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Catholic Perspectives on Water
The Columbia River
Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common
Good
An International Pastoral Letter by the Catholic
Bishops of the Region
(Excerpt)
The Columbia River Watershed stands as one of
the most beautiful places on God's earth. Its
mountains and valleys, forests and meadows, rivers
and plains reflect the presence of their Creator.
Its farms and fishing boats, rural communities
and cities, railroads, ports and industries reveal
the varied ways in which peoples of the region
have worked with earth's beauty and bounty to
derive their livelihood from the land and water.
The core of the 259,000 square miles of the Columbia
Watershed is the 1,200 miles of the great river
known as the Columbia. It begins in British Columbia
in Canada, is fed in the U.S. by tributaries in
Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, and flows
to the Pacific Ocean. This magnificent network
of rivers — the region's lifeblood — is an extensive
ecosystem that transcends national, state and
provincial borders.
We, the Catholic bishops in the international
watershed region of the United States and Canada,
write this pastoral letter because we have become
concerned about regional economic and ecological
conditions and the conflicts over them in the
watershed. We address this letter to our Catholic
community and to all people of good will. |
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We hope that
we might work together to develop and implement
an integrated spiritual, social and ecological
vision for our watershed home, a vision that promotes
justice for people and stewardship of creation....
We call for a thorough, humble and introspective
evaluation that seeks to eliminate both economic
greed that fails to respect the environment, and
ecological elitism that lacks a proper regard
for the legitimate rights and property of others.
"The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation
and the Common Good" focuses particularly on our
common responsibilities for our region. In this
pastoral letter we will explore biblical and Catholic
Church teachings about stewardship; the need to
respect nature; and the need to recognize and
promote the common good. These themes are consistent
with a Christian belief that the earth is a creation
of God intended to serve the needs of all creation.
Read
the complete statement.
Visit the website of the
Columbia River Pastoral Project.
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