Catholic Principles of Good Stewardship of the Physical World
Catholic belief includes both the terms “dominion” and “stewardship” in discussing the relationship of human beings to the physical world. Lucia A. Silecchia definitely prefers “stewardship.”
Drawing especially on papal encyclicals, including those of Pope John Paul II and the current Pope Benedict XVI, Silecchia said in the Simmons Lecture at Eckstein Hall on Thursday that stewardship is an appropriate model for care for the environment because the world has been entrusted to people and, as trustees, people need to put broader interests ahead of their own interests. Silecchia is a professor of law at Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Individuals need to put aside their narrow self interests to serve the larger, enduring needs of all people, Silecchia said. Indeed our own best interest is actually served by enlarging our sense of ourselves as members of communities and even the earth as a whole.
In a lecture titled, “’More Will Be Expected’: Catholic Social Thought and international Environmental Stewardship,” Silecchia discussed basic principles of Catholic teaching that provide a framework for dealing with ecological issues.