leader God took the person and let him/her pass before and every Resource and every Strategy all the trees of the garden of Eden, of every Nation on Earth and said to the person: arrayed against Her See my works, how fine and excellent they an ! Even now Now all that I have created, for you have I created. 0 even Now! my Brothers Think upon this, and do not corrupt and desolately Life is in no danger world; of losing the argument! for if you corrupt it, there is no one to set it right For after all ... after you. (as will be shown) She has only to change the subject This passage should not ,.:..wprise us, given some of Kenneth Patchen the biblical teachings that are its foundation. If "the What a pity that Father Berry has vitiated the meritc earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world of his college proposal by linking it with a substitute and they that dwell therein," then the immanent life of theology--earthologythat is not only intellectually earth, transcendently tinged, of course deserves dubious but, I am convinced, societally counterpro- respectful treatment. According to the great biblical ductive.zespect the soil and try to till and tend it scholar Johannes Pedersen, "earth itself is aliv," for organically and respectfully; I am annually in awe, as the ancient Israelites, a cover-Int relation exists was the transmitter of Genesir 1:29, of the marvel of between the owner and the land, "and the owner does the seed, that tiny incarnation of the Life Force, a+ once not solely prevail in the relation. The earth has its the fulfillment of one growth cycle and the initiation of nature, which makes itself felt, anddemands respect. the next; I am excited by the earth both for its energy The important thing is to deal with it accordingly and in itself and for its ,:easeless contribution to our well not to illtreat it." being, not to speak of its exquisite beauty. But when I When I compare the biblical and Father Berry's for- hear it effectively deified I bridle, and I am hardly the mulations of the human being in relation to earth, most pious of Jews. "Self-emergent, self-sustaining, struck by the way in which at one level Father Berry self-governing, self-healing, self-fulfilling" indeed! Let has expanded ',,ur horizon, while at another level he me state it plainly: I find this a terrestrialdogmatism has constricted our frames of reference and reduced thiAt offends my transeendeno. religious sensibilities.

