01-10-2010 - Traces, n. 9

inside america

What Wonder in the Mangroves has to Say about Politics
In light of the midterm elections in the United States, contemplating  the importance of the social doctrine of the Church sheds light on the human dignity that politics should serve.

by lorenzo albacete

The most fundamental of the “rights” which must be respected by all according to the social doctrine of the Church is, of course, the right to life. So let us begin our reflection with life at the bottom of our planet, at the bottom of the sea. I recently read a CNN news report concerning a 10-year “Census of Marine Life” (the biggest ever), revealing that the planet's seas and oceans are richer and more diverse than scientists suspected. The census employed 2,700 scientists from 80 nations. The $650-million study surveyed the coldest waters to the warmest lagoons; the smallest microbes to the largest cetaceans. It even looked at life 6.2 miles down in the Marianas Trench, southeast of Japan.
Scientists tagged and tracked marine creatures in order to gain insight into their migratory habits and populations as well as how they breed and what they eat.
Scientists estimate that there are more than 1 million marine species but only about 250,000 have been formally described in scientific literature over the centuries. Those figures exclude microbes—of which the census estimates there are up to 1 billion kinds.
Myriam Sibuet, Vice-Chair of the Scientific Steering Committee of the project, said, "Life astonished us everywhere we looked. In the deep sea we found luxuriant communities despite extreme conditions."
The census also collated information on all of the 16,764 species of fish that have ever been described—but estimates that a further 5,000 have yet to be discovered.
Ian Poiner, Chair of the Census Steering Committee, said, "This cooperative international 21st-century voyage has systematically defined for the first time both the known and the vast unknown, unexplored ocean… All surface life depends on life inside and beneath the oceans. Sea life provides half of our oxygen and a lot of our food and regulates climate. We are all citizens of the sea."
Patricia Miloslavich, Co-Senior Scientist on the census, said in a statement: "Before the census, we lacked even a simple list of known marine species. Information was scattered all over the world with limited access. If we liken Earth to a firm with humankind as CEO, we must surely know the key employees and their functions."
Reading about this (and above all looking at the pictures and videos of this symphony of light and colors) reminded me of a day almost 20 years ago when I was on a boat with a group of friends sailing through a mangrove jungle off the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico. All kinds of little animals came out of the mangrove forest as if to say hello as we passed by and then they darted back into the forest, never to be seen again by a human being. On the boat with me was Msgr. Carlo Caffarra, who today as Cardinal Caffarra is Archbishop of Bologna. He appeared completely stunned by what he was seeing, and didn’t seem to hear what I was saying. Finally, I asked, “What are you thinking about Carlo?” And he replied, “I am thinking of how much the Eternal Father must love the Son for Whom He has created such a wonderful world.”
I have never forgotten his words and his look as he said this to me, and I relive the experience each time that I am really paying attention to nature (not to mention when I read about multiple universes and other such marvels of modern cosmology).
This brings me to an article by Caffarra in the Italian edition of the journal Communio, dated March-April 1981. The title is: “The Social Doctrine of the Church: A Theological Justification.”
This article understands the social doctrine of the Church from a viewpoint of reality that is exactly the same as the way Caffarra looked at those little crabs and other small animals saying hello to us while we visited the mangrove jungle. It is a matter not only of awe and wonder before the diversity of life, but of contemplation of  “the Eternal Father’s infinite love—exaggerated, if I might say, with due respect—for His Son.”
According to Caffarra’s article, the social doctrine of the Church is an expression of this wonder, this contemplation, this awe at the Father’s love for His Son embracing each human person, created to share the life of the Incarnate Son. He is the “Truth” and the “Life” to which the social doctrine of the Church witnesses in its respect and veneration of the dignity of each human person.
Human life, of course, is more than politics, but as a dimension of what it means to be a human person, politics for building an authentically human society is opened to divine Love by the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery (present in the Eucharist).
Those little crabs in the mangroves did their part greeting us. Now they wait for us to praise the Creator in their name.