Ecological Conversion
by Marguerite Thompson
If you haven’t looked at catholicclimatecovenant.org, take some time to do so in the coming weeks. Here are some meaningful quotations for a taste of its content:
“Pope Francis chose his papal name to honor St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of those who promote ecology. Pope Francis describes ’the poor man of Assisi’ as ‘a man of peace, a man of poverty, a man who loved and protected creation’ – in other words, a person who embodies integral ecology.”
Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, 217: “It must be said that some committed and prayerful Christians, with the excuse of realism and pragmatism, tend to ridicule expressions of concern for the environment. Others are passive; they choose not to change their habits and thus become inconsistent. So, what they all need is an ‘ecological conversion,’ whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ becomes evident in their relationship with the world around them. Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.”