Based upon chapter IV of the papal encyclical Laudato Si’ I attempt an approach from the point of view of the human responsibility to preserve the whole of creation as the Creator wanted it.

“Everything is closely interrelated, even time and space are not independent of one another” (L.S. 137-138), and “we are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it” (139). The first question we have to ask ourselves is whether people are willing to be a part of the whole. Maybe most of them are individualists and therefore only concerned with their own welfare and wellbeing. Many may think that everything is at our service, for free.  Maybe they would like to be owners of the universe, and try to function as if they were in possession of the earth and its resources. All too easily, people claim power for themselves, to be on top of everything, considering other creatures as their dependents or at least their inferiors. About issues of a world scale like climate change they may say: ‘this is none of my business’.

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Read the full reflection above.