By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KHS, KM
How are we to worship “Mother Earth”? It is clear that we must adopt the rites and customs of indigenous jungle dwellers. Not a single mention of the primitive lifestyles, barbarism, slash and burn, and child sacrifice that can accompany these cultures.
“The understanding of Amazonian life is characterized by connectivity between God and [wait for it!] various spiritual forces” (Instrumentum Laboris, n. 13). And more like that: “A cosmic dimension of experience palpitates within the families…in harmony with nature and in dialogue with the spirits” (Instrumentum Laboris, n. 75). Outright paganism.
Aren’t the missionaries supposed to have driven out the evil spirits and stopped their worship? Are the spiritual forces now to be honored once again, and used in the same breath as God our Lord? “The life of the Amazon communities not yet influenced by Western [i.e., bad Christian] civilization is reflected in the beliefs and rites regarding the action of spirits of the many named divinities” (IL, n. 25). No condemnations of spirit worship here — this is all natural, good and to be emulated.
We are called to “ecological and pastoral conversion that lets itself be seriously challenged by geographical and existential peripheries . . . a central element of the future life of the Church” (Evangelii Gaudium, n. 20, quoted in IL, n. 3).
But is “ecological conversion” a “central element . . . of the Church”? Christ is the “central element” of Church life. Preaching salvation through Him is the “life of the Church.” Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, but not in this document. You will find no Christian teaching there. What happened to: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33), and “What profit it a man to gain the world and lose his soul” (Mark 8:36).
The jungle becomes the real Garden of Eden, here and now. Just as the Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin failed in his attempt to marry evolution with Christianity, and ended in error, and his fellow Jesuits failed to marry the Church to Marxism, and still to this day have produced nothing but error, and so too Pope Francis the Jesuit, in his effort to wed the three, ecology, evolution, and Marxism to Christianity, has failed and ended in error.
We are left thinking that modern Christian society has become the realm of the Earth worshipers, while the Amazon dwellers have all along been the real worshipers in communion with “Mother Earth.” This, my friends, is pagan. God is with His people here on Earth in His Word, in His Church through His sacraments, and actually physically present in His divine Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist. There is no other physical presence of God in the world. Everything else is His creation.
Yes, God chose to become a man. Man is at the central point of creation — not nature as the Instrumentum Laboris laboriously tries to convince us. God became a man. He did not become a tree, nor a mysterious river that has voices that need to be listened to. He is not unknowable dense undergrowth, nor hippopotami, nor the “spirits” of the jungle. Pantheism is paganism and the worship of nature.
And whose fault is all this? It is the “new colonizing powers” that have created a “socio-environmental crisis” (IL, n. 7). As if we did not already know, this is all about the nasty human contribution to climate: “The Amazon is the second most vulnerable area on the planet to climate change caused by humans” (IL, n. 9). Yes, this is about climate change.
Gerhard Cardinal Mueller accurately stated: The “cosmovision” the document proposes is “pan-naturalistic” and “similar to Marxism.”
And Dom Giulio Meiattini, OSB, concludes, as cited in LifeSiteNews: “The most interesting aspect is that, in this document, things become clearer, compared to the previous ambiguous formulations that were supported by erroneous quotations of St. Thomas in order to be able to claim that everything was ‘completely Thomistic.’ Here it is clear that St. Thomas has nothing to do with it, and as has been said, the Bible has nothing to do with it either. If there is still something Christian in this, i.e., a few words and expressions here and there, there is no need to worry: it is undoubtedly biodegradable.”
This Instrumentum Laboris is leading to a synod in October, the “final document” of which will no doubt have already been written. Don’t get dragged into this politicized green vortex. Remember the faith you were taught, that the truth is this: “Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). “For the heavens and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt. 24:35).
But the Instrumentum Laboris, Cardinal Mueller pointed out, “has no magisterial value,” and, therefore, “only ignorant people can say that those who criticize him are an enemy of the Pope.”
He also said: “Unfortunately this is their trick to avoid any critical dialogue, if try to make an objection you are immediately labeled as an enemy of the Pope. Clarification [is] more than appropriate because the text of the Instrumentum Laboris it is disconcerting in describing the Amazon and the peoples who inhabit it as a model for all humanity, an example of harmony with nature, a perfect synthesis of what is meant by integral ecology.
“It is a document that presents an idyllic picture of the Amazon, including indigenous religions, so much so as to render Christianity useless, if not for the ‘political’ support it can give to keep these peoples unspoiled and defend them from predators that want to bring development and ‘steal’ resources,” as quoted by Debra Heine of PJ Media. Cardinal Mueller made the comments in an interview with Gridatelo Dai Tetti.
The cardinal added that the Pope and his allies “want to save the world according to their idea, perhaps utilizing some elements of the Scriptures,” but their ideas are “profane” and have nothing to do with divine Revelation.
“They treat our Creed as if it were our European opinion. But the Creed is the Revelation of God in Jesus Christ, who lives in the Church. There are no other beliefs. Instead, there are other philosophical beliefs or mythological expressions, but no one has ever dared to say, for example, that Plato’s Wisdom is a form of God’s Revelation.”
Heresy And Stupidity
When he was asked if he agreed with the evaluation of Cardinal Brandmueller that the document is a work of heresy, Cardinal Mueller replied: “Heresy? Not only that but also stupidity. The heretic knows Catholic doctrine and contradicts it. But here a great confusion is made, and the center of everything is not Jesus Christ, but they themselves, and their ideas to save the world.”
Mueller explained that the term “cosmovision” is incompatible with the doctrine of the Church.
“The ‘cosmovision’ is a materialistic conception, similar to that of Marxism, in the end we can do what we want. But we believe in Creation, matter is the form of the essence of nature, we cannot do what we want. Creation is for the glorification of God but it is also a challenge for us, called to collaborate with God’s saving will for all men. Our task is not to preserve nature as it is, but we have the responsibility for the progress of humanity, in education, in social justice, for peace.”
And: “This is why Catholics build schools, hospitals, this is also the mission of the Church. Nature cannot be idealized as if the Amazon were an area of Paradise, because nature is not always loving towards man. In the Amazon there are predators, there are infections, diseases. And even these children, these young people are entitled to a good education, to benefit from modern medicine. One cannot idealize, as is done in the synodal document, only traditional medicine.”
He also criticized the “hippie” language of the document, such as “ecological conversion” and “mother earth.”
“We must absolutely reject expressions like ‘ecological conversion,’ Mueller argued. “There is only conversion to the Lord, and, as a consequence, there is also the good of nature,” as quoted by PJ Media.
“We cannot make ecologicalism a new religion, here we are in a pantheistic conception, which must be rejected. Pantheism is not just a theory about God but also contempt for man. God who identifies himself with nature is not a person. God the Creator instead created us in His image and likeness. In prayer we have a relationship with a God who listens to us, who understands what we mean, not a mysticism in which we can dissolve personal identity.”
“Our Mother is a Person, not the Earth. And our Mother in the Faith is Mary. The Church is also described as Mother, the Bride of Christ. But these words must not be exaggerated. One thing is to respect all the elements of this world, another is to idealize them and divinize them. This identification of God with nature is a form of atheism, because God is independent of nature. They [those who made the Instrumentum Laboris] totally ignore the creation.”
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