ECUMENISM
The Churches must play a pioneering role in the protection of the environment: that is the objective set at Stuttgart during an ecumenical meeting between theologians and ecological experts from Germany and Austria. The ecumenical meeting, held on 20-21 May, underlined the need to formulate and promote obligatory ecological standards for ecclesiastical institutions. Jobst Kraus of the Evangelical Academy of Bad Boll urged the Churches to run their own conference centres “in a sober and ecological way, without imitating current hotel standards”. The spokesman of the delegates for the environment of Austrian dioceses, Ernst Sandriesser, stressed that the ecological commitment being made by individual parishes or by directors of seminaries is no longer enough. “Twenty years ago it was still thought that the commitment of individual activists could prove contagious for others. The Churches must promote eco-compatible heating systems and promote a new mentality towards car use”. Markus Vogt of the Salesian Faculty of Philosophy and Theology of Benediktbeuern urged the Churches to devote greater attention to the use of biotechnologies in the agricultural field. “We need to pose questions about the consequences of the genetic mutations of plants as regards the variety of species, market access for producers of the whole world and freedom of choice for consumers. Christians cannot evade these questions”, he warned. Emphasizing that biotechnologies in the agricultural field involve risks for everyone, Vogt rejected the thesis according to which genetic mutations of plants could solve the problem of famine in the world: “Famine is always the result of social disparity: in one part of the world a surplus of food is produced, while in another part famine predominates”.
