In a sprawling document articulating the duty of Christians to care for the environment, a Vatican advisory body wrote that taking action to preserve the planet for future generations is “not only an ethical requirement, but also a theological one.”
“The historical moment we are living through demands urgent action from everyone, beginning with those responsible for public life, to ensure the sustainability of the planet and the habitability of our common home,” the Vatican’s International Theological Commission wrote in a more than 30,000-word document published in Italian Sept. 2, titled “Caring for Our Common Home: A Responsible and Fraternal Response to the Triune God.”
The document, the fruit of three years of work by the commission and reviewed by Pope Leo XIV prior to its publication, makes the case for developing an “ecological spirituality” in light of the Christian understanding of the triune God — the doctrine of God as the Trinity which Catholics understand makes God inherently relational.
Texts published by the commission are not part of the church’s magisterium; the advisory body is instead tasked with assisting the church, and particularly the Vatican’s doctrine office, in the study and development of church teaching.
A significant portion of the text, which roots its ideas in the writings of four doctors of the church and papal magisterium, seeks to further develop the term “ecological sin” which was introduced at the 2019 Synod of Bishops on the Amazon and which Pope Francis said he was considering inserting into the catechism.
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With thanks to National Catholic Reporter and Justin McLellan, where this article originally appeared.
