88.
The bishops ofBrazil have pointedout that nature as awholenot onlymanifestsGod but is also
a locus of his presence. The Spirit of life dwells in every living creature and calls us to enter into
relationshipwith him.
65
Discovering this presence leads us to cultivate the “ecological virtues”.
66
This
is not to forget that there is an infinite distance betweenGod and the things of this world, which do not
possess his fullness. Otherwise, we would not be doing the creatures themselves any good either, for
wewould be failing to acknowledge their right and proper place. Wewould end up undulydemanding
of them somethingwhich they, in their smallness, cannot giveus.
V.
AUNIVERSALCOMMUNION
89.
The created things of this world are not free of ownership: “For they are yours, O Lord, who
love the living” (
Wis
11:26). This is the basis of our conviction that, as part of the universe, called into
being by one Father, all of us are linked by unseen bonds and together form a kind of universal family,
a sublime communion which fills us with a sacred, affectionate and humble respect. Here I would
reiterate that “God has joinedus so closely to theworld around us that we can feel thedesertification of
the soil almost as aphysical ailment, and the extinctionof a species as apainful disfigurement”.
67
90.
This is not toput all livingbeings on the same level nor todeprive humanbeings of their unique
worth and the tremendous responsibility it entails. Nor does it imply a divinization of the earth which
would prevent us from working on it and protecting it in its fragility. Such notions would end up
creating new imbalances which would deflect us from the realitywhich challenges us.
68
At times we
see an obsessionwith denying anypre-eminence to the human person;more zeal is shown in protecting
other species than in defending the dignitywhich all human beings share in equal measure. Certainly,
we should be concerned lest other livingbeings be treated irresponsibly. But we should be particularly
indignant at the enormous inequalities in our midst, wherebywe continue to tolerate some considering
themselves more worthy than others. We fail to see that some are mired in desperate and degrading
poverty, with no way out, while others have not the faintest idea ofwhat to do with their possessions,
vainly showingoff their supposed superiority and leaving behind them somuchwastewhich, if it were
65
Cf.NATIONALCONFERENCEOFTHEBISHOPSOFBRAZIL,
A Igreja e aQuestãoEcológica,
1992, 53-54.
66
Ibid., 61.
67
ApostolicExhortation
EvangeliiGaudium
(24November 2013), 215:AAS105 (2013), 1109.
68
Cf. BENEDICTXVI, Encyclical Letter
Caritas inVeritate
(29 June2009), 14:AAS101 (2009), 650.
