Catechesis in the service of ecology

Abstract

The task of catechesis is the education of children, youth and adults to be active partici-pants in the life of the Church and the world. The need to engage in ecological matters re-sults from the fact that God has entrusted the world to humans and told man to care for its appearance (cf. Gen 2,15). In catechesis, the service to ecology means teaching respect and forming an attitude of love towards God, the other person and the whole of creation. This is associated with moral upbringing, one which indicates the need for an „ecological conversion”, in other words, an inner change of man. The determinant of a properly un-derstood and realized ecology is, thus, the human person. Ecological activity means, first of all, respecting every human being, who is an „image” of God, and secondly, the world, which is God’s creation. In school catechesis, proper attitudes towards the human being and environment need to be nurtured. The protection of nature demands practical action and, therefore, moral attitudes giving superiority of being over possessing need to be formed. The aim of all undertaken ecological action in catechesis is showing the truth that the world is a common home, for which one should incessantly care (cf. Laudato si 232). The Church educates pupils for an ecological sensitivity as it takes into account both the protection of the natural as well as the human (social) environment.