Introduced by Prof. Maria Laura Giacobello, professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Messina, colleagues Marianna Gensabella, President of the Sicilian section of the Italian Institute of Bioethics and Professor of Bioethics, Giuseppe Lo Paro, professor of Ecology, and Fr Gianni Russo, Director of San Tommaso and of the affiliated School of Specialization in Bioethics and Sexuology, focused on the philosophical, scientific and spiritual aspects of a publication that opens up to numerous “breakthroughs”.
The doctrinal background, explained Gensabella, is the same as Laudato si', “an integral ecology that does not renounce the central role of the human being, but radically rethinks of us no longer as the master of the earth, but as the guardian who receives it as a gift and takes care of it with responsibility and love.” From the updating of scientific data, to a sharp critique of the technocratic paradigm and its underlying ideologies, from the denunciation of international politics to a renewed promotion of the common good supported by the creation of more efficient world organisations, the various levels on which the exhortation unfolds converge towards a rethinking of the climate crisis as a social-global problem, which cannot be resolved with mere technical remedies, but which requires a profound cultural change, a true ecological conversion, both personal and collective.
Reviewing the fundamental points of the document, Fr Russo recalled the urgency of the issue already addressed by the Bishops of the United States in 2019 and at the Synod on the Amazon held in Nairobi in 2022: while it is true that not all disasters can be attributed to global climate change, it has been proven that some human-induced climate changes have significantly increased the likelihood of more frequent and more intense extreme events.
So while the technocratic paradigm and the possible models of technological development and artificial intelligence present a 'limitless' perspective, said the priest, there is the finiteness of natural resources that requires management by effective global organisations with authority to ensure the global common good, the eradication of hunger and misery, and the certain defence of fundamental human rights: “What is important is to remember that there are no lasting changes without cultural changes and without changes in people.” Lo Paro was entrusted with the task of focusing on the scientific aspects of the publication, including the scientific terminology used when talking about the fragmentation and vulnerability of ecosystems, the need for biological corridors, the desertification of territories, the maintenance of natural biodiversity and the use of resources.
In particular, the lecturer explained, “one of the foundations of ecology is acquired and reinforced, in which environments are considered integrated and interconnected systems in which abiotic components and hundreds of thousands of biological organisms, including humans, play an essential role in their mutual survival.”
