The Church has been insisting on the need for us to collaborate in the efforts to preserve the environment, writes Fr. Patxi Álvarez SJ.

Editorial: Healing a Broken World by Patxi Álvarez SJ

 

I have the pleasure of presenting you with this document on ecology, fruit of the 

generous and enthusiastic labor of the Ecology Task Force. The document was 

elaborated between July and November 2010 by experts, both Jesuit and lay, 

coming from all the Conferences. 

 

The deterioration of the environment as a result of human activity has taken on 

a decisive importance for the future of our planet and for the living conditions 

of coming generations. We are witnessing a growing moral consciousness 

regarding this reality. 

 

The Church, and especially the two most recent Popes, have been insisting on 

the need for us to collaborate in the efforts to preserve the environment, and 

thus to protect creation and the poorest populations, who are those most 

threatened by the consequences of environmental degradation. 

 

The Society of Jesus is also involved in this task. Many Jesuits and collaborators

who accompany poor farming communities are attempting to protect the 

environment and promote sustainable development as an essential condition for 

the future. The younger generations of Jesuits are especially sensitive in this 

regard. Some Conferences have made the ecological question an apostolic 

priority. Most definitely, the Society is engaged in many efforts in this field. 

 

Nevertheless, we are still in need of a change of heart. We need to confront our 

inner resistances and cast a grateful look on creation, letting our heart be 

touched by its wounded reality and making a strong personal and communal 

commitment to healing it. 

 

The present document seeks to be one more aid in this long journey, which 

requires sincere dedication on our part. The text treats a complex topic with 

rigor. It helps us understand the present situation, allows us to make it a more 

integral part of our mission, and offers us a series of valuable, well thought-out 

recommendations, which we should consider seriously in our institutions, 

communities, and provinces. 

 

Its main message, though, is one of hope: we still have time to save this 

wounded creation. It is now up to us to make our own small contribution. 

 

I am confident that our reading of and praying over this text, as well as dialogue 

on this topic among ourselves and in our communities and institutions, will 

help us to keep advancing in our journey toward reconciliation with our wounded natural world. 

 

Patxi Álvarez SJ 

 

Director 

Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat 

General Curia of the Society of Jesus 

Rome, Italy