59

1 And if I find it so, how might a ir.xlitional Muslim to make more evident the role of the natural world in react, for whom Allah is supremely Lord of Creation, revealing the divine. and only by whose largesse earth Well exists? Or what I'd also like to see discussed the interrelations and of a traditional Hindu, for wh may be of some integration of word-scripture and natural-scripture at value but is ultimately maya, u.usion? With a less nar- this point in the development of human consciousness. row and exclusive presuppositional base, at least this Since the natural world does, on Father Benys defini- much of Father Berry's vision might be realized: the tion, include consciousness, and since consciousness at scientific origin story serving as the supplementary uni- the human level is ultimately intertwined with words fying myth for all peoples of the world "insofar as they (whose echoes may include dibbur and logos), the are educated in a modern context." It is, indeed, intel- numinous possibilities of word-scriptures in relation to lectually exciting and personally expanding, and is a natural-scriptures should be a rich ama for exploration most remarkable account of "how the universe and further development. emerged into being, the phases of transformation Some thirty years ago the late Abraham Joshua through which it has passed." My own reading of Heschel, professor of Jewish Ethics and Mysticism at Genesis and Midrashim over the decades has been Jewish Theological Seminary and one whose sensitivi- immeasurably enriched by knowledge of this "how" ty to the ineffable helped a number of us sense the account. But this has been so for me precisely because I Divine in life-sustaining ways, spoke also of the realm have had a "traditional origin and journey story" to of nature: contribute a needed why to my own how account. Is this what Father Berry had in mind when he spoke of There are three aspects of nature that command our the need for such traditional stories? Or was it some- attention: iti power, its beauty, and its grandeur. thing different? It would be clarifying if he would give Accordingly, there are three ways in which we may a specific exiimple of how the scientific myth might relate ourselves to the worldwe may exploit it, we interrelate with a traditional myth to provide an may enjoy it, we may accept it in awe.. ..Our age "encompassing context." In this way he might assure is one in which usefulness is thought to be the chief me, and perhaps others, that his proposal can be merit of nature; in which the attainment of power, encompassing and need not be exclusionary or reduc- the utilization of its resources is taken to be the chief tionist, as it seems to me it is in its present formulation. purpose of man in God's creation. Man as indeed Helpful, also, would be some clarification about the become primarily a tool-making animal, and the interplay of matriarchy, patriarchy, and consciousness. world is now a gigantic tool box for the satisfaction If I remember Erich Neumann with any accuracy, the of his needs....Nature as a tool box is a world that consciousness that Father Berry rightly esteems is a does not point beyond itself. It is when nature is hard-won contribution of the patriarchal. Might the sensed as mystery and grandeur that it calls upon seeming assessment of the matriarchal and the patriar- us to look beyond it .. .The awareness of grandeur chal be somewhat more nuanced in a fuller statement? and the sublime is all but gone from the modern The patriarchal may, on critical scrutiny, have a few mind. Our systems of education stress the important more positives than have been sonceded in his essay; of enabling the student to exploit the power aspect and the matriarchal, if one thinks of Kali, Durga, or the of reality. To some degree, they try to develop his Amazons, is not invariably a nurturing principle. ability to appreciate beauty. But there is no educa- Despite these apparent, perhaps real, theological dif- tion for the sublime. We teach the children how to ferences, I continue to feel that Father Berry and I are measure, how to weigh. We fail to teach them how natural allies, and I hope there will be further opportu- to revere, how to sense wonder and awe. The sense nities to deal with some of his proposals in very specif- for the sublime, the sign oi inward greatness of the ic terms. My attention is especially engaged when he human soul and something which is potentially speaks of the natural world as "the primary revelation given to all men, is now a rare gift. Yet witnout of the divine, as primary scripture, as the primary the world becomes flat and the soul a vacuum. mode of numinous presence." As on..: who has enjoyed Father Berry has many natural allies among those for thirty years the challenges and satisfactions of find- whom nature points eyond itself. I urge him not to ing ways for liturgy to help us sense the numinous exclude us from our common challenge and task in presence in the natural world, I'd like to hear more this ecological age. concretely how he envisages the classroom functioning

60 "Getting from Here to There"

