SQLFusion - Stewards of Creation - the Bishop of St. Paul raises hackles by attacking the oilsands development

'Stewards of Creation'

The Bishop of St. Paul has raised hackles by attacking oilsands development. He says it's his moral duty to speak out

The Edmonton Journal

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Sheila Pratt

Roman Catholic Bishop Luc Bouchard makes an impassioned plea for care and compassion toward human beings' collective home, Earth.

On a cold Sunday in late January, Bishop Luc Bouchard headed to the cathedral in downtown St. Paul with a few surprises up the long, loose sleeve of his snow-white robe.

It was the annual feast day, Jan. 25, in honour of St. Paul, the parish patron saint, and it carried unusual import this year. Pope Benedict himself had called for special celebrations to mark the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of St. Paul, the saint made famous for his conversion to Christianity on the road to Damascus.

Bouchard was well-prepared for the occasion.

First, the good-humoured priest with a ready laugh would announce a spring pilgrimage, a rare chance for parishioners to follow the footsteps of the saint himself through Greece, Turkey and Rome.

Then, a new chapter of the Knights of Columbus would be established in this vast rural parish that stretches north past Fort McMurray all the way to the Northwest Territories.

Finally, the faithful congregation would receive Pastoral Letter Seven -- Bouchard's own special tribute to the saint and a modern epistle that would inevitably put the popular priest right in the middle of Alberta's most contentious public debate.

With a hint of the political discretion you'd expect in the church hierarchy, Bouchard had already sent a copy to Premier Ed Stelmach and Conservative MLAs in the region. The letter, which calls for a temporary halt to oilsands development to address environmental issues, would soon raise a lot of eyebrows, inevitably a few hackles, and, he hoped, a lot of public debate.

The massive scale and rapid pace of oilsands development -- the strip mining, toxic tailings ponds, high carbon emissions, overuse of water and lack of land reclamation -- are causing undue harm to the environment, says the letter.

"Any one of these destructive effects provokes moral concern, but it is when the damaging effects are added all together that the moral legitimacy of the oilsands production is challenged," writes the bishop.

"The present pace and scale of development in the Athabasca oilsands cannot be morally justified. Active steps to alleviate this environmental damage must be undertaken."

Bouchard praises oilsands giants Suncor and Syncrude as "very good employers" and commends the companies for "fostering innovation, teamwork, good race relations ... ."

But he puts responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the government and the companies for what he considers their failure to address environmental devastation.

"The moral question has been left to market forces and self-regulation to resolve, when what is urgently required is moral vision and leadership."

He ends by urging Catholics in his parish to write their local MLA and raise these issues.

This is hardly radical stuff, and much of it has been said by environmental and other groups.

But the bishop's critics were quick to emerge on radio talk shows and letters to the editor. What was this man of faith doing meddling in the political realm? Was he not overstepping proper religious bounds?

Bouchard meets his critics by starting from the opposite place. This not about an overreaching priest. To the contrary, he could not, as a man who proclaims the Gospel, remain silent while the rapid oilsands development grew harmful to the earth, the air and water.

It was an unavoidable pastoral duty to speak up, says Bouchard, adding, "As St. Paul once said: 'Woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel.' "

A respected biblical scholar, Bouchard has grounded his position in Creation doctrine, though he was also careful to do his homework in environmental studies.

"We have been entrusted with stewardship of Creation, no matter where we are and who we are. There is a responsibility to tend to that stewardship," says Bouchard. "And I had to speak for my backyard."

"If a bishop, whose first role is to proclaim the Gospel, doesn't do it, he is missing his duty and he is not faithful to what he is about."

To those who say the church should stay out of politics, Bouchard answers with an engaging smile: "This is not a question of religion versus politics, it's a moral question.

"A moral voice has to be heard in the public sphere, and as citizens we have a right to express our voice.

"I am not a decision-maker; we have law-makers for that. So I invited my parishioners to enter into a dialogue with decision-makers, presidents and CEOs of companies."

To those who said they'll take the letter seriously when the bishop stops driving a car, Bouchard replies: "We all use energy. But that doesn't stop me from thinking about an electric car."

He's pleased at the response so far. The debate is good, and people from all sorts of churches have sent messages of support -- as have atheists and agnostics, he says.

This isn't the first occasion that Bouchard has spoken out against government policy. A 2005 pastoral letter addressed the negative impact of gambling on Albertans, a topic also dealt with by other Catholic bishops over the years.

