VATICAN CITY (CNS): The world’s people need to undergo an “ecological conversion” to protect the environment and make the earth a place where all life is valued and can grow in harmony, Pope John Paul II said.
“The human creature receives a mission of governance over creation to make all of its potential shine,” the Pope said on January 17 during his weekly general audience.
From Genesis all the way through the Bible to the Book of Revelation, God’s plan for creation is described as favouring harmony among people, between people and the rest of creation and between people and God, Pope John Paul told several thousand people in the Paul VI Audience Hall.
“This plan was and continually is upset by human sin, which inspires an alternative plan” marked by the “progressive tension of conflict with God, with one’s fellow human beings and even with nature,” he said.
The domination human beings were given over creation is not one of exploitation, but of service and ministry aimed at “continuing the work of the Creator, a work of life and of peace”, the Pope said.
