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1.5. Regulatory Concepts in Environmental Codifications is based on the law of the common destination of earthly goods. If this social guality is overlooked, property often becomes an occasion of passionate desires for wealth and serious disturbances, so that a pretext is given to the attackers for calling the right itself into question.” The Catholic Church’s focus on ecological issues, which began in the 1960s, was highlighted at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972.** This process culminated in Pope Paul VI’s papal message, which firmly affirmed the goodness of creation, our responsibility to steward the natural environment for future generations, and the principle of global solidarity. “But how can we ignore the imbalances caused in the biosphere by the disorderly exploitation of the physical reserves of the planet, even for the purpose of prodcing something useful, such as the wasting of natural resources that cannot be renewed; pollution of the earth, water, air and space, with the resulting assaults on vegetable and animal life? All that contributes to the impoverishment and deterioration of man’s environment to the extent, it is said, of threatening his own survival. Finally, our generation must energetically accept the challenge of going beyond partial and immediate goals in order to prepare a hospitable earth for future generations." This period laid the groundwork for later papal teachings, such as Pope John Paul IPs 1990 World Day of Peace message, which explicitly called for ecological responsibility, and Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, which comprehensively addresses the ecological crisis. Paul VI’s contributions were foundational, blending theology with a call to action for environmental care and global solidarity. In his message, Paul VI emphasized humankind’s responsibility, stating that: “The care of preserving and improving the natural environment, like the noble ambition of stimulating a first gesture of world cooperation in his field, so precious for everyone, meets needs that are deeply felt among the men of our times. Today, indeed, there is a growing awareness that man and his environment are more inseparable than ever. The environment archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-etspes_en.htm. > United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 5-16 June 1972), https://www.un.org/en/conferences/environment/stockholm1972. Pope Paul VI, Message on the Occasion of the International Conference of the United Nations on the Environment Held in Stockholm (1 June 1972), Vatican, https://www.vatican.va/content/ paul-vi/en/messages/pont-messages/documents/hf_p-vi_mess_19720605_conferenzaambiente.html. 55 27
