conviction that we are one single human family. There are no frontiers or barriers, political or social,
behindwhichwe can hide, still less is there room for the globalizationof indifference.
VI.
WEAKRESPONSES
53.
These situations have caused sister earth, alongwith all the abandoned of ourworld, to cry out,
pleading that we take another course. Never have we so hurt andmistreated our common home as we
have in the last two hundred years. Yet we are called to be instruments ofGod our Father, so that our
planet might be what he desiredwhen he created it and correspondwith his plan for peace, beauty and
fullness. The problem is that we still lack the culture needed to confront this crisis. We lack leadership
capable of striking out on new paths and meeting the needs of the present with concern for all and
without prejudice towards coming generations. The establishment of a legal frameworkwhich can set
clear boundaries and ensure the protectionof ecosystems has become indispensable; otherwise, the new
power structures basedon the techno-economic paradigmmayoverwhelmnot onlyour politics but also
freedom and justice.
54.
It is remarkable how weak international political responses have been. The failure of global
summits on the environment make it plain that our politics are subject to technology and finance.
There are toomany special interests, and economic interests easily end up trumping the common good
and manipulating information so that their own plans will not be affected. The
Aparecida Document
urges that “the interests of economic groups which irrationally demolish sources of life should not
prevail in dealingwith natural resources”.
32
The alliancebetween the economy and technology ends up
sidelining anything unrelated to its immediate interests. Consequently the most one can expect is
superficial rhetoric, sporadic acts of philanthropy and perfunctory expressions of concern for the
environment, whereas anygenuine attempt bygroupswithin society to introduce change is viewed as a
nuisancebased on romantic illusions or an obstacle tobe circumvented.
55.
Some countries are gradually making significant progress, developing more effective controls
and working to combat corruption. People may well have a growing ecological sensitivity but it has
32
FIFTHGENERALCONFERENCEOFTHELATINAMERICANANDCARIBBEANBISHOPS,
AparecidaDocument
(29 June 2007), 471.
