¹ This interpretation has been argued for in pedagogical texts by the Jesuit educationalist and theologian Peter Henriot working from a Zambian context. He claims that CST is broader than that found in official church statements, rather, for him Roman Catholic social teaching as ‘the best kept secret’ reflects the wisdom of the community. In ‘Why Do We Have the Church's Social Teaching?’, http://www.jctr.org.zm/publications/whycst.htm accessed 3 August 2011, he writes ‘We can find this social wisdom in the scripture, in the writings of theologians, in the statements coming from our church leaders and in the witness of the lives of good Christians’. He presented similar ideas to a CAFOD study day in London on 16 March 2010.

² See, for example, a definition by the office of social justice for St Paul and Minneapolis, where, ‘Modern Catholic social teaching is the body of social principles and moral teaching that is articulated in the papal, conciliar, and other official documents issued since the late nineteenth century and dealing with the economic, political, and social order. This teaching is rooted in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures as well as in traditional philosophical and theological teachings of the Church’, see http://www.osjspm.org/social_teaching_documents.aspx, accessed 3 August 2011. The difference between this view and that of Henriot mirrors to some extent a debate about the difference between the official Magisterium and the magisterium. See Mannion, Gerard, Gaillardetz, Richard, Kerkhofs, Jan and Wilson, Kenneth, eds., Readings in Church Authority: Gifts and Challenges for Contemporary Catholicism (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003)Google Scholar.

³ Carson, Rachel, Silent Spring (Boston: Houghton Miflin, 1962)Google Scholar

⁴ White, Lynn, ‘The Historic Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis’, Science, 155 (3767) (1967) pp. 1203–1207CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵ Peter Harrison, for example, notes that the exploitative strand in the interpretation of dominion as domination was evident in some Calvinist groups. See Peter Harrison, ‘Having Dominion: Genesis and the Mastery of Nature’ in Environmental Stewardship: Critical Perspectives – Past and Present, Berry, R.J. (ed) (London: T & T Clark International, 2006), pp. 17–30Google Scholar.

⁶ I am using ecology and environment somewhat interchangeably, though there are of course some distinctions in definition in that environmental issues are often even broader than ecological ones. For a discussion of the nature of the difference and commonality, see Deane-Drummond, C., ‘Theology and the Environmental Sciences’, in Christianity and the Disciplines: The Transformation of the University, in Crisp, Oliver, Davies, Mervyn, D’Costa, Gavin, Hampson, Peter, eds., London: T&T Clark, Continuum, 2012Google Scholar.

⁷ I am grateful to Helen Connor for some assistance in the preliminary work needed in helping to identify the resources within CST that included discussion of environmental issues.

⁸ Pope Paul VI, Octogesima Adveniens http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/apost_letters/documents/hf_p-vi_apl_19710514_octogesima-adveniens_en.html, accessed 11 April 2011. There are other sources that could be bracketed under CST on environmental issues, but I have largely confined my attention to the pontiffs.

⁹ World Synod of Catholic Bishops in Australia, Justitia in Mundo, §11, http://catholicsocialservices.org.au/Catholic_Social_Teaching/Justitia_in_Mundo, accessed 4 August, 2011.

¹⁰ Justitia in Mundo, § 70

¹¹ Justitia in Mundo, §75, 77.

¹² Pope John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, §8. http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0218/_INDEX.HTM, accessed 13 April 2011.

¹³ I should add that biblical exegetes normally equate God as the subject in this text, rather than humanity, so, creation as subject to futility implies that creation cannot achieve the original purpose intended for it in Genesis. The agent in the Genesis text is God, so that its subjection in Romans 8 is more likely to be through the agency of God, even if Adam was the cause in the sense of deserving the punishment. Byrne, B., ‘An Ecological Reading of Rom 8. 19–23’, in Horrell, David, Horrell, David G., Hunt, Cheryl, Southgate, Christopher, and Stavrakopoulou, Francesca, eds. Ecological Hermeneutics: Biblical, Historical and Theological Perspectives, (London: T & T Clark/Continuum, 2010) p. 87Google Scholar; (83–93).

¹⁴ There is a certain intellectual snobbery among some academic theologians that disparages theological reflection on matters of practical concern and environmental ethics in particular, stemming perhaps from a misplaced assumption that it is all tainted with a pantheistic brush, or somehow diluted by its contact with scientific reasoning, or simply emerging from the ‘signs of the times’ and popular perceptions of what is ‘relevant’. While all of these criticisms may be valid in some cases, the mistake is to assume that a field as a whole is necessarily falling into these traps.

