WORDS Beth Doherty Care for the earth has a long history in the Catholic Church, says Bishop Christopher Toohey.
At the opening of the Rerum Novarum Lecture in 2006, Bishop Chris Toohey from the Wilcannia-Forbes diocese opened with this statement:
‘We know this earth as the garden which we have been given to look after so that it can produce its fruits. Our belief is that none of this happened by mere chance or accident. It was by God’s will that the earth came to be.’
Bishop Chris is the head of Catholic Earthcare Australia, an organisation that was formed by the Australian Catholic Bishops in response to Pope John Paul’s call for ‘an ecological conversion’.
The diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes is the largest in New South Wales and covers 53 per cent of the state. It seems to be no coincidence, rather a God-incidence, that the environment and science-keen Bishop is the shepherd of this diocese, given that much of the diocese is ravaged by a long-standing drought.
 Environmental issues are no more pressing than in a diocese of farms, where the land is a source of life and livelihood for a large percentage of the people.
In the Catholic Church, care for the earth has a long history—both in the spiritual tradition of the Church and in the celebration of the Mass. Bishop Chris talks quite specifically about this and mentions how we pray for all creation at each and every mass.
‘Think of the words during the consecration: “Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation, through your goodness we have this bread and wine to offer, that earth has given and human hands have made. It will become the bread of life”.’
In Catholic Social Teaching, people are referred to as ‘stewards of creation’. It also talks about human dignity, which is intrinsically linked to the environment, and how the environment, or indeed, how God through creation of the earth provides for the people of the world.
‘I think if you look at the Church’s history you see a lot of references to the earth and how it invites us into prayer—you have the Desert Fathers who went into the desert to learn about God. They did this through the mystery and the silence’, says Bishop Chris.
St Francis of Assisi made beautiful prayers about the flowers, the trees, the animals, brother sun and sister moon. These saints and mystics found inspiration in God’s creation.
‘All of these people have responded to nature—they have all found expressions of the beauty and power of what God has made. “Nature is like a book without words”, said St Augustine. “In that book, we learn about the wonder and beauty of its author”.’
Interestingly, Bishop Chris says his interest in the environment grew out of a childhood fascination with science and astronomy.
‘That is what conditioned me a little bit. I like to study the claims of the environmental movement from a scientific perspective. And, of course, I have a theological background as a person in the church. When you put the two together—good science to good theological reflection, you get what we are on about at Catholic Earthcare. That’s the basic mantra.’
This said, there are plenty of challenges, and many are sceptical about how the Church is involved in the environmental movement. Bishop Toohey speaks to these issues, and reiterates that there will always be those who are there to challenge.
‘I talked to some uni students this year who couldn’t understand why we had sceptics about climate change, but my answer was, if you think you are going to get 100 per cent agreement on anything, you will have a miserable life.
‘A lot of people ask me if the drought is climate change. I’m not a scientist…
 ‘It varies. Some think it is climate change and others think it is too complex to be that categorical. There may be some influences, but the drought is not necessarily evidence.’
He says the priority in the diocese has been providing a pastoral response to the drought.
‘We have our welfare agency working with people—Centacare. We find that it’s basic things, like not being able to pay school fees because of the drought. Often the most needy have their pride and don’t like to approach you, so you deal with people at a very desperate stage.’
The drought has made people aware of the importance of the natural world, and how much we depend on it. Bishop Chris says it causes us to reflect on a range of things that are mutually important—our consumption, who we are as created beings, and God’s vocation for us living here on earth.
The spirit of reflection, dialogue and openness to being challenged is a defining characteristic for Catholic Earthcare Australia.
‘I enjoy talking to people about these things. I think that my work with Catholic Earthcare is a tremendous opportunity to proclaim the gospel’, says Bishop Chris.
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