Our Common Home BY TERE FLORES ONOFRE
I
was born in the state of Puebla, Mexico, in a small, rural community called Santa Maria (Holy Mary) Xuchapa. In Xuchapa, the only church was a Catholic one. It was built in the 1800s on the highest part of town, where it could be seen by all. Thus, I knew I was Catholic before I knew many other things. From a young age, I remember learning about the key teachings of the church from my catechism teachers. The one that always stayed with me was: “God created the sky, the Earth, and all things in them.” This teaching helped me understand God as a powerful creator. As I got older, I realized we were also part of that creation and, at the same time, called to be stewards of it. This realization and the experiences I faced as an immigrant in the United States propelled me into faith-based community organizing from the time I was 16 years old, and Catholic social teaching has continued to ground my faith and calling ever since. Catholic social teaching (CST) is not something new: It can be traced back to papal documents and statements from the 1800s, but the foundation and clarity of these teachings is embedded in scripture itself: “The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” (Gen. 2:15). One of the seven pillars of Catholic social teaching calls us to care for creation, not only as a social responsibility but also as a moral and spiritual one. As we read in the Book of Genesis, after God created the Earth, God created humans to be one with creation and to care for it. In the opening lines of Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home), Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter, he reflects on this amazing relationship between creation and human beings: “In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. ‘Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured 1 flowers and herbs.’” Although human actions and inactions have caused great damage to God’s creation, Pope Francis also reminds us that we can and must act now to help project our common home, 1
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Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ (Vatican City: Vatican Press, 2015), sec. 1. S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 • N O. 13 7
that we need to do this together through collaboration, authentic listening, and solidarity. “The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change,” he writes in Laudato Si’. “The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the 2 ability to work together in building our common home.” Throughout my 18 years of social justice work, I have found faith-based community organizing to be one of the most effective ways to work together to identify, advocate, and win sustainable solutions to the pressing challenges we face, including ecological ones. Working toward integral ecology and community organizing for ecological justice requires, first and foremost, deep engagement and listening with the local communities that are most directly impacted. The Washington State Catholic Conference is working to ensure the voices of Indigenous communities are heard and valued when it comes to finding solutions to the salmon crisis in the Lower Snake River. In their letter, “Caring for Creation and the Common Good in the Lower Snake River Region,” they remind us that being in solidarity and listening to the voices of Indigenous communities needs to come first: “In respecting the dignity of every human person, we first consider the Original Peoples of Washington state. Native American tribes of the region have a long-standing relationship of care and respect for the salmon of the Lower Snake River . . . we recognize that deliberate action is necessary to find ways to restore the health of the salmon of the region.” This is the same call that the Catholic bishops of the Watershed Region shared more than 20 years ago in their international pastoral letter, “The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good.” In discerning the challenges facing the region, the bishops held listening sessions to hear from all those impacted and then developed 10 key recommendations, including “Respect the Dignity and Traditions of the Region’s Indigenous People.” To this point, the bishops honor Indigenous people, saying that “indigenous peoples have a wealth of spirituality, culture, and traditions that call forth a need for appropriate respect and preservation.” 2
Laudato Si’, 13.