"If you want to cultivate peace, protect the environment" - Pope Benedict : (January 2010)

Once again, in the days following the joy of Christmas, news of an almost incomphresensible disaster shatters our illusions of dominance and superioirity. The citizens of Haiti and especially Port au Prince have been devestated. The very scale of the death toll and the enormous destruction of the city, sourrounding towns and villages leave the whole human family shocked.

The international response has been immediate. Problems of providing aid were caused by poor infrastructure, damage to the port and the limited size of the airport. Now it seems medical, food and shelter programmes are under way.

Less dramatically, but equally serious here at home, the economic recession which has seen increasing numbers of people turning to the SVP for assistance, has been further exacerbated by the long period of snow and ice adding to heating and shopping worries for the elderly and infirm.

And now in Ireland blessed or cursed with rain we have a water crisis! This might be a good time for us to reflect on what Pope Benedict has been saying in recent times.

Fr Perry Gildea - Vincentian Fathers

Cliftonville Road, Belfast 15

Last year he issued his third encyclical letter speaking on human development and solidarity under the title of "Charity is Truth". This was a long and sometimes quite technical letter and for many not as easy reading as his previous letters on Love and Hope.

Fortunately he returned to this theme more simply and clearly in his New Year message for the world day of peace. This he issued not with a title but a challenge, "if you want to cultivate peace, protect creation".

This address is a passionate plea for the protection of the environment as a necessary condition for the emergence of peace which in turn is the prerequisite for the development of peoples this is most important for the poor and especially those in the developing countries.

This perhaps brings us back to Haiti. There is no doubt the death toll and damage caused by this earthquake was due to the poor quality of buildings and the density of population in the capital. These factors in turn flowed from the extreme poverty of the people and their country. The Pope has linked concern for the poor, human development and peace to an urgent plea for the whole ecology of human existence.

"It sould be evident that the ecological crises cannot be viewed in isolation from other related questions, since it is closely related to the notion of development itself and our understanding of man in his relationship to others and to the rest of creation. Prudence would thus dictate aprofound long term review of our model of development, on which would take into consideration the meaning of the economy and its goals with an eye to correcting its malfunctions and misapplications."

The ecological health of the planet calls for this, but it is also demanded by the cultural and moral crisis of humanity whose symptoms have for some time been evident in every part of the world.

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"Humanity needs a profound cultural renewal; it needs to rediscover those values which can serve as the solid basis for building a brighter future for all. Our present crises - be they economic, food-related, environmental or social - are ultimately also moral crises, and all of them are interrelated."

"if you want to cultivate peace, protect creation"

Pope Benedict is asserting that all human and natural crises involve a moral obligation to do what is best for the survival, improvement and development of the human family. It is a question of morality. Part of that is how we care for and concern ourselves not only about the immediate reponse to the calamity which has befallen Haiti, but also we concern ourselves about the future, making sure a society emerges that has a future based on infrastructure, education, employment and the basics of life such as regular food supply and adequate (and if possible earthquake proof) housing. That is not just urged by charity but is also a moral duty on those who can provide these things.

Fr Perry (January 2010)

Pope Benedict with Bishop Guire Poulard of Haiti