Pope Francis: Care for water
is urgent imperative
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| A bottle of drinking water filled up from a tap. - ANSA |
Pope Francis’ message for the World Day of Prayer for the
Care of Creation focuses on water as a precious resource and describes access
to it as a human right.
By Lydia O’Kane
At the heart of Pope Francis' message for the IV annual
World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which the Church now celebrates
in union with the Orthodox Church, is the vital resource that is water.
Describing it as a precious element, the Pope underlines
that “access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right,
since it is essential to human survival and, as such, is a condition for the
exercise of other human rights.” He also draws attention to the fact that
access for many people is either difficult or impossible.
Noting the fundamental role of water in creation and human
development, the Pontiff stresses that it is precisely for this reason that
“care for water sources and water basins is an urgent imperative.”
He goes on to say, there is an urgent need for “shared
projects and concrete gestures that recognize that every privatization of the
natural good of water, at the expense of the human right to have access to this
good, is unacceptable.”
Water a Christian perspective
Dwelling on water from a Christian perspective, Pope Francis
says this fundamental resource “represents an essential element of purification
and of life and comments that “Jesus, in the course of his mission, promised a
water capable of quenching human thirst for ever”.
Threats to Seas and Oceans
In his message, the Pope also focuses on seas and oceans
saying that “constant care for this inestimable treasure represents today an
ineluctable duty and a genuine challenge. He goes on to say that, “we cannot
allow our seas and oceans to be littered by endless fields of floating plastic.
We need to pray as if everything depended on God’s providence, and work as if
everything depended on us.”
Pope Francis then invites those in positions of authority,
to look with a farsighted approach at, what he calls “the more sensitive
questions of our day, such as those linked to movements of migration, climate
change”.
Safeguarding
On the issue of protection and preservation, the Pope prays
for all those who are involved in safeguarding the seas and for those “who
contribute to the development and application of international regulations on
the seas in order to safeguard individuals, countries, goods, natural
resources”.
Concluding his message Pope Francis expresses the hope that
Christian communities, and young people too, “may contribute more and more
concretely helping everyone to enjoy this indispensable resource, in respectful
care for the gifts received from the Creator, and in particular rivers, seas
and oceans.”
Please find the full message below
Dear brothers and sisters!
On this Day of Prayer, I wish first to thank the Lord for the gift of our
common home and for all those men and women of good will committed to
protecting it. I am likewise grateful for the many projects aimed at promoting
the study and the safeguarding of ecosystems, for the efforts being made to
develop more sustainable agriculture and more responsible nutrition, and for
the various educational, spiritual and liturgical initiatives that involve
Christians throughout the world in the care of creation.
It must be acknowledged that we have not succeeded in responsibly protecting
creation. The environmental situation, both on the global level and in many
specific places, cannot be considered satisfactory. Rightly, there is a growing
sense of the need for a renewed and sound relationship between humanity and
creation, and the conviction that only an authentic and integral vision of
humanity will permit us to take better care of our planet for the benefit of
present and future generations. For “there is no ecology without an adequate
anthropology” (Laudato Si’, 118).
On this World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which the
Catholic Church for several years now has celebrated in union with our Orthodox
brothers and sisters and with participation of other Churches and Christian
communities, I would like to draw attention to the question of water.
It is a very simple and precious element, yet access to it is, sadly, for many
people difficult if not impossible. Nonetheless, “access to safe drinkable
water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to human
survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human rights.
Our world owes a great social debt towards the poor who lack access to drinking
water, because they are denied the right to a life consistent with their
inalienable dignity” (ibid., 30).
Water invites us to reflect on our origins. The human body is mostly composed
of water, and many civilizations throughout history arose near great rivers
that marked their identity. In an evocative image, the beginning of the book of
Genesis states that, in the beginning, the spirit of the Creator “swept over
the face of the waters (1:2)”.
