[1] Canticle of the Creatures, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 1, New York-London-Manila, 1999, 113-114.
[2] Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens (14 May 1971), 21: AAS 63 (1971), 416-417.
[3] Address to FAO on the 25th Anniversary of its Institution (16 November 1970), 4: AAS 62 (1970), 833.
[4] Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis (4 March 1979), 15: AAS 71 (1979), 287.
[5] Cf. Catechesis (17 January 2001), 4: Insegnamenti 41/1 (2001), 179.
[6] Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 38: AAS 83 (1991), 841.
[8] JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (30 December 1987), 34: AAS 80 (1988), 559.
[9] Cf. ID., Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 37: AAS 83 (1991), 840.
[10] Address to the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See (8 January 2007): AAS 99 (2007), 73.
[11] Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 51: AAS 101 (2009), 687.
[12] Address to the Bundestag, Berlin (22 September 2011): AAS 103 (2011), 664.
[13] Address to the Clergy of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone (6 August 2008): AAS 100 (2008), 634.
[14] Message for the Day of Prayer for the Protection of Creation (1 September 2012).
[15] Address in Santa Barbara, California (8 November 1997); cf. JOHN CHRYSSAVGIS, On Earth as in Heaven: Ecological Vision and Initiatives of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Bronx, New York, 2012.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Lecture at the Monastery of Utstein, Norway (23 June 2003).
[18] “Global Responsibility and Ecological Sustainability”, Closing Remarks, Halki Summit I, Istanbul (20 June 2012).
[19] THOMAS OF CELANO, The Life of Saint Francis, I, 29, 81: in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 1, New York-London-Manila, 1999, 251.
[20] The Major Legend of Saint Francis, VIII, 6, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 2, New York-London-Manila, 2000, 590.
[21] Cf. THOMAS OF CELANO, The Remembrance of the Desire of a Soul, II, 124, 165, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 2, New York-London-Manila, 2000, 354.
[22] SOUTHERN AFRICAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, Pastoral Statement on the Environmental Crisis (5 September 1999).
[23] Cf. Greeting to the Staff of FAO (20 November 2014): AAS 106 (2014), 985.
[24] FIFTH GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN BISHOPS, Aparecida Document (29 June 2007), 86.
[25] CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Pastoral Letter What is Happening to our Beautiful Land? (29 January 1988).
[26] BOLIVIAN BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, Pastoral Letter on the Environment and Human Development in Bolivia El universo, don de Dios para la vida (23 March 2012), 17.
[27] Cf. GERMAN BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, Commission for Social Issues, Der Klimawandel: Brennpunkt globaler, intergenerationeller und ökologischer Gerechtigkeit (September 2006), 28-30.
[28] PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 483.
[29] Catechesis (5 June 2013): Insegnamenti 1/1 (2013), 280.
[30] BISHOPS OF THE PATAGONIA-COMAHUE REGION (ARGENTINA), Christmas Message (December 2009), 2.
[31] UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS, Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good (15 June 2001).
[32] FIFTH GENERAL CONFERENCE OF THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN BISHOPS, Aparecida Document (29 June 2007), 471.
[33] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 56: AAS 105 (2013), 1043.
[34] JOHN PAUL II, Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, 12: AAS 82 (1990), 154.
[35] ID., Catechesis (17 January 2001), 3: Insegnamenti 24/1 (2001), 178.
[36] JOHN PAUL II, Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, 15: AAS 82 (1990), 156.
[37] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 357.
[38] Angelus in Osnabrück (Germany) with the disabled, 16 November 1980: Insegnamenti 3/2 (1980), 1232.
[39] BENEDICT XVI, Homily for the Solemn Inauguration of the Petrine Ministry (24 April 2005): AAS 97 (2005), 711.
[40] Cf. BONAVENTURE, The Major Legend of Saint Francis, VIII, 1, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 2, New York-London-Manila, 2000, 586.
[41] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2416.
[42] GERMAN BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, Zukunft der Schöpfung – Zukunft der Menschheit. Einklärung der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz zu Fragen der Umwelt und der Energieversorgung, (1980), II, 2.
[43] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 339.
[44] Hom. in Hexaemeron, I, 2, 10: PG 29, 9.
[45] The Divine Comedy, Paradiso, Canto XXXIII, 145.
[46] BENEDICT XVI, Catechesis (9 November 2005), 3: Insegnamenti 1 (2005), 768.
[47] ID., Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 51: AAS 101 (2009), 687.
[48] JOHN PAUL II, Catechesis (24 April 1991), 6: Insegnamenti 14 (1991), 856.
[49] The Catechism explains that God wished to create a world which is “journeying towards its ultimate perfection”, and that this implies the presence of imperfection and physical evil; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 310.
[50] Cf. SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 36.
[51] THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologiae, I, q. 104, art. 1 ad 4.
[52] ID., In octo libros Physicorum Aristotelis expositio, Lib. II, lectio 14.
[53] Against this horizon we can set the contribution of Fr Teilhard de Chardin; cf. PAUL VI, Address in a Chemical and Pharmaceutical Plant (24 February 1966): Insegnamenti 4 (1966), 992-993; JOHN PAUL II, Letter to the Reverend George Coyne(1 June 1988): Insegnamenti 11/2 (1988), 1715; BENEDICT XVI, Homily for the Celebration of Vespers in Aosta (24 July 2009):Insegnamenti 5/2 (2009), 60.
[54] JOHN PAUL II, Catechesis (30 January 2002),6: Insegnamenti 25/1 (2002), 140.
[55] CANADIAN CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS, SOCIAL AFFAIRS COMMISSION, Pastoral Letter You Love All that Exists… All Things are Yours, God, Lover of Life” (4 October 2003), 1.
[56] CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF JAPAN, Reverence for Life. A Message for the Twenty-First Century (1 January 2000), 89.
[57] JOHN PAUL II, Catechesis (26 January 2000), 5: Insegnamenti 23/1 (2000), 123.
[58] ID., Catechesis (2 August 2000), 3: Insegnamenti 23/2 (2000), 112.
[59] PAUL RICOEUR, Philosophie de la Volonté, t. II: Finitude et Culpabilité, Paris, 2009, 216.
[60] Summa Theologiae, I, q. 47, art. 1.
[61] Ibid.
[62] Cf. ibid., art. 2, ad 1; art. 3.
[63] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 340.
[64] Canticle of the Creatures, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, New York-London-Manila, 1999, 113-114.
[65] Cf. NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE BISHOPS OF BRAZIL, A Igreja e a Questão Ecológica, 1992, 53-54.
[66] Ibid., 61.
[67] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 215: AAS 105 (2013), 1109.
[68] Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 14: AAS 101 (2009), 650.
[69] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2418.
[70] CONFERENCE OF DOMINICAN BISHOPS, Pastoral Letter Sobre la relación del hombre con la naturaleza (21 January 1987).
[71] JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens (14 September 1981), 19: AAS 73 (1981), 626.
[72] Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 31: AAS 83 (1991), 831.
[73] Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (30 December 1987), 33: AAS 80 (1988), 557.
[74] Address to Indigenous and Rural People, Cuilapán, Mexico (29 January 1979), 6: AAS 71 (1979), 209.
[75] Homily at Mass for Farmers, Recife, Brazil (7 July 1980): AAS 72 (1980): AAS 72 (1980), 926.
[76] Cf. Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, 8: AAS 82 (1990), 152.
[77] PARAGUAYAN BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, Pastoral Letter El campesino paraguayo y la tierra (12 June 1983), 2, 4, d.
[78] NEW ZEALAND CATHOLIC BISHOPS CONFERENCE, Statement on Environmental Issues (1 September 2006).
[79] Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens (14 September 1981), 27: AAS 73 (1981), 645.
[80] Hence Saint Justin could speak of “seeds of the Word” in the world; cf. II Apologia 8, 1-2; 13, 3-6: PG 6, 457-458, 467.
[81] JOHN PAUL II, Address to Scientists and Representatives of the United Nations University, Hiroshima (25 February 1981), 3: AAS 73 (1981), 422.
[82] BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 69: AAS 101 (2009), 702.
[83] ROMANO GUARDINI, Das Ende der Neuzeit, 9th ed., Würzburg, 1965, 87 (English: The End of the Modern World, Wilmington, 1998, 82).
[84] Ibid.
[85] Ibid., 87-88 (The End of the Modern World, 83).
[86] PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 462.
[87] ROMANO GUARDINI, Das Ende der Neuzeit, 63-64 (The End of the Modern World, 56).
[88] Ibid., 64 (The End of the Modern World, 56).
[89] Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 35: AAS 101 (2009), 671.
[90] Ibid., 22: p. 657.
[91] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 231: AAS 105 (2013), 1114.
[92] ROMANO GUARDINI, Das Ende der Neuzeit, 63 (The End of the Modern World, 55).
[93] JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 38: AAS 83 (1991), 841.
[94] Cf. Love for Creation. An Asian Response to the Ecological Crisis, Declaration of the Colloquium sponsored by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (Tagatay, 31 January-5 February 1993), 3.3.2.
[95] JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 37: AAS 83 (1991), 840.
[96] BENEDICT XVI, Message for the 2010 World Day of Peace, 2: AAS 102 (2010), 41.
[97] ID., Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 28: AAS 101 (2009), 663.
[98] Cf. VINCENT OF LERINS, Commonitorium Primum, ch. 23: PL 50, 688: “Ut annis scilicet consolidetur, dilatetur tempore, sublimetur aetate”.
[99] No. 80: AAS 105 (2013), 1053.
[100] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 63.
[101] Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 37: AAS 83 (1991), 840.
[102] PAUL VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio (26 March 1967), 34: AAS 59 (1967), 274.
[103] BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 32: AAS 101 (2009), 666.
[104] Ibid.
[105] Ibid.
[106] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2417.
[107] Ibid., 2418.
[108] Ibid., 2415.
[109] Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, 6: AAS 82 (1990), 150.
[110] Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (3 October 1981), 3: Insegnamenti 4/2 (1981), 333.
[111] Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, 7: AAS 82 (1990), 151.
[112] JOHN PAUL II, Address to the 35th General Assembly of the World Medical Association (29 October 1983), 6: AAS 76 (1984), 394.
[113] EPISCOPAL COMMISSION FOR PASTORAL CONCERNS IN ARGENTINA, Una tierra para todos (June 2005), 19.
[114] Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (14 June 1992), Principle 4.
[115] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 237: AAS 105 (2013), 1116.
[116] BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 51: AAS 101 (2009), 687.
[117] Some authors have emphasized the values frequently found, for example, in the villas, chabolas or favelas of Latin America: cf. JUAN CARLOS SCANNONE, S.J., “La irrupción del pobre y la lógica de la gratuidad”, in JUAN CARLOS SCANNONE and MARCELO PERINE (eds.), Irrupción del pobre y quehacer filosófico. Hacia una nueva racionalidad, Buenos Aires, 1993, 225-230.
[118] PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 482.
[119] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 210: AAS 105 (2013), 1107.
[120] Address to the German Bundestag, Berlin (22 September 2011): AAS 103 (2011), 668.
[121] Catechesis (15 April 2015): L’Osservatore Romano, 16 April 2015, p. 8.
[122] SECOND VATICAN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 26.
[123] Cf. Nos. 186-201: AAS 105 (2013), 1098-1105.
[124] PORTUGUESE BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, Pastoral Letter Responsabilidade Solidária pelo Bem Comum (15 September 2003), 20.
[125] BENEDICT XVI, Message for the 2010 World Day of Peace, 8: AAS 102 (2010), 45.
[126] Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (14 June 1992), Principle 1.
[127] BOLIVIAN BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, Pastoral Letter on the Environment and Human Development in Bolivia El universo, don de Dios para la vida (March 2012), 86.
[128] PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, Energy, Justice and Peace, IV, 1, Vatican City (2014), 53.
[129] BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 67: AAS 101 (2009).
[130] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 222: AAS 105 (2013), 1111.
[131] PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 469.
[132] Rio Declaration on the Environment and Development (14 June 1992), Principle 15.
[133] Cf. MEXICAN BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, EPISCOPAL COMMISSION FOR PASTORAL AND SOCIAL CONCERNS, Jesucristo, vida y esperanza de los indígenas e campesinos (14 January 2008).
[134] PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 470.
[135] Message for the 2010 World Day of Peace, 9: AAS 102 (2010), 46.
[136] Ibid.
[137] Ibid., 5: p. 43.
[138] BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 50: AAS 101 (2009), 686.
[139] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 209: AAS 105 (2013), 1107.
[141] Cf. Encyclical Letter Lumen Fidei (29 June 2013), 34: AAS 105 (2013), 577: “Nor is the light of faith, joined to the truth of love, extraneous to the material world, for love is always lived out in body and spirit; the light of faith is an incarnate light radiating from the luminous life of Jesus. It also illumines the material world, trusts its inherent order, and knows that it calls us to an ever widening path of harmony and understanding. The gaze of science thus benefits from faith: faith encourages the scientist to remain constantly open to reality in all its inexhaustible richness. Faith awakens the critical sense by preventing research from being satisfied with its own formulae and helps it to realize that nature is always greater. By stimulating wonder before the profound mystery of creation, faith broadens the horizons of reason to shed greater light on the world which discloses itself to scientific investigation”.
[142] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 256: AAS 105 (2013), 1123.
[144] ROMANO GUARDINI, Das Ende der Neuzeit, 9th edition, Würzburg, 1965, 66-67 (English: The End of the Modern World, Wilmington, 1998, 60).
[145] JOHN PAUL II, Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, 1: AAS 82 (1990), 147.
[146] BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009), 66: AAS 101 (2009), 699.
[147] ID., Message for the 2010 World Day of Peace, 11: AAS 102 (2010), 48.
[148] Earth Charter, The Hague (29 June 2000).
[149] JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus (1 May 1991), 39: AAS 83 (1991), 842.
[150] ID., Message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, 14: AAS 82 (1990), 155.
[151] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 Nov 2013), 261: AAS 105 (2013), 1124.
[152] BENEDICT XVI, Homily for the Solemn Inauguration of the Petrine Ministry (24 April 2005): AAS 97 (2005), 710.
[153] AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE, A New Earth – The Environmental Challenge (2002).
[154] ROMANO GUARDINI, Das Ende der Neuzeit, 72 (The End of the Modern World¸ 65-66).
[155] Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (24 November 2013), 71: AAS 105 (2013), 1050.
[156] BENEDICT XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate (29 June 2009) 2: AAS 101 (2009), 642.
[157] PAUL VI, Message for the 1977 World Day of Peace: AAS 68 (1976), 709.
[158] PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 582.
[159] The spiritual writer Ali al-Khawas stresses from his own experience the need not to put too much distance between the creatures of the world and the interior experience of God. As he puts it: “Prejudice should not have us criticize those who seek ecstasy in music or poetry. There is a subtle mystery in each of the movements and sounds of this world. The initiate will capture what is being said when the wind blows, the trees sway, water flows, flies buzz, doors creak, birds sing, or in the sound of strings or flutes, the sighs of the sick, the groans of the afflicted...” (EVA DE VITRAY-MEYEROVITCH [ed.], Anthologie du soufisme, Paris 1978, 200).
[160] In II Sent., 23, 2, 3.
[161] Cántico Espiritual, XIV, 5.
[162] Ibid.
[163] Ibid., XIV, 6-7.
[164] JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Letter Orientale Lumen (2 May 1995), 11: AAS 87 (1995), 757.
[165] Ibid.
[166] ID., Encyclical Letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia (17 April 2003), 8: AAS 95 (2003), 438.
[167] BENEDICT XVI, Homily for the Mass of Corpus Domini (15 June 2006): AAS 98 (2006), 513.
[168] Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2175.
[169] JOHN PAUL II, Catechesis (2 August 2000), 4: Insegnamenti 23/2 (2000), 112.
[170] Quaest. Disp. de Myst. Trinitatis, 1, 2 concl.
[171] Cf. THOMAS AQUINAS, Summa Theologiae, I, q. 11, art. 3; q. 21, art. 1, ad 3; q. 47, art. 3.
[172] BASIL THE GREAT, Hom. in Hexaemeron, I, 2, 6: PG 29, 8.