An ecocentrist conception can give way to a new pantheism with neo-pagan accents that derive salvation for man from nature alone, understood in a purely naturalistic sense.
Newsroom (16/03/2022 09:49, Gaudium Press) “Many find tranquility and peace, feel renewed and invigorated when they come into direct contact with the beauty and harmony of nature. There is a kind of reciprocity here: when we take care of creation, we find that God, through creation, takes care of us. On the other hand, a correct vision of man’s relationship with the environment prevents absolutizing nature or considering it more important than the person.
If the Church’s Magisterium expresses misgivings about a conception of the environment inspired by ecocentrism and biocentrism, it does so because such a conception eliminates the ontological and axiological difference between the human person and other living beings.
In this way, the identity and superior function of the human being is actually eliminated, favoring an egalitarian vision of the “dignity” of all living beings. In this way, a new pantheism with neo-pagan accents is introduced, deriving salvation for man from nature alone, understood in a purely naturalistic sense.”
BENEDICT XVI. Message for the celebration of the World Day of Peace, 1/1/2010.
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