Bishops issue 'call to action' on environment

Prelates: 'Human beings are creatures made in God's image'

(The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops released a document April 8 entitled "Building a New Culture: Central Themes in Recent Church Teaching on the Environment." CCN)

How can Catholics live in harmony with the environment? The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) has some answers.

They've issued a new paper called "Building a New Culture: Central Themes in Recent Church Teaching on the Environment."

"Having an overarching vision of God's purpose in creation and the rightful place of human beings in creation allows us to see the connectedness of different moral questions," said Bishop Donald Bolen of Saskatoon, a member of the commission, in an interview.

That vision encompasses "serving the dignity of human life at all stages and working towards the common good," and shows how justice implications are intrinsically connected with protecting the environment, he said. "Our document may be criticized because it doesn't address particular policy questions ... about the environment," he said. 

"We are encouraging our communities and our faithful to engage in dialogue with government and giving them the principles from which they should do that," he said. "It's not shying away from party policy, it's a call to action."

Read the full article here.