By .v1etty Reardon

"The American College in an Ecological 'is a sig- us with a range and scope for thinking about"re-purpos- nificant challenge to educ-r,wrs, particuh. ; pce ing education" that we can find in no other document, educators. Growing ir..,.-;ers ofs w" :;y:iteilutl- save perhaps Robert Muller's "World CoreCurriculum," cally reflected on te obstacles to arid for which outlines four major conceptual areas focusing on the achievemen'. of and who have struggi :4 to the human person's place in the cosmos. While there are develop c-,t.iticaticr,-, suited to preparing citi..;,L0-115 significant differences between the (Ivo, they are both contribute- c:o that have come to se the based on an acknowledged belief in the fundamental need fer ;:lie very z. education 'llyAnas &ay pro- human responsibility for the future of the Earth, a belief poses C.5 the mimoti of theAlr.C.7":!'7:.:;' h?..1'c that appears to be supported by faith in the spiritual and come to argue, -loes Firair.r r. transcendent capacities of the human family. It is these for .7,..:eace edue,;.don c..d.a.ro:.ico. IS capacities described and identified in various forms by jusuch a wholi:f3ric ip.-rey,,:h as he peace educators that will make it possible for us to carry aelvocates. Those whc., cntfy ourselve a! nist on that responsibility if we choose to do so.They also pe;.ice educatm would e.;',..)ecially supportktiluiriAed constitute some of the fundamental learning goals of aygument about ecologica! versus ration veduon- peace education. It is in the design of concretecurricular ist thinking. The former must displac ):0.1u if we mutes (i.e., the particular programs and processes of are to use "the nuclear age" as thesche.o.tarce period for a education) to achieving these goals that Father Berry and major new stage in the human experience.. Robert Muller pose the real problem for educators. Berry's challenge calls educators to work for and with- In outlining his six proposed course areas, Berry in the context of "the ecological age" rooted in and implies that it would be possible even now for reflecting values of the Earth as that new stage. Peace American colleges and universities to take up such a educators agrev that the human capacities for related- curriculum. Those of us who spend our professional ness and creativeness integml to hisapproach are equal- lives pursuing innovative programs in universities hes- ly essential to the achievement of peace and to the itate to become unqualified advocates of Father Berry's health and survival of the planet and the human species. proposal in the absence of any particular plan for what To achieve such a peace, we must begin to make peace world order scholars call "transition strategies" or with Earth, for, as Patricia Mische has suggested, the what most people would refer to as "getting from here most devastating war is that which humans arewaging to there." There is no need to rehearse the many prob- against this planet. Other peace educators would also lems of curriculum and educational process that now argue Ciat most human activityis dominated by the war plague American educational institutions. It is, howev- system and that only a profound change ofconscious- er, necessary for us to thinkclearly about two areas of ness will enable us to transcendthis system. Berry's arti- action that we must pursue if we are to take up Father cle provides the fundamentals of an education far better Berry's challenge: first, the political processes that will suited than present programs in higher education to the be necessary to gain support for educational change of encouragement of a new stage of human consciousness. the dimensions that the "American College in the Thus we welcome Father Berry's article and urge our Ecological Age" calls for; and second, the arduous task colleagues to read and reflect on its challenge. of curriculum planning to implement these proposals. What makes the article such a challenge is the degree To some extent, we can say that the political process to which it is both inspiring andproblematic. It provides has in facc already begun through the discussions and debates surrounding the development of a more social- ly relevant and less culturally exclusive humanities cur- 5Dr. Reardm is dirictor of the Peace Education Program at riculum and the arguments for black studies, women's Teachers Coliqe, Columbia University. studies, and peace studiesthe very efforts decried by the reactionary, ''classical" critics of education. These cation, indeed what I read to be the majorpurpose of and similar efforts over the last two decades have the cur ':ulum he suggests, is the development ofa attempted to open the American mind, to help it to tran- capacity to find meaning, and that formal education scend its cultural and gender-biased view of the world can produce, or at least contribute significantly to, spiri- and the human experience. Yet, given even thatsome- tual transformation. The profound change in the what less than radical goal, far more modest than the human relationship to the planet that the realization of transformatory purposes apparent in the Berry propos- its spiritual character would produce cannot, itseems al, there has been little support for these innovations to me, be brought about by any primarily instructional except from those whose views and experience are information-based process. Even if the informationon excluded from the traditiolal curriculum. Andeven which we build the ecological curriculum takes into those who argue for these innovations do so for the account the new scientific knowledge about the origins most part in the familiar and, some peace educators and nature of the Earth, introducing it onlyas a change would say, sterile terms of the traditional rationalist aca- of tontent would be no more a guarantee of the kind of demic model. The argument tends to be for new and spiritual and intellectual change (i.e., change ofcon- "relevant" subject matter, with little attention to either sciousness) implied as necessary byan ecological pedagogy or modes of thinking. Save for some Freireans approach than traditional religious instruction has been and feminists, questions of structure and process are a guarantee of moral behavior. raised more by students than by faculty or administra- What I am suggesting is that not only dowe need to tion. Thus the politics of change, although it must be look toward a transformed structure for college and uni- attended to as a sphere of action of its own, cannot be versities and for new sources of t' le material basis of separated from the curriculum development process. learning, but that we must also challenge the primacy of It seems to me that the political process of change will the rational, analytic, Western, masculine thinking also be made the more difficult by the fact that modes to which colleges and universities "train" the American colleges and universities are now organized minds of students. We need especially to challenge the to serve the very interests that perpetuate the war sys- technocratic and "informatic" form such reductionist tem. The curriculum in general, with the disdpline- thought has taken on over the last decades, even in bound structure that still predominates, discourages some liberal traditional" academic strongholds. This is wholistic thinking, and the sciences"hard" and not to argue that the classical forms should be aban- "soft"have been virtually co-opted by what Professor doned, nor that the kinds of information carried by the Archie Singham has called the "warrior caste." The printed page or the computer disk should be totally subject matter, interpretation, and values of political replaced. Rather it is a plea to reconstitutesome of the science, traditional physics, and other such areas pro- truly humanistic attributes of classicism suchas the mote adversarial as well as reductionist thinking. While unity of knowledge, the intrinsic relationship of philos- much of the knowledge bise of the curricular sugges- ophy and science, and the interdependence between tions for an ecological age comes largely from recent knower and known. It is to reclaim the role of value in knowledge produced by the sciences, this knowledge the production and exchange of knowledge, to affirm has yet to become the "meat and potatoes" of any uni- the sense of knowing as loving the known, mostespe- versity curriculum. The subject matter itself is as prob- cially if the known is to become the Earth and its life lematic as the fundamental political purposes and systems. This reclamation of the "primitive," of the structure of the academy, compounding the problems wholistic experience of first learning as well as the dis- of curriculum development. covery of the full cosmic dimensions of the human It is in the process of curriculum development that experience is to me implicit in "The American College we are brought to face the most direct challenges in the Ecological Age." I thus assume that the intent of implicit in Berry's article, requiring us to raise some the article is also to argue for complementary changes crucial questions about the specifics of implementation. in institutional organization and pedagogic process. Berry's six core courses are, in both content and pur- Father Berry does not even hint at what these may be, pose, drastically different from most present offerings. but I am reasonably sure that he would argue for such However, there is no suggestion that the pedagogic complementary changes as requisite for the kind of col- process of the learning environment would be signifi- legiate learning experience he advocates. What is most cantly different from that in which present college significant about the essay is that it calls us to think courses are conducted. This observation is not intended about these practical problems. The inspiration it pro- to bring up the argument about the efficacy of the lec- vides should be sufficient to move educators to action. ture versus other classroom processes, but to raise Berry provides us with a schema of the kind of questions about whether colleges and curricula as organic approach to human knowledge and human presently organized can, in fact, fulfill the intention and experience that some peace educators and sorne femi- purpose of the proposals. nist scholars have been advocating, and in some scat- Father Berry seems to assume that a purpose of edu- tered and limited places actually practicing. We know