But the oilsands letter goes to the heart of the Conservative government orthodoxy that rapid, unrestrained oilsands development is good for the province.

Still, Bouchard doesn't see himself as one who is rocking the boat, but rather as a helpful messenger.

"If the doctor were to come to you and say, 'Listen, you've got a tumour and we have to operate,' well, the patient would be upset . ... But maybe that is what will bring health.

"You see, the doctor has to point it out. I simply hope what I am saying is medicinal and what I'm looking for is health.

"Let's evaluate what we are doing, the consequences of our actions."

Conservative MLA Guy Boutilier has represented the Fort McMurray constituency since 1993. As a former environment minister, he's closely attuned to the issues raised by the bishop.

The letter certainly caused controversy among people in the Fort McMurray area, he says.

"Many citizens said he should stick to the pulpit," says Boutilier, but others supported him.

"But I think his letter enhances the public debate."

Boutilier says he's a firm believer in separate spheres of church and state. But the bishop is raising the important issues -- the same kind of issues that U.S. President Barack Obama is putting on the public agenda with his push for a greener economy, he said.

"The question is how to marry the economy, the environment and energy. Obama has captured that void in public policy," says Boutilier.

Municipal Affairs Minister Ray Danyluk, the bishop's MLA, did not return calls. The oil industry has offered to meet the bishop, though that hasn't happened yet.

"We've heard from a number of voices on the issues and it's no different from him," says Greg Stringham of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

"We'd love to sit down with him and get a clear understanding. We need to listen carefully."

A thoughtful, deliberate man, Bishop Bouchard has never been one to jump to conclusions. That approach to life manifested itself early, starting with his decision to enter the priesthood.

"That too was a slow process," he says.

Bouchard grew up in a devout, franco- phone family in the small city of Cornwall in eastern Ontario. His parents were closely involved in parish life and young Luc knew he wanted to be part of that too.

But he didn't consider a religious vocation until after he graduated from the University of Ottawa in 1971. He took a trip to Mexico to do some social work and, upon

return, decided to study theology.

Bouchard was ordained in 1976 with a reputation for being a fine cook (a skill he put to good use in 1999 when he was charged with cooking for people stranded by Montreal's ice storm) and impressive skills as a pianist ready for a sing-song.

The young priest also had a noticeable aptitude for theological studies. He was soon sent off to Rome to study Latin and Greek and then to the prestigious Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem.

During his 33-year career, he's moved between work as a parish priest in Cornwall and duties as rector and teacher at St. Joseph's seminary and Newman Theological college in Edmonton where he was occasionally spotted shooting pucks on the seminary's outdoor rink.

In 2001, he was appointed bishop in the province's only bilingual diocese.

He's never been a crusading environmentalist -- "I'm a man of many causes," he quips. But as he travelled the parish, he constantly ran into the debate over the feverish rush to develop the oilsands.

As he puts it: "The issue is in the air."

There was no single moment of revelation, but rather constant reflection on the issues -- global warming, the international campaign about dirty oil, the social problems in Fort McMurray.

In scholarly fashion, Bouchard set about researching the issues. He read dozens of company reports, government documents, environmental reports, books and newspaper articles before making up his mind.

"I am forced to conclude the integrity of creation is clearly being sacrificed for economic gain. The proposed future development of the oilsand constitutes a serious moral problem," says the letter.

The letter's release in late January was perfectly timed, though entirely inadvertent.

Shortly after, the federal and provincial governments brought charges against Syncrude for the death of 500 ducks in its tailings pond. On February 19, Obama visited Ottawa and re-focused debate on Alberta's "dirty oil," the sustainability of fossil fuel and the need for alternative energy.

A week later, National Geographic magazine published an unflattering article on the oilsands, raising many of Bouchard's issues. A copy sits on Bouchard's desk, another sign of just how widespread this debate is getting and how unavoidable the issue is for any man of conscience.

"Maybe the timing was providential," he says with a mischievious grin and clearly pleased with all the attention to the environmental issue.

Many people were surprised that a bishop would enter the environmental debate, but they shouldn't be, he says.

The Catholic church in the last 40 years has made many pronouncements about the environment.

In August 2008, Pope Benedict addressed the environment and listed pollution as one of the seven modern sins.

In 2003, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a pastoral letter on the "Christian Ecological Imperative."

"So what I am saying is not something new," he says.

Perhaps, but it doesn't directly address the central issue here: Given the biblical teachings about respecting God's creation, is there a moral way to develