Ecology & Environment

We are undoubtedly living in a time of crisis, a time when it is fitting to ask what type of society and what type of world we want to build. A time when, once and for all, we are called to possess the clarity of mind needed to know how to identify the emerging possibilities that we may find in our present reality. Crises are, to a certain extent, a wake-up call demanding that we change direction and build a world on new foundations. This booklet describes which are these foundations and the role that Religions may play in the setting up of a New Word Order.

The current neoliberal model of globalisation, far from slowing down the effects of environmental damages and guaranteeing basic rights, has instead brought about the commercialisation of the water market, and turned it into a new business opportunity increasing the vulnerability of the weakest sectors of society. We need to promote a “New Water Culture” which restores, within the framework of modernity, the old wisdom of our ancestor’s cultures that was based on an attitude of care and respect for Nature.

Gaudium et Spes is surely the most novel document produced by the Second Vatican Council. In this booklet the author offers a reading which delineates three spheres where the Church can offer her good news to a wounded world: justice, peace, and the integrity of creation. In this day and age we find it impossible to imagine a Church which fails to respond to these great questions that impinge on the lives of millions of human beings.