CARE FOR CREATION

Anna Chiprean and Kaitlyn Grubbs

 What is Care for Creation?
◦ Showing respect to God through our stewardship of the world he created
◦ 1 Chronicles 29:11
◦ Yours, O LORD, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the
heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.

◦ God joined us so closely to the world around us through our bodies that we can feel the desertification of
the soil almost as a physical ailment and the extinction of a species as a painful disfigurement.
◦ Why?
◦ Our duties toward the environment are linked to those towards the human person, since the two are
related.
◦ Genesis 2:7
◦ Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a living being
Future Generations
◦ Once we begin considering that our future generations live in this world, we realize
that the world is a gift which we freely received and should share with others.

◦ Held to both biological and moral laws

◦ We cannot ignore the use of elements in nature, the renewability of resources and
the consequences of haphazard industrialization

◦ Intergenerational solidarity
◦ Not optional, it is a basic question of justice
◦ Caring for those in need
 Hearing the Cry for Help
“The poor and the earth are crying out”
◦ The poor people of the world are suffering from ecological devastation
◦ Extractive industries in Latin American often violate environmental standards

◦ Conflict in Africa is driven by shifts in climate

◦ Devastation of the Philippines during Super Typhoon Haiyan

 The Environment Refugee
◦ What are they?
◦ Legally, this concept does not exist

◦ With the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters, climate change is expected to expose million
to largescale displacement and forced migration

◦ Global working poor

◦ Live in areas affected by natural phenomena related to global warming
◦ Flooding
◦ Hurricanes
◦ Droughts

◦ Their jobs depend on natural reserves and ecosystem-focuses industries

◦ Limited financial activities and resources that can help them in these conditions and their access to social
services and protection is also very limited
 How Can We Help?
◦ We must act as individuals as well as a nation in order to keep this world safe for our
future generations

◦ The Environmental Justice Program

◦ Program in the Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development

◦ Educated and motivates Catholics to a deeper reverence and respect for God’s
creation

◦ Encourages Catholics to address environmental problems

 How Can We Help?
◦ Saint Anthony’s Parish
◦ A parishioner helped start a recycling program that aims to reduce the trash that fills their landfill space

◦ 96-gallon bin that gets filled with trash that is usually considered hard to recycle that are then sorted and are
often found to not be trash at all
◦ Reusable or recyclable items then get distributed to agencies that will accept these materials

◦ Program has helped to educate the parish about items that can be recycled or reused as
opposed to being thrown away
◦ Helps diminish waste in order to preserve creation