Catholic Practices & the Environment (AQA GCSE Religious Studies B): Revision Note

Care for the environment

• Catholics believe that they should care for the environment because God created the whole universe

  • The whole of creation is God’s gift

  • The whole of creation is holy because it was created by God, who made everything good (Genesis 1:31)

  • Humans can show their love for God by caring for the world he has created for them

• Catholics also believe that they should care for the environment because God asked humans to care for his creation

  • In Genesis 2, God made humans stewards of the world

  • This means they have a responsibility to look after the environment

• Jesus taught his followers that the greatest commandment is to love God and love your neighbour as yourself (Mark 12:29–31)

  • The Parable of the Good Samaritan teaches that all humans are our “neighbours”

  • Therefore, Catholics have a responsibility to look after the world for their neighbours — everyone who relies on the environment in both this generation and the generations to come

• Catholic teachings on care for the environment focus on preserving the delicate balance within creation

  • Humans must use the planet’s natural resources carefully and be mindful of preserving them for future generations

  • Exploitation of natural resources will affect the world and damage the quality of life for generations to come

• Catholics are encouraged not just to be aware of the issues but also to take action to improve the situation

  • In 2008, the Vatican set an example to others by installing thousands of solar panels to reduce carbon emissions

The meaning of stewardship

• Stewardship is the idea that Christians have a duty to care for the environment on God’s behalf

  • The idea of stewardship comes from the command God gave to the first humans in the Garden of Eden

• Stewardship means taking care of all elements of the world on a local, national and global level and avoiding exploitation of the planet’s natural resources

• All citizens of the world are interdependent, and everyone needs to see stewardship as a global effort

• Pope Francis taught about the challenges of stewardship:

Care for the environment at a local level

• Catholics can ensure their own attitudes and actions are positive

• At a local level, they can:

  • Produce less waste

  • Reuse goods and recycle more

  • Walk, cycle or use public transport

  • Save energy in the home

  • Use sustainable energy sources, e.g. solar panels

  • Use fewer plastic products

  • Take part in local environmental projects

  • Encourage local churches to reduce their carbon footprint

  • Educate others about the importance of preserving the planet

Care for the environment at a national level

• Catholics can:

  • Write to their local MP and other politicians to put pressure on them to support laws to protect the environment

  • Put pressure on companies to persuade them to follow environmentally friendly practices

  • Support and buy from companies that have environmentally friendly practices

Care for the environment at a global level

• Catholics can:

  • Support the environmental campaigns of global organisations such as CAFOD (the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development)

  • Put pressure on governments to implement the environmental agreements made at international meetings, such as Rio+20 

  • Support wildlife charities and campaign against animal abuse and exploitation

  • Boycott multinational companies that threaten the environment through their policies

• The Catholic Church teaches about the importance of everyone playing their part in taking action to protect the environment

  • Pope Francis emphasised this idea, quoting the bishops of Southern Africa, who said:

CAFOD and sustainability

• Sustainability means living in a way that respects the balance of the environment and protects the planet’s natural resources

  • This involves only using natural resources at a rate at which they can be replaced so that the damage caused to the world can be repaired over the long term

• Practices that have disrupted the planet’s ecological balance include:

  • Pollution

  • Industrialisation

  • Overpopulation

  • Deforestation

• Many international organisations accept the need to address environmental damage. The United Nations has developed a series of 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the world to try to achieve by 2030 to ensure a sustainable world. These goals include:

  • Climate action

  • No poverty

  • Clean water and sanitation

• Christians would call sustainability an important part of stewardship

• The Catholic Church emphasises the importance of sustainability to ensure future generations can enjoy God’s creation

  • A more sustainable world is more balanced in many ways: With enough natural resources for everyone, there will be less poverty, tension and fighting over resources 

• Pope Francis said that the world must put the poorest citizens at the centre of world economic policies and politics

  • He pointed out that justice and peace cannot be separated from care for the environment

The work of CAFOD on sustainability

• CAFOD, the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, works with and for people in poverty

• CAFOD aims to create a more balanced and sustainable world because of the belief that this is the best way to respect the goodness of God’s creation

• CAFOD supports sustainability throughout its work, including: 

  • Encouraging people in the UK to live more simply and sustainably 

    • CAFOD presents the LiveSimply award to communities, such as parishes and schools, that demonstrate their commitment to sustainability

  • Supporting projects that use cleaner, more efficient or renewable forms of energy

    • For example, in a project in Nakambi, Uganda, villagers have been taught to build and sell wood-burning stoves that use fewer logs and create less smoke, resulting in fewer trees being cut down

  • Working with groups such as MONLAR in Sri Lanka, which helps farmers to use sustainable methods and techniques in their work, e.g. natural fertilisers

  • Working with other international organisations to ensure sustainability is a key factor in political and trading decisions

  • Helping to found the Beyond 2015 campaign, which supported the creation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals