Reflection

How Jesuit Communities and Institutions in Africa can care for the Environment in the light of GC 35

The ecological crisis also challenges our faith and reconciliation with Creation has been a central theme of the Jesuit mission since the 35th General Congregation, but how can we make this happen? Ignatian spirituality provides the foundation for response to ecological questions not only in a contemplative manner but also through practical actions in our lives and works.

Almost five hundred years ago, Fr Jerónimo Nadal etched the Jesuit spirit in one succinct line of poetry: “The world is our house”[1]. And recently GC 35 has warned us that that house is now in a broken state[2]. The question that arises is this: how did we allow our house to be broken? Was this the result of neglect on our part as Jesuits? As men whose mansion is the world, are we not called upon to take active care of our home[3]? An African proverb says that a man whose house is on fire does not leave the raging fire to go after rats. Ironically, St Ignatius charged us to go set the world on fire. Have we then unwittingly and overzealously set our own house on fire? Or perhaps we were not at home when the fire began. Did not the same wise Nadal also say that “The road is our home”[4]? We are men always on the move, one foot up, one foot down as we march along. There is hardly any place in the world where we can sit and take time out sit quietly, for we are ever en route to some new frontier. Being on the move, we have probably had no time to notice the cracks in the walls, the leaking roof, the rusty pipes, the battered faucets.

The psalmist tells us that the foundation of that house was laid, not by us, but by the hand of the Lord. (Psalm 24:2). So we can trace the cracks back to the period of Adam and down to the time of Jesus of Nazareth, who came into this world to set the house to rights. The good news is that the fractures didn’t quite start today, but they have apparently worsened. Christ’s mission attacked the crisis effectively from its root-cause: sin. But sadly, there are many who remain doubtful or indifferent to the spiritual roots of our global malaise. They are driven more by the economic principle of competitive appropriation than by Christ’s invitation to store up lasting treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20). Hence: “The drive to access and exploit sources of energy and other natural resources is very rapidly widening the damage to earth, air, water and our whole environment to the point that the future of our planet is threatened. Poisoned water, polluted air, massive deforestation, and deposits of atomic and toxic waste are causing death and untold suffering, particularly to the poor.”[5]

As men who bear a responsibility for the welfare of the entire world in a sustainable and life-giving way[6], Jesuit communities and institutions in Africa need to reawaken in ourselves, in our collaborators, and in all people of goodwill the link between our global situation and our spiritual condition through our preaching, researches and writing. We live in a moral universe. If we are not sound spiritually, our universe suffers as a consequence. St Ignatius speaks of this bond between the physical world and the spiritual realm in his Spiritual Exercises. In the 4th Week of his Spiritual Exercises, the saint exhorts the retreatant to “consider how God dwells in creatures; in the elements, giving them existence; in the plants, giving them life; in the animals, giving them sensation; in human beings, giving them intelligence, and finally, how in this way he dwells also in myself”[7]. Recognizing these wonders, the retreatant becomes aware of reality and God in an incarnational way[8]. Reawakening this ecological spirituality is urgently needed in our African continent, which has known untold forms of human and ecological degradation.

At a practical level, this Ignatian ecological spirituality should inspire Jesuits, especially those working in Africa, to approach all reality with respect and awe. In Africa, there is a belief that God in his transcendence resides in the heavens while his overflowing robes sweep the whole earth, thereby consecrating and conserving it. That is why in some communities, it is abominable to eliminate life (human, animal, and even some species of plants) without justification. On certain days of the week rivers and seas not fished in as a mark of respect. It is forbidden to hunt certain rare or ‘sacred’ animals and birds. At the end of every crop harvest, the farmer traditionally leaves some crops behind in the field for the poor and the bush-combers. Drawing from these values and from Ignatian spirituality, Jesuits are called to esteem not only our fellow human beings, but also animals, whether pets or prey, and even trees, as visible imprints of God.

