receive an integral education, which enables us to grow harmoniously in personal maturity. In the
familywe learn to askwithout demanding, to say “thank you” as an expression of genuine gratitude for
what we have been given, to control our aggressivity and greed, and to ask forgiveness when we have
caused harm. These simple gestures of heartfelt courtesy help to create a culture of shared life and
respect for our surroundings.
214. Political institutions and various other social groups are also entrusted with helping to raise
people’s awareness. So too is theChurch. All Christian communities have an important role to play in
ecological education. It is my hope that our seminaries and houses of formation will provide an
education in responsible simplicityof life, in grateful contemplationofGod’sworld, and in concern for
the needs of the poor and the protection of the environment. Because the stakes are so high, we need
institutions empowered to impose penalties for damage inflicted on the environment. But we also need
the personal qualities of self-control andwillingness to learn fromone another.
215. In this regard, “the relationship between a good aesthetic education and the maintenance of a
healthy environment cannot be overlooked”.
150
By learning to see and appreciate beauty, we learn to
reject self-interested pragmatism. If someone has not learned to stop and admire something beautiful,
we should not be surprised if he or she treats everything as an object to be used and abused without
scruple. If we want to bring about deep change, we need to realize that certain mindsets really do
influence our behaviour. Our efforts at educationwill be inadequate and ineffectual unless we strive to
promote a new way of thinking about human beings, life, society and our relationship with nature.
Otherwise, the paradigm of consumerismwill continue to advance, with the help of the media and the
highlyeffectiveworkings of themarket.
III.
ECOLOGICALCONVERSION
216. The rich heritage of Christian spirituality, the fruit of twenty centuries of personal and
communal experience, has a precious contribution tomake to the renewal of humanity. Here, I would
like to offer Christians a few suggestions for an ecological spirituality grounded in the convictions of
our faith, since the teachings of the Gospel have direct consequences for our way of thinking, feeling
150
ID.,
Message for the1990WorldDayof Peace
, 14:AAS 82 (1990), 155.
