The human roots of the ecological crisis
Pope Francis begins chapter three of Laudato Si’ identifying a fundamental reason for the environmental crisis:
“A certain way of understanding human life and activity has gone awry, to the serious detriment of the world around us.”
LS 101
He links this distorted and impoverished understanding of ourselves – and the catastrophic consequences that flow from it – to the technocratic paradigm and anthropocentrism.
When the technocratic paradigm dominates how we think, see, act, and even feel, we envision ourselves standing above, and in opposition to, the natural world rather than in intimate relation- ship with it; indeed, we are called to master, possess, and even plunder creation because nature has no intrinsic meaning and value.
The technocratic paradigm preaches that the good things of God’s creation exist only to serve our ever expanding inter- ests and needs. Moreover, because advances in technology will increasingly enable us to take everything Earth has to give us, there is no need to live with reverence or restraint. With anthro- pocentrism, human beings (not God) become the center of reality and the reference point for everything else. When we bask in the light of anthropocentrism, everything exists for our sake and we are answerable to no one.
Because “our immense technological development has not been accompanied by a development in human responsibility, values and conscience,” Pope Francis calls for a “bold cultural revolution” (LS 114) to liberate us from the deadly effects of anthropocentrism and the technocratic paradigm. That revolution must be inspired and guided by a prophetic imagination.
As members of a global Catholic community, we Passionists are called to contribute to this hopeful and absolutely crucial project. It begins with our own personal ecological conversion.
