Fr. Stephen Dunn, CP
Associate Director
“…Over the centuries the sense of commitment to justic and peace felt by both Christian and Jewish communities ranged from the intensity of the prophet to the piety of the ordinary believer. For the ordinary believer in the Christian community, gradually, the robustness, or “prophetic” element of justice waned, becoming supplanted by charity, understood as ’giving out of one’s abundance.’ The goal of peace also became more of a pious desire than a prophetic cause.”
Questions and Reflections continue:
How did this evolution occur?
In the case of justice, long standing efforts to intensify common piety regarding it - stretching back to Leo XIII - came to a culmination in the Synod of Bishops in 1971 when justice was declared a constitutive element of preaching the Gospel. In the turmoil of the 20th century particularly (and intensely in the 21st), successive papal teachings expanded the Catholic consideration of peace beyond its more domestic sense to peace within and among nations.
What we have been witnessing then, particularly since the latter half of the 20th century, is the building of a robust connection between Gospel motivation and what previously had been considered primarily secular issues: wages, autonomy, human rights, etc. The Protestant community has had a similar evolution of Evangelical interpretation.
How has the “Creation” part of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation evolved in our understanding?
The case of “Creation” is different. While there are plentiful biblical indications of Divine valuing of all creatures, the mindset of both prophet and ordinary pious believer has been human-centered. In western societies particularly that worldview has developed inexorably as technological prowess evolved. Two factors have emerged, however, in this same key time period (second half of the 20th century). These factors have challenged that human dominance: scientific cosmology and ecological disaster. Taken together they call for a practical sense of participating in Earth creativity rather than (vainly) attempting to dominate it.
This change of mind-set has been more difficult to introduce into Christian piety and commitment. In face of its growing relevance to human survival, however, theologically innovative thought is finding a place in Christian consideration. Initially, it was the World Council of Churches that endorsed this new focus on creation. It is to them that we owe the acronym: Justice Peace & the Integrity of Creation. The nomenclature and the theological tentativeness it expresses (“Integrity” of Creation) have now found a place in Catholic thought also.
How is your ministry an expression of JPIC?
My own ministry has had as its focus the developing theological understanding of the cosmological and ecological “paradigm shift” in Catholic thought and imagination. In that sense, it is concerned more directly with the Integrity of Creation and indirectly with Justice and Peace. (My new role as co-director of the National Office for JPIC is a stimulus towards preventing any sense of separation among the three.) Partly because this is such a new element in Christian ministry and Passionist ministry in particular, I think it would be premature to assume that there is an adequate integration of issues around Integrity of Creation within the three-fold cluster. Therefore, I view my immediate future as continuing to specialize in this aspect of JPIC.
How does the Passionist charism inform or shape your ministry?
Since the General Chapter of 2000, JPIC has become prominent in our official documents. In its strongest expression it is asserted to be a new statement of our mission as Passionists. The Commission on Solidarity, established shortly after the Chapter, spoke increasingly of JPIC as a contemporary Passionist Spirituality, raising those issues far beyond being simple segments of Christian commitment. The current director of the Office of Solidarity and Missions is strongly promoting that view. It can be said then that it is the Passionist charism in evolution that informs such ministry(ies) throughout the Congregation.
Thomas Berry has described this evolution in terms of the transformation in the understanding of the Passion in Christian piety. Initially, the historical sufferings of Jesus formed the focus. This understanding expanded towards human suffering as participating in the Passion of Jesus, especially the sufferings of the poor. In his thinking, the most contemporary evolution in Christian piety towards the Passion is expressed in its expansion to the Passion of the Earth.
In that sense, Thomas Berry’s “Passion of the Earth” is totally compatible with both the Passionist heritage and current theological developments. But, as the Passion is a key, but not the sole mystery of the Christian life, my own efforts, while inclusive of that perspective, range wider. I would also observe that just as in the early post-Vatican II era the theology of the Passion benefited greatly (and became greatly modified) by the (then) new emphasis on the mystery of the Resurrection, the theological reach of the mystery of Creation likewise promises to modify the accepted (received) understandings of the Passion, even the Passion of the Earth.
