{"id":1758,"date":"2020-10-01T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/?p=1758"},"modified":"2020-09-26T16:42:45","modified_gmt":"2020-09-26T14:42:45","slug":"180-season-of-creation-the-new-ecological-ecumenical-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/es\/2020\/10\/180-season-of-creation-the-new-ecological-ecumenical-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"180. \u201cSeason of Creation\u201d: The New Ecological-Ecumenical Agenda?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cSeason of Creation<\/a>\u201d is the latest ecumenical initiative sponsored by the mainline ecumenical bodies such as \u2013 amongst others \u2013 the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches (WCC). This initiative covers a period of one month (from 1st<\/sup> September to 4th<\/sup> October, St. Francis\u2019 day in the liturgical calendar), has a focus on creation care issues, and includes a variety of activities. The Celebration Guide<\/a> is full of suggestions for common prayers and common actions. The aim is to unite all Christians in prayer, strengthening their commitment in favor of the environment. The tone is especially indebted to Laudato si<\/em>\u2019<\/a> (Praise Be to You), Pope Francis\u2019 2015 encyclical on \u201ccare for our common home\u201d. In that document, Pope Francis delineated his concerns for the deteriorating health of planet earth and called on humanity to take action in order to stop the degeneration process. The remedy to the downgrade trajectory was deemed to be the adoption of an \u201cintegral ecology\u201d<\/a>, i.e. the blending of green and missiological concerns in the context of Roman Catholic social doctrine. Integral ecology has become a buzzword in present-day ecumenical language and \u201cSeason of Creation\u201d is a direct response to what Laudato Si\u2019<\/em> called for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is particularly interesting is that \u201cSeason of Creation\u201d includes among its sponsors a significant representation of the global evangelical movement, such as the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and the Lausanne Movement through the Lausanne\/WEA Creation Care Network<\/a>. While evangelical networks have cultivated informal relationships with other bodies and have taken part in a number of dialogues for a long time, it is nonetheless significant that they are fully on board with this initiative where \u2013 as the official presentation states \u2013 \u201csisters and brothers in the ecumenical family join into common prayer and action for our common home\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Caring for Creation, One Must Exercise Discernment\u201d<\/strong>
The involvement of global evangelical networks at the forefront of \u201cSeason of Creation\u201d did not go unobserved in the evangelical world. A statement<\/a> from the Italian Evangelical Alliance (1st<\/sup> September 2020) is worth considering because it helpfully highlights some critical points that need to be dealt with. Here is the English translation of the text:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having read the program of the initiative “Season of Creation”, the Federal Executive Council of the Italian Evangelical Alliance encourages the whole church to pray, meditate, and exercise spiritual discernment in these matters, based upon the revealed Word of God. The Italian Evangelical Alliance:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– supports every evangelical initiative aimed at understanding God’s plan for His creation, at the confession of our sin and our responsibilities in abusing it, at the development of educational, social, political and entrepreneurial initiatives in our relationship with creation according to the requirements of the Gospel, in view of the hope of Christ who said: “I will make everything new”!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– is grateful for the evangelical documents already firmly established as being part of contemporary evangelical thought on the theme of creation and creation care, such as: the WEA-related “<\/em>Statement on the Care of Creation<\/em><\/a>” (2008) and the Lausanne-related <\/em>\u201cJamaica Call to Action\u201d<\/em><\/a> (2012).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– supports co-belligerent initiatives for a common and shared purpose (by religious and\/or secular bodies) aimed at the care and development of creation, even where the faith and worldview of the subjects and participants involved are different.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– distances itself from the ecumenical initiative \u201cSeason of Creation\u201d supported by the Lausanne\/WEA Creation Care Network and does not consider itself represented as it believes that it is neither possible nor biblical to unite in prayer to God with men and women representing religious institutions and bodies who profess a flawed gospel that is different from the gospel proclaimed by the evangelical faith.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– encourages the evangelical bodies involved to exercise discernment so as not to gradually slip into an ecumenical project that goes well beyond the care of creation and invites them not to confuse the right attention for creation with an ecumenical initiative.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Evolution of the Ecumenical Challenge<\/strong>
These comments by the Italian Evangelical Alliance contain several points worth considering. They reaffirm the evangelical commitment to creation care as part of the evangelical calling to live faithfully and responsibly in God\u2019s world. They also show the awareness of important evangelical documents predating Pope Francis\u2019 encyclical and provide a solid platform for evangelicals to promote creation care without unnecessarily \u201cborrowing capital\u201d from papal documents. Evangelicals do have a pool of helpful resources that are biblically framed and practically oriented. The Italian Evangelical Alliance\u2019s comments also witness to the evangelical openness towards co-belligerence on specific issues<\/a>, such as creation care, with initiatives and networks bringing together people of different religious and ideological backgrounds. Evangelical ethics and mission do allow and \u2013 indeed \u2013 demand believers in Jesus Christ to work together and alongside non-evangelicals in areas of common concerns on the basis of gospel convictions related to the biblical doctrine of common grace. Co-belligerence is a well-established practice in the evangelical ethos that does not confuse collaboration on specific issues with unity in the gospel and\/or sharing a common gospel mission. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point of the statement is therefore not to deny the importance of creation care nor to discourage evangelical participation in collaborative initiatives with people of different backgrounds. The main concern has to do with the \u201cecumenical\u201d framework in which \u201cSeason of Creation\u201d was planned and is presented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When one is told that \u201csisters and brothers in the ecumenical family join into common prayer and action for our common home\u201d, there are several implicit\/explicit points that are signaled. There is a significant ecumenical meta-narrative that is smuggled in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The language of sisterhood and brotherhood indicates the existence of spiritual ties between those who take part. Question: are we sure that all those participating at \u201cSeason of Creation\u201d, be they coming from Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or liberal backgrounds, are born-again believers in Jesus Christ according to the biblical gospel and therefore \u201csisters and brothers\u201d in the Lord? The impression that is given is that all those who are interested in this environmental initiative are intrinsically \u201csisters and brothers\u201d despite their spiritual standing before God and in spite of their different and differing views of the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The reference to the \u201cecumenical family\u201d further strengthens the impression that an ecumenical agenda is being pushed here beyond the shared concerns on creation care. The \u201cecumenical family\u201d includes all the institutions sponsoring \u201cSeason of Creation\u201d, i.e. the Roman Catholic Church and WCC. Because we are part of the \u201cecumenical family\u201d, not only do we need to recognize other individuals participating as \u201csisters and brothers\u201d, but we are also implicitly pressured to recognize the institutions involved as \u201csister\u201d churches. Once you accept belonging to the \u201cecumenical family\u201d, all family members \u2013 e.g. the Roman Church as institution, Orthodox churches, liberal churches, etc. \u2013 are legitimate Christian expressions of the \u201cone\u201d family. Is this an evangelical belief?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. The insistence on \u201ccommon prayer\u201d in the form of \u201cecumenical prayers<\/a>\u201d communicates the idea that all who pray them are brothers and sisters in Christ, sharing the same Christian faith, belonging to the same \u201cecumenical family\u201d, and are therefore different only on secondary, non-divisive issues. It smuggles in the idea of \u201cspiritual ecumenism\u201d, i.e. praying together, experiencing unity at the grassroot level, accepting the idea that we are all \u201cone\u201d despite our differences. Apparently the initiative is on creation care, but there is much of the ecumenical project that is embedded in it. The ecumenical agenda is subtly advanced within evangelical circles even if the issue is not formal ecumenism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Present-day ecumenism is evolving. It is integrating environmental concerns and joint prayer initiatives on creation care into its activities as a means of advancing the cause of the \u201cecumenical family\u201d. Evangelicals need to discern what is happening and to understand what is at stake. On the one hand, they need to be good stewards of God\u2019s creation who are willing to work together with all those who are similarly concerned for its care. On the other, creation care does not require \u201cspiritual ecumenism\u201d with non-evangelicals in order to be pursued faithfully and responsibly. Co-belligerence is sufficient for it.<\/p>\n

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