In considering the fundamental role of water in creation and in human development,
I feel the need to give thanks to God for “Sister Water”, simple and useful for
life like nothing else on our planet. Precisely for this reason, care for
water sources and water basins is an urgent imperative. Today, more than ever,
we need to look beyond immediate concerns (cf. Laudato Si’, 36) and
beyond a purely utilitarian view of reality, “in which efficiency and
productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit” (ibid., 159). We
urgently need shared projects and concrete gestures that recognize that every
privatization of the natural good of water, at the expense of the human right
to have access to this good, is unacceptable.
For us Christians, water represents an essential element of purification and of
life. We think immediately of baptism, the sacrament of our rebirth.
Water made holy by the Spirit is the matter by which God has given us life and
renewed us; it is the blessed source of undying life. For Christians of
different confessions, baptism also represents the real and irreplaceable point
of departure for experiencing an ever more authentic fraternity on the way to
full unity. Jesus, in the course of his mission, promised a water capable of
quenching human thirst for ever (cf. Jn 4:14). He
prophesied, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink (Jn 7:37).
To drink from Jesus means to encounter him personally as the Lord, drawing from
his words the meaning of life. May the words he spoke from the cross – “I
thirst” (Jn 19:28) – echo constantly in our hearts. The Lord
continues to ask that his thirst be quenched; he thirsts for love. He
asks us to give him to drink in all those who thirst in our own day, and to say
to them, “I was thirsty and you gave me to drink” (Mt 25:35). To
give to drink, in the global village, does not only entail personal gestures of
charity, but also concrete choices and a constant commitment to ensure to all
the primary good of water.
I would like also to mention the issue of the seas and oceans. It is our duty
to thank the Creator for the impressive and marvellous gift of the great waters
and all that they contain (cf. Gen 1:20-21; Ps 146:6),
and to praise him for covering the earth with the oceans (cf. Ps 104:6).
To ponder the immense open seas and their incessant movement can also represent
an opportunity to turn our thoughts to God, who constantly accompanies his
creation, guiding its course and sustaining its existence (cf. St. John Paul
II, Catechesis of 7 May 1986).
Constant care for this inestimable treasure represents today an ineluctable
duty and a genuine challenge. There is need for an effective cooperation
between men and women of good will in assisting the ongoing work of the
Creator. Sadly, all too many efforts fail due to the lack of effective regulation
and means of control, particularly with regard to the protection of marine
areas beyond national confines (cf. Laudato Si’, 174). We cannot
allow our seas and oceans to be littered by endless fields of floating plastic.
Here too, our active commitment is needed to confront this emergency. We need
to pray as if everything depended on God’s providence, and work as if
everything depended on us.
Let us pray that waters may not be a sign of separation between peoples, but of
encounter for the human community. Let us pray that those who risk their lives
at sea in search of a better future may be kept safe. Let us ask the Lord and
all those engaged in the noble service of politics that the more sensitive
questions of our day, such as those linked to movements of migration, climate
change and the right of everyone to enjoy primary goods, may be faced with
generous and farsighted responsibility and in a spirit of cooperation,
especially among those countries most able to help.
Let us pray too, for all those who devote themselves to the apostolate of the
sea, for those who help reflect on the issues involving maritime ecosystems,
for those who contribute to the development and application of international
regulations on the seas in order to safeguard individuals, countries, goods,
natural resources – I think, for example, of marine fauna and flora, and coral
reefs (cf. ibid., 41) or sea beds – and to guarantee an integral development in
view of the common good of the entire human family and not particular
interests. Let us remember, too, all those who work to protect maritime areas
and to safeguard the oceans and their biodiversity, that they may carry out
this task with responsibility and integrity.
Finally, let us be concerned for the younger generation and pray for them, that
they may grow in knowledge and respect for our common home and in the desire to
care for the essential good of water, for the benefit of all. It is my
prayerful hope that Christian communities may contribute more and more
concretely helping everyone to enjoy this indispensable resource, in respectful
care for the gifts received from the Creator, and in particular rivers, seas
and oceans.
From the Vatican, 1 September 2018
FRANCIS
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