Pages for the "green paper"” “

An appeal to Europe’s solidarity with the countries of eastern Europe in the agricultural sector and an invitation to all the European Churches to educate in the environment through concrete projects and gestures: this, in essence, is the content of the final document of the 5th Consultation of the European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE) on responsibility for the creation which ended in recent days at Wroclaw (Poland), with the participation of over 60 representatives of the Churches of 22 European countries and delegates from Australia and from other networks and organizations that deal with environmental issues. The meeting focused on the need for formation in responsibility for the creation, to be pursued in the most diverse spheres: universities, faculties of theology, catechesis, family, parishes, schools. According to Msgr. Aldo Giordano , general secretary of the CCEE, “formation in the safeguard of the creation is a way of evangelising, and an opportunity to dialogue with other religions and with non-believers”. “The Church – he said – educates and forms through concrete gestures. But a political intervention on the theme of agriculture is also needed. We appeal to Europe to show greater solidarity”. The European Union is due to publish a “green paper” on the environment in June, and at the meeting in Wroclaw the European Churches pledged to express a judgement on it. Next year the Consultation will be held at Namur, in Belgium, from 3 to 6 June. It will focus on the ecumenical and interreligious contribution and on the national and European dimension. Below a résumé of what emerged from the Polish Consultation. From Noah’s Ark to “ecological” monasteries. Concrete projects and experiences such as planting trees, denouncing situations of environmental decay, building a symbolic Noah’s Ark to protect fauna, or cleaning up a green area of litter: this is the practical teaching approach to be used with students and young people to educate them in environmental issues and sustainable development. The projects vary from country to country: in Germany each diocese has a delegate for the environment, the Church trains consultants for two-year courses and over 700 communities are working for the creation of alternative energies; in Switzerland, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and France various environmental brochures have been published that are proving very successful, especially among the young; in Austria the Church is promoting campaigns on ecological taxes and biological agriculture and is collaborating with organizations like Greenpeace; in Ireland environmental issues form part of the teaching of religion in schools; in Portugal the Catholic University runs a graduate course in environmental engineering; in Hungary a special environmental day, “Day of Birds and Trees”, has been celebrated for over half a century together with the Franciscans, who organize various events, while in some European countries the local Churches are trying to promote the ecumenical celebration of a “Day of the Creation”. And many monasteries throughout Europe are models of management according to alternative criteria and lifestyles. During the Consultation it was proposed that all houses and structures belonging to the Church be henceforth constructed according to bio-architectural rules. Education and nature. “Modern civilization has a despotic relation with nature – observed the German educationalist Gerhard Mertens during the meeting – and that’s why education must create the foundations for a new understanding of nature in which man is responsible for his own actions. Students and young people must learn to understand and denounce situations in which progress is no longer in the measure of man and does not respect nature. That does not mean that we must renounce technology. It means we must create an alternative rationality able to recognise that nature conceals in itself a mystery, an unfathomable profundity, which far transcends technological and economic values. When man finds the meaning in nature, he also discovers the religious factor”. Europe and agriculture. At the round table on agriculture it was stressed that European agricultural policy “is fragile both on the economic and ethical levels”. “The granting of high EU subsidies to products for export is preventing the growth of markets in the developing countries and is therefore co-responsible for famine in the world”, declares the final communiqué of the CCEE Consultation. In Poland, for example, citizens will decide on entry into the EU during a referendum on 8-9 June. The bishops have urged citizens to vote, but left it to them whether to vote “yes” or “no”. “The main fears concern agriculture – explained Msgr. Edward Janiak, auxiliary bishop of Wroclaw, who is also national chaplain of the 32,000 Polish forestry guards – because we aren’t being treated like other countries. Our agriculture is currently unable to compete with the products of Western countries because the EU does not seem willing to give us the subsidies we need” Ever more “environmental wars”? “Wars also bring with them ecological disasters”. This was the alarming observation made by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, permanent observer of the Holy See to the office of the United Nations and specialized institutions in Geneva, according to whom “from now on wars will be increasingly fought with bacteriological weapons and will not just be limited to our planet: they have already invaded the cosmos, seeing that space is full of spy satellites and space shields”. The struggle to gain access to ever more limited resources, water in particular, may also become a motive for new wars. “That’s why the protection of the environment – emphasises the final document of the meeting – is a crucial sphere of action for a preventive policy of peace. Formation of consciousness in global responsibility is the indispensable presupposition for sustainable development. In this sphere the Church can make a substantial contribution as a global network of contacts between local realities”. Italian hunters in Hungary… “In Hungary all Italians are welcome, except hunters”. So began the Hungarian bishop Gaspar Ladocsi, who denounced the widespread custom for many Italian hunters to go to Hungary from spring to autumn in the search for protected species of birds (some 7,000 species in Hungary) in areas where a ban on hunting is in force. “It’s a highly developed network that works in collaboration with local support – explained the bishop –. The Hungarian police is liasing with the Italian police to try to curb this phenomenon which is destroying the richness of our fauna. The five most eagerly sought-after species, and those most appreciated by Italian cuisine, are purchased on the black market at prices ranging from 500 to 1000 euros each”. No sooner had Bishop Ladocsi raised the question, than reports came in from Holland and Croatia of similar transfers of Italian hunters abroad, who fail to respect local legislation and destroy the protected fauna in these countries. Father Paolo Tarchi, director of the national Office for social and labour problems of the Italian Episcopal conference, appealed to by his Hungarian colleague, listed the measures being taken by the Italian Church in the environmental sector, and ended (amid general mirth) with the boutade: “And beginning this year we’ll introduce a course for hunters in Hungary…”. …and fox-hunting in Ireland. The Irish Church too is having to come to terms with an ancient tradition, but one that clashes with respect for the animal kingdom: fox-hunting. “In recent months – said Msgr. Aidan O’Boyle, of the Irish Bishops’ Conference – many meets of this type have been held and, unfortunately, with the blessing of many priests. The Church’s own lands are sometimes used for hunting. We must devote greater attention to this problem and seek a solution”.