" ... radical relationships of equality with all God's creation... "
in
A Prophetic Call to a Quest for Justice
Rome Congregation Chapter 2002P. Mark O'Loughlin cfc
[May, 2002]
One of the unanticipated delights for me at our recent Rome Congregation Chapter was its embracing of what is variously referred to as an Earth or Creation or Cosmic spirituality. Such a spirituality is in fact not foreign to us as a Congregation. Constitution 2, given to us by our 1996 South Africa Chapter, declares that "We stand humbly and in openness to welcome Christ who comes to us in creation". A simple and unambiguous statement of a Creation spirituality.
Subsequently, Constitutions 13 and 16 are not congruent with a Creation spirituality, but articulate a stance of respectful and just stewardship of the earth as a resource for humankind. They claim that "As stewards of creation, we glorify God's name and return all to the Creator", and, "Mindful that God intends the earth and its fulness to be for the use of all people, we avoid every form of compromise with social injustice". This is the thinking expressed in Gaudium et Spes, and, in one of the Dublin Bicentenary Workshops, Dr. Anne Primavesi challenged us to recognise this view of our relationship with the earth as patriarchal and patronising.
Our Rome Chapter embraced again the Creation spirituality of Constitution 2, but went further. It expressed a foundational philosophy and theology which also went beyond The Declaration of Interdependence of the David Suzuki Foundation [www.davidsuzuki.org], and beyond the Earth Charter which is to be put for endorsement before the United Nations General Assembly later this year [http://www.earthcharter.org]. These two statements, so vitally important for the future of all global communities, are based on a declared belief in "global interdependence". Our Rome Chapter held a deeper belief, and its decision was "To encourage Brothers to engage in radical relationships of equality with all God's creation and to support the Earth Charter". And there were two other echoes of an Earth spirituality in the Rome outcomes. In the description of our Chapter journey we wrote that "We found ourselves turning instinctively to identify with the pains and burdens felt in our whole earth community [my italic]". And we expressed that "As Brothers we are called to accept as gift the growth that comes through facing our pain and loss in a troubled world and suffering planet [my italic]".
How did the Chapter come to its re-endorsement of a Creation spirituality? As the Chapter progressed, all participants joined self-chosen working groups to reflect on the issues which were emerging. The two biggest groups were Brotherhood and Spiritualities. In time a summary page from the Brotherhood group included the claim that "At the heart of being Christian Brother in the living spirit of Edmund is [amongst other statements] engaging in radical relationships of equality with all God's creation". At this stage the Brotherhood and Spiritualities groups found themselves independently focussed on Luke's Emmaus story, as capturing the essence of what they were discovering about brotherhood and spirituality. These two working groups merged, and the Creation spirituality statement was now embraced by a combined majority group. At one stage "according to the principles of the Earth Charter" was added to the statement. This was challenged as being not accurate, and the phrase was modified to "and to support the Earth Charter".
After a process of plenary interaction with the outcomes from the working groups, their final statements were given to two small writing and editorial committees to create an integrated summary from the Chapter for the Congregation. Under the heading "A Prophetic Call to a Quest for Justice", the Creation spirituality statement finally became a "Heart Decision" by the whole Chapter. Was Creation spirituality ever the subject of a plenary session? No, unfortunately, and in fact the nature of the facilitation was that very little was allowed to be the subject of plenary discussion. Was the statement challenged? Yes, and in particular the inclusion of the word "radical". But the wording survived the challenge.
It is a painful awareness in my life that our human presence is in competition with all other life forms. And we have become the most destructive species ever to emerge on this fragile planet. All of the current evidence indicates to me that the destruction is terminal for the planet as we experience it. How are we to be Brothers to our Earth? How are we to live the Earth spirituality of a Francis of Assisi, who spoke of his "Brother Sun and Sister Moon"? Our Rome Chapter has offered us a stance. One of the delegates put the question to me as to what should be his response if, in a major highway drama [I cannot envisage what!], it became a question of his life or the destruction of a 300-year-old Giant Sequoia Tree. My response was that, when we begin to ask this type of question we have embraced the Chapter invitation. And if and when I choose my life ahead of another, do I embrace the attendant commitment to use my human advantage to fight for justice for all life on our planet?
As I reflect on our sacred and vulnerable Earth, I find myself turning to the Eucharistic theology of Frank Andersen. I am beginning to believe that "This is my body given for you" invites me into a profound mutuality in my precious and integral relationship with the Earth.
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