The Napa Institute’s 2016 array of speakers included Archbishop Bernadito Ausa, the Vatican’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations (UN), who delivered fascinating, insider-information regarding the topic of religion at the UN.
First, Archbishop Ausa delilvered the good news, “The UN has never talked about religion as much is it is doing now for several reasons. There is a greater realization that faith-based organizations are critical to lifting people out of poverty. Faith-based organizations are the biggest health provider and educators in the world. They are also important in environmental policy and solving the problem of radical elements of religion.”
He then shared the bad news.
“There are ongoing problems with marriage, family, abortion, and women’s issues,” said Archbishop Ausa. “Abortion, while not explicitly stated as a right by the UN, is hidden in terminology like ‘Reproductive Health.’ This and other provisions include the right to abortion and the right to enable abortion.”
“Abortion proponents are using environmental concerns to advance their agenda,” the Archbishop continued. “Their argument is simple, ‘Control the population if you want to have a clean environment.’ Interestingly, many who promote this line of thought are from countries that have a serious problem with depopulation.”
Archbishop Ausa spent considerable time during his talk explaining how Pope Francis’ recent encyclical, Laudato Si, has been hijacked by the UN.
“This encyclical presents the Vatican view of a larger crisis concerning man’s relationship to God, man’s relationship to other humans, and man’s relationship to nature,” explained Archbishop Auso. “In this context, whether or not there is global warming or climate change is secondary.”
He emphasized several times that this encyclical was not about climate change but speaks to a larger vision. The Church’s teaching has never changed on the environment nor about our role as stewards.
“If nature is in crisis,” the Vatican’s Permanent Observer to the UN noted, “it is because of man being in crisis. Nature has been degraded because of our action and the lack of stewardship. The human person is the central point.”
According to Archbishop Auso, Pope Francis realizes there is disagreement.
“He wrote Laudato Si to stimulate thought and to open up dialogue on these differences,” said the Archbishop. “He wants to bring the discussion to all.”
Some of actions proposed by others affect large populations unequally and would present an existential threat if imposed. As an example, Archbishop Auso recounted his experience in Paris for the drafting of the Paris climate agreement. He said, “The agreement is so ambitious that it poses an existential threat to many countries.”
“Getting rid of coal would impose hardships on many when it is cold and dark,” explained Archbishop Auso in his talk. “We cannot destroy things without concern for others. We need to understand the whole picture and seek alternatives. This is the level of stewardship Laudato Si advocates. It is a larger vision.”
In response to a question from the audience, the Archbishop also noted that politicians and many others, including some in the Church, had hijacked this document for their own agendas. He re-emphasized that Laudato Si is about human ecology, human beings, our relationship to God, and dialogue.
“I was on the campus of Notre Dame recently,” recounted Archbishop Auso. “It was beautiful. Then I traveled to Haiti where the canals were filled with trash, and clean water was in short supply. We need to enlarge our vision beyond climate change and consider the environmental needs of all humans….We can do better to one another. We can do better to nature.”
The Napa Institute is an annual meeting for Catholic leaders to help them face the challenges posed in the “next America.”
——————–