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Kathy Sharp reads The Christian Declaration on Nature, originally written in 1986 by Father Lanfranco Serrini, who was the minister general of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor.
This is the 7th blogcast in our Faith for Earth blogcast series where we’ll be highlighting the commitments and calls for action faith traditions have made around caring for the Earth.
This recording is originally from the Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement’s Faith for Earth Canvas Guide to the Faith for Earth: A Call for Action resource, a document created by the Parliament of the World’s Religions and the United Nations Environment Programme Faith for Earth Initiative. You can access the full Guide here.
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The Christian Declaration on Nature
God declared everything to be good, indeed, very good. He created nothing unnecessarily and has omitted nothing that is necessary…creatures have received their mode of existence by the will of the Creator, whose purpose is that through their interdependence they should bring to perfection the beauty of the universe. It is the very nature of things considered in itself, without regard to man’s convenience or inconvenience, that gives glory to the Creator.
Man’s dominion cannot be understood as license to abuse, spoil, squander or destroy what God has made to manifest his glory. That dominion cannot be anything other than a stewardship in symbiosis with all creatures… At the risk of destroying himself, man may not reduce to chaos or disorder, or worse still, destroy God’s bountiful treasures.
Every human act of irresponsibility towards creatures is an abomination. According to its gravity, it is an offence against that divine wisdom which sustains and gives purpose to the interdependent harmony of the universe.
In his personalized relationship with all creatures, St. Francis recognized his duty to reciprocate divine love, with love and praise, not only in the name of creatures, but in, with and through them. For St. Francis, work was a God-given grace to be exercised in that spirit of faith and devotion to which every temporal consideration must be subordinate. All human effort in the world must therefore lead to a mutual enrichment of man and creatures.
The Christian Declaration on Nature: Father Langfranco Serrini, Minister General, OFM Conv., Assisi 1986
This recording is originally from the Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement’s Faith for Earth Canvas Guide to the Faith for Earth: A Call for Action resource, a document created by the Parliament of the World’s Religions and the United Nations Environment Programme Faith for Earth Initiative. You can access the full Guide here.