Pontifical council considers energy’s relation to justice, peace

Rome, Italy, Apr 13, 2014 / 06:03 am

The Vatican body concerned with justice and peace presented a book Friday which considers their connection with energy, and how energy can both threaten and serve integral human development.

"In this book, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace addresses a dialogue between faith and energy," said Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the pontifical council, at the presentation of "Energy, Justice and Peace" held April 11 at a research and development agency in Rome.

The book is subtitled: "A reflection on energy in the current context of development and the protection of the environment."

"We receive testimonies of violence and oppression because of the energy from bishops' conferences," he continued. "This proves how much energy is indispensable for everyone, and how much a contribution to a collective reflection was needed."

The book, authored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and published in December, was presented with interventions by officials of the council and by energy experts, including Gianpeiro Celata of Italy's National Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and Sustainable Economic Development, where the presentation was held.

According to Bishop Mario Toso, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, there is a need for "a global cooperation among all institutions interested in the themes of energy. Energy is a common good, destined for everyone -- according to the perspective of the universal destination of goods."

"The common good we are talking about is the good of the family of peoples," Bishop Toso said.

Bishop Toso then stressed that "in view of the realization of peace – and peace includes several goods – it is necessary that energy be thought of, produced, distributed, and used, according to a new paradigm."

Bishop Toso underscored the need for "a new economic model" aimed at "realizing the common good of the human family."

Tebaldo Vinciguerra, an official of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, underscored the need for a "green economy" which is concerned with the good of human persons, and not solely profits or the environment.

According to the pontifical council, the book "is not a geopolitical analysis, a planning document of a technical character or a universal scope, but rather a reflection meant to nurture other reflections, to inspire decision making on the part of competent authorities … to provide theoretical knowledge to those directly engaged in the field, and finally to increase public awareness of the question of energy."

"The approach is interdisciplinary and general, as the work of the Pontifical Council was made in the light of the Gospel, the social teaching of the Church and its principles and criteria of judgement, without entering into technical-political details."