62 that it is possible to move toward the ,e kinds ot college as it is curreney constituted. Indeed, the kind changes, and we believe that if this movement and of learning called for here is not and cannot be restrict- these attempts to practice and live new modes of learn- ed to colleges. It is a process that must begin with early ing can exist at all within the current social and educa- childhood education and be integrated into an attitude tional systems, then the kind of transformation of edu- toward lifelong learning for individuals and for soci- cational institutions and of the society the essay pro- eties. As the human is the reflective organ of the Earth jects are also possible. If we do confront and tackle the system, so too the American college may become the practical problems with energy and courage we can reflective organ of our educational system, not sepa- make them probable as well. Berry provides us with a rate from, not above, but part of an ongoing wholistic vision of a phase of human experience in which we can learning process. Such a process is, I would argue, experience our wholeness, our true integrity, carrying essential if we are to transcend the rationalist-reduc- out our unique capacities to provide the reflective ccn- tionist paradigms currently dominating collegiate sciousness of the total Earth system and to be responsi- learning which many of us believe bear the ultimate ble for our own effects on the conditions and the future responsibility for the major threats to lik and to the of that system. He provides for us a clear articulation survival of our planet and our species. The American of the ultimate valueslife and Earththat should be college must attend to its responsibility to formulate the core values of all education. He suggests to us that and communicate the knowledge required to tran- as the evolution of life and human experienceis an scend those threats. Father Berry uutlines the direction organic, cyclical process, so too is learning. in which we should be moving and a vision of a trans- Authentic learning, learning of the cyclical process formed educational system that can inspire and ener- type, cannot, I fear, be fully pursued in the American gize our efforts. Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (A Department of NCEA) Suite 650 One Dupont Circle Washington, D.C. 20036

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