Wasting water, food, household items, books, or personal effects, when there are so many people in need is therefore an offence against our neighbour and against God. Rather than throwing them away, we can collect these items and deliver them to orphanages, charities, or needy families. At Hekima Jesuit College of Theology in Nairobi, for example, scholastics visit each of the six communities there twice a week to pick up food items and used personal effects for distribution to a group of street kids. During Lent and at the end of each semester, a box is put out in each community by this group of scholastics for hand-me-downs. Amazingly these boxes always get filled up. This practice can be replicated with bigger benefits in many Jesuit communities and institutions in Africa.

We live in an age of unprecedented technological communication, and many Jesuits flow well with it. But sometimes we are too lavish in our use of technology. A few years ago, while I was at a certain Jesuit College in Africa, we had many cases where scholastics and other regular students used to down-load and print several pages of material from the internet without ever bothering to pick them up. To avoid such wastage of printing paper and ink cartridges some institutions have now installed the system of pay as you print through the use of pre-paid and password-encrypted printers. This system may work well in some communities and institutions, but the preferred rule, I believe, is to print only what is absolutely necessary. Other material can be read online and downloaded onto a flash-drive or saved in our computer hard-drives. In some communities and institutions, there is also the problem of old machines which are, technologically speaking, junk. Rather than letting them deteriorate, the junk can be sold to recycle shops where they can be repaired or converted to other uses.

Today’s consumerist culture depletes the limited energy resources of our planet, thereby threatening the survival of future generations. Hence, consumerism demands both our resistance and a compassionate response[9]. Meeting these demands in our Jesuit communities and institutions entails putting in place practices that conserve rather than consume energy. Imbibing simple habits like turning off the lights and other appliances when not needed is a good beginning. It also means using energy-saving bulbs and gadgets, for example, using rechargeable batteries in place of disposable ones since the former are energy-saving and even cheaper in the long run. Our communities are also called upon to prefer energy-saving instant heaters for a shower to energy-consuming water heaters. In fact, cold baths are recommended as much as possible on account of their energy-saving and life-prolonging capacity. The use of washing machines, drying machines, and dishwashers should also be carefully monitored. Due to their high-energy consumption rates, these machines should be used sparingly and must be fully loaded.

Jesuits also need to be ready to replace the growing culture of driving for fun with the healthy practice of walking for life. CO2 emission from automobiles constitutes one of the most active causes of climate change. Of course we need cars, but there are times when it may be better to walk than to drive, especially over short distances. Recently, I heard a story about three Jesuits from one community who attended a particular function in three different cars when using one car would have been both more ecological and more economical. Car-pooling is actually practiced by many organizations today. Rather than staff member driving to work in separate cars, some companies provide buses pick up their staff and take them home at the end of the day.

Lastly, GC 35 invites all Jesuit communities and institutions in Africa to promote the culture of a clean and green environment. This ranges from planting perennial trees and flowers in our immediate residences and national parks to ensuring that our lawns are well trimmed. It also includes keeping separate dust-bins for biodegradables and for non-biodegradables. The latter can be recycled while the former can be used as farm-yard manure. A clean and green energy policy is opposed to bush-burning and arbitrary rubbish-burning in a corner of the premises. All rubbish and things to be burned need to be collected and burnt in one place, preferably in a local incinerator.

List of Actions for Jesuits Communities

[1] Jerónimo Nadal, ‘13a Exhortatio complutensis’ (Alcalá, 1561), §256 (MHSI 90, 469-470).

[2] GC 35, D. 2, no. 27.

[3] GC 35, D. 3, no. 31.

[4] Jerónimo Nadal, qtd. in James Martin, SJ. The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life (New York: HarperCollins, 2010, p. 394).

[5] GC 35, D. 3, no. 33.

[6] GC 35, D. 2, no. 20.

[7] The Spiritual Exercises, Exx. 235.

[8] James Martin, SJ. Op. cit., p. 391.

[9] GC 35, D. 2, no. 21.