Cardela Wuerl Explica Melhor que o Papa Francisco a Relação Ecologia-Economia-Ser Humano

Bom, é arriscado e por vezes não caridoso colocar em oposição um Papa e um cardeal. Mas por outro lado, serve para alimentar o debate, pois tanto um Papa (sucessor de São Pedro) como um cardeal (príncipe da Igreja) são na verdade apenas membros do Corpo Místico de Cristo, do qual eu e qualquer católico também faz parte. A opinião, não doutrinária, de um Papa tem um peso e uma sabedoria que pode ser menor do que a de um cardeal ou mesmo de um leigo.

Ontem tivemos a divulgação da Laudato Sí, do Papa Francisco. Eu não gostei, expus minhas divergências aqui. Li depois muitos comentários a favor e contra. Geralmente os que dizem que gostaram selecionam detalhes da Encíclica como quando o Papa defende a relação da ecologia com a defesa da vida humana ou quando o Papa colocar o homem dentro do processo criador de Deus. Eu acho que quem gostou separa pedaços e esquece o tom do documento. O tom do documento é ruim, é ruim cientificamente, é ruim teologicamente. Mas claro que há pedaços bastante louváveis.

Hoje, eu leio como o cardeal Donald Wuerl acha que a Igreja deve ver a relação entre defesa do meio ambiente, progresso econômico e o ser humano. Wuerl fala bem menos anti-capitalismo do que a Laudato Sí.

O texto também traz o que pensa o cardeal Peter Turkson.

Turkson, eu diria, tem um tom e viés mais próximo do Papa Francisco. Ele quer eliminar a produção de energia por combustíveis fósseis, diz que o mundo estará "arruinado" se continuar usando este tipo de combustível, dentro da lógica do que pensa a ONU, que o homem é o causador da mudança climática por emitir gás carbônico. Estamos há 18 anos sem aquecimento global, e neste período se usou ainda mais este gás, sem falar que a Terra sofreu aquecimentos quando o homem não usava combustível fóssil. E sem falar que as plantas se alimentam deste gás.

Lendo o texto, você pode achar que não há diferenças entre o que os cardeais e o Papa falam, mas como dizia Chesterton um pequena diferença de opinião pode significar um abismo de conclusões. É o caso, para mim.

Eu acho que o mundo estará arruinado se continuarmos na trajetória de ódio a Cristo e não em usar combustível fóssil.

O texto é do jornal The Catholic National Register. Vejamos algumas partes.

Is Economic Growth the Enemy of Saving the Environment? These Catholics Say No 

BY ELISE HARRIS

In an international forum on economic growth and environmental sustainability, Catholic leaders and experts in the field argued that, rather than being opposed, the two go hand in hand and can lead to greater prosperity.

ROME — In an international forum on economic growth and environmental sustainability, Catholic leaders and experts in the field argued that, rather than being opposed, the two go hand in hand and can lead to greater prosperity.

“Protecting the environment need not compromise legitimate economic progress,” Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington said May 20.

“There is an increasingly clear harmony between efforts on behalf of the environment and those that promote integral — including economic — human development. This is the ‘human ecology’ to which our efforts must contribute,” he said.

Cardinal Wuerl made his comments alongside a panel of experts during a half-day May 20 conference on “The New Climate Economy: How Economic Growth and Sustainability Can Go Hand in Hand.”

Held at Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, the event was organized by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the World Resources Institute, the New Climate Economy organization and the Embassy of the Netherlands to the Holy See.

Other attendees were Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Vatican Council for Justice and Peace, Prince Jaime de Bourbon de Parme, ambassador of the Netherlands to the Holy See, and experts in various fields of climate and the economy.

In his speech, Cardinal Wuerl said that the need for sustainable development is both “a moral imperative and an economic incentive as a business issue” and that to commit to taking the task up is “pro-business.”

“Government has a role, and we clearly need strong international agreements. But in moving ahead, business and economic interests necessarily play a significant role,” he said.

“We need to harness that wisdom and creativity in the service of the common good. Such collaboration aligns private and public interests and reduces the gap between the privileged minority and the world’s great majority.”

He referred to the issue of sustainable development as a “sign of the times” and said that, in addressing it in his upcoming encyclical — set to be published this summer — Pope Francis is following in the footsteps of his predecessors, beginning with Pope St. John XXIII in his revolutionary encyclical Pacem in Terris (Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty)at the height of the Cold War.

Blessed Paul VI also gave heavy attention to the social and political changes of his time in his encyclical Populorum Progressio (The Development of Peoples), while St. John Paul II provided the encyclical Centesimus Annus (The 100th Anniversary of Rerum Novarum) as a reminder of the Church’s social teaching amid a time of societal transition, particularly in Europe.

In his encyclical Caritas in Veritate (Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth), Benedict XVI connected fraternal and ecological development, as well as the environment and the development of people and technology, Cardinal Wuerl noted, saying that Francis is continuing their work.

The cardinal also stressed the importance of the role of the Church in the discussion, particularly in providing a moral framework to build on which puts the human person at the center.

In comments made to CNA, the cardinal noted how God created the world and gave it to humanity “to cultivate and to see that that world, which is now the great gift to all of us, is passed on to the next generation.”

“So talking about the environment and talking about human flourishing and economic development all go together, under the understanding that we are stewards of creation and that we’re meant to care for one another.”

In his opening address for the event, Cardinal Turkson said, “God has done great things for us” in creating the world and giving humanity charge over it.

However, “we have been poor stewards of creation” and have failed in our obligation of maintaining a planet that continues to nourish and sustain us, he said. He pointed specifically to fossil fuels, saying that if we continue using them “at the current rate, we are on the road to ruin.”

Cardinal Turkson spoke with CNA after his speech, saying that the current dependence of fossil fuels “does a lot of damage to the environment” and is a key point of contention in the debate surrounding economic growth and environmental development.

“The fear is that calling for climate change and wanting to do something about the climate is going to affect the economy and these sources of energy,” he said.

Rather than calling this fear a threat, the cardinal said that “it’s a challenge” and that, when referred to in this way, it invites all parties to consider the various opportunities that could come from a shift away from such potentially damaging forms of energy.

He recalled how the Industrial Revolution of the mid-1800s opened up new avenues for humanity to discover how to satisfy their needs, but that the energy for the growth which boomed during those years was taken from whatever was available at the time.

Now, after more than 150 years of using these sources of energy, “we begin to see the impacts, (and) that is where the conflict is.”