The Saint Gallen Council of European Episcopal Conferences in Europe published a study last week made by the Fondazione Lanza of Padova, about the various attitudes of churches in Europe with regard to the environment.

It is, wrote Stefano Fontana in l’occidentale, an interesting study for it shows an increasing interest in environmental issues by European churches, such as those on climate change, water scarcity, energy production and refuse recycling. The Episcopal conferences of Germany and Austria were declared to be in the forefront of such initiatives.

But according to Mr Fontana, there also emerges some perplexity regarding the cohesiveness with the specific Christian message.

A study made in Malta regarding the environmental impact of religious festivities celebrated in the parishes is full of concessions to ecological ideologies. In Germany, 251 church buildings have had solar heating panels fixed on the roofs but the ecclesial communities surely merited something better than this.

In Belgium and Austria a campaign was held during Advent on conserving energy in homes when this, though useful, does not result in any priorities of Christ’s teaching. Malta, again, set up an environmental management system in the Curia while a religious conference on the ecological problems of Carpathia was held in the Ukraine.

One must indeed ask if it would have been better to dedicate these efforts to catechesis and theology, Mr Fontana said.

There is a growing risk of losing what is specific in the Christian message in favour of vaguely ecological and new age ideologies.