¹⁵ Noted contemporary Catholic writers who develop a more explicit ecotheology which draws on traditional sources include, for example, Denis Edwards, such as his Ecology at the Heart of Faith (Maryknoll: Orbis, 2006) and Elisabeth Johnson, Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God (New York: Continuum, 2007); Jame Schaefer Theological Foundations for Environmental Ethics: Reconstructing Patristic and Medieval Concepts (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2009). For an attempt to clarify the relationship between the theologies of covenant and incarnation in their practical implications for eco-justice see C.Deane-Drummond, ‘Deep Incarnation as Theodrama: A Dialogue Between Hans Urs von Balthasar and Martha Nussbaum’, in Sigurd Bergmann and Heather Eaton, Ecological Awareness: Exploring Religion, Ethics, Aesthetics (Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2011) pp. 193–206. Although Niels Gregersen should be credited with coining the term ‘deep incarnation’ in the context of a discussion of theology and evolutionary suffering, it has been taken up and used in different ways by Edwards, Johnson and myself. See Gregersen, N. H., ‘Deep Incarnation: Why Evolutionary Continuity Matters in Christology’, Toronto Theological Journal, 26: 2 (2010) pp. 173– 188CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁶ Redemptor Hominis, §8.

¹⁷ Redemptor Hominis, §9.

¹⁸ Redemptor Hominis, §15.

¹⁹ Redemptor Hominis, §15.

²⁰ Redemptor Hominis, §15.

²¹ Laborem Excercens, §25. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091981_laborem-exercens_en.html, accessed 11 April 2011.

²² Laborem Excercens, §25.

²³ Laborem Exercens, §25.

²⁴ Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, §28 (London: Catholic Truth Society, 2003)Google Scholar.

²⁵ Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, §26.

²⁶ Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, §29

²⁷ Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, §29

²⁸ Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, §30

²⁹ Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, §30 I am using ‘man’ in the generic sense, as otherwise the citation does not make sense, though I prefer the more inclusive term ‘humanity’.

³⁰ For discussion of the Earth Bible Project see Deane-Drummond, C., Ecotheology (London: DLT, 2008) pp. 88–93Google Scholar. A scholarly discussion of ecological hermeneutics of biblical texts can be found Horrell, et al. (eds), Ecological Hermeneutics.

³¹ Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, §30

³² Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, §34.

³³ Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, §34. Space does not permit an interlude on what the role of conscience might play here, but I have argued for a collective conscience in relation to core areas of environmental responsibility that demand a collective response. See Deane-Drummond, C., ‘ACase for Collective Conscience: Climategate, COP-15 and Climate Justice’, Studies in Christian Ethics, 24 (1) (2011) pp. 5–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³⁴ Centesimus Annus§31. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus_en.html, accessed 11 April 2011.

³⁵ An alternative explanation is that this is a translation error, but the original Latin text does not suggest this. Even within one paragraph (§31) we find ‘It is through work that man, using his intelligence and exercising his freedom, succeeds in dominating the earth and making it a fitting home’, while earlier in the same paragraph there is a more qualified account of human dominion and the earth as a gift of God, providing the ontological basis for a just society; so ‘The original source of all that is good is the very act of God … who gave the earth to man that he might have dominion over it by his works and enjoy its fruits (Gen 1.28). God gave the earth to the whole human race for the sustenance of all its members, without excluding or favouring anyone. This is the foundation of the universal destination of the earth's goods.’ The original Latin text reads in the second case ‘ … hominem hominique terram dedit ut in eam dominaretur labore suo eiusque frueretur fructibus’. In the first case, that appears later in the same paragraph we find: ‘per laborem homo utens intellegentia et libertate sua in eam dominatur eamque suam facit dignam sedem’ (italics mine). There does seem, in other words, to be a genuine distinction made here, which introduces an ambiguity into the text.

³⁶ Centesimus Annus, §37.

³⁷ Centesimus Annus, §37.

³⁸ Centesimus Annus, §37.

³⁹ Centesimus Annus, §38. Italics in original.

⁴⁰ See, for example, Hawley, Amos, Human Ecology: A Theory of Community Structure (New York: Ronald Press, 1950)Google Scholar; Catton, William R., ‘Foundations of Human Ecology’, Sociological Perspectives 37 (1) (1994), 75–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar. I am grateful to Peter Conley for drawing particular attention to the term ‘human ecology’ in the writing of Pope John Paul II. Conley is, however, more concerned with how this term has evolved in its continued use and fruitfulness for educational and other contexts, rather than how it might have proved useful for Pope John Paul II in the context of environmental and developmental questions.

⁴¹ Centesimus Annus, §38.

⁴² Evangelium Vitae§42 (London: Catholic Truth Society, 1995)Google Scholar.

⁴³ Benedict XVI, World Day of Peace Message, 2007. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/peace/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20061208_xl-world-day-peace_en.html, accessed 11 April 2011.

⁴⁴ Benedict, XVI, Caritas in Veritate, §48 (London: Catholic Truth Society, 2009)Google Scholar.

⁴⁵ Caritas in Veritate, §48.

⁴⁶ Caritas in Veritate, §48.

⁴⁷ Caritas in Veritate, §49.

⁴⁸ Caritas in Veritate, §49.

⁴⁹ Caritas in Veritate, §34.

⁵⁰ Caritas in Veritate, §34

⁵¹ Caritas in Veritate, §27

⁵² I have also written about ecological conversion in ‘Ecological Conversion in a Changing Climate: An Ecumenical Perspective on Ecological Solidarity’, International Journal of Orthodox Theology, 2012, in press.

⁵³ Pope John Paul II, ‘Address to a General Audience’, St Peter's Square, 17 January 2001. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/2001/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_20010117_en.html accessed 4 June, 2007. This is also the sense in which the term ecological conversion seems to be taken by the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales by situating this quotation in the context of greater environmental awareness in The Call of Creation: God's Invitation and the Human Response, The Natural Environment and Catholic Social Teaching (London: Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, 2^nd edn., 2003) p. 5.

⁵⁴ Paul, Pope John II, Pastores Gregis, §70 (London: Catholic Truth Society, 2003)Google Scholar. Italics in original.

⁵⁵ Common Declaration of John Paul II and the Ecumenical Patriarch, His Holiness Bartholomew 1,10 June 2002. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/2002/june/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20020610_venice-declaration_en.html accessed 15 June 2007, also reprinted with commentary in C.Deane-Drummond, Seeds of Hope: Facing the Challenge of Climate Justice (London: CAFOD, 2009), pp. 152–55.

⁵⁶ Metanoia is associated with sanctification and ascetic practices as relevant to environmental practices. See Ecumenical Patriarchate Bartholomew, ‘Religion, Science and the Environment Symposia: Official Opening, Symposium I, Istanbul, Turkey, September 22^nd, 1995’, in Chryssavgis, John, ed., On Earth as in Heaven: Ecological Vision and Initiatives of Ecumenical Patriarchate Bartholomew (New York: Fordham University Press, 2012), 215–212Google Scholar and ‘Keynote Address at the Santa Barbara Symposium, California, November 8^th, 1997’, in On Earth as in Heaven, pp. 95–100. Space does not permit a full discussion of the full range of writings produced by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on ecology, but the official website describes him as a ‘Green Patriarch’ and gives links to a number of official statements, http://www.patriarchate.org/environment, accessed 12 September 2011.

⁵⁷ Dominum et Vivificantem (On the Life of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church). DV §50 http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0142/_INDEX.HTM, accessed 14 May 2009.

⁵⁸ Dives in Misericordia (1980) §2. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_30111980_dives-in-misericordia_en.html, accessed 12 April 2011.

⁵⁹ Pope John Paul II World Day of Peace Message, 1990, Peace With All Creation, §5. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/peace/documents/hf_jp-ii_mes_19891208_xxiii-world-day-for-peace_en.html, accessed 12 April 2011.

⁶⁰ Peace with All Creation, §6.

⁶¹ Peace with All Creation, §7. I am using the term ecological justice to refer specifically to the damage to creaturely kinds other than human beings, often through loss of habitat leading to extinction or near extinction; and environmental justice to the damage to some human communities rather than others, usually the poorest members of human societies. For further discussion of ecological justice and environmental justice see Deane-Drummond, C., ‘Environmental Justice and the Economy: A Christian Theologian's View’, Ecotheology, 2006 11 (3) 2006, pp. 294–310Google Scholar.

⁶² Peace With All Creation, §7.

⁶³ Peace With All Creation, §11.

⁶⁴ Peace With All Creation, §14.

⁶⁵ Peace With All Creation, §16.

⁶⁶ For further discussion of ethical and theological issues associated with COP-15 see C. Deane-Drummond, , ‘Public Theology as Contested Ground: Arguments for Climate Justice’, in Deane-Drummond, C. and Strohm, H. Bedford, eds., Religion and Ecology in the Public Sphere (London: Continuum, 2011) pp. 189–210Google Scholar.

⁶⁷ Benedict XVI, World Day of Peace Message, If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation, 1 January 2010, §2, §13. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/peace/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20091208_xliii-world-day-peace_en.html accessed 11 April 2011. He writes in paragraph 13, for example, of the value that ‘many people’ experience in coming into contact with ‘the beauty and harmony of nature’. This may suggest that he does not have such experiences himself and that this is an idealised perception of ecology according to the natural world understood as existing in harmonious relationships. The lack of an adequate ecological perception is somewhat disappointing.

⁶⁸ World Day of Peace Message, 2010

⁶⁹ World Day of Peace Message, 2010 §4 The particular issue of climate change has been discussed in more detail by the US Bishops in 2001, under the title of ‘Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good’. Similar themes of care for God's creation, the need for stewardship, a call for authentic development prevail in this document. As the title suggests, the virtue of prudence is given special emphasis, but the authors’ summary of prudence simply as ‘intelligence applied to our actions’ is thin compared with the rich theological resources embedded in classical discussions. See http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/globalclimate.html.

⁷⁰ World Day of Peace Message, 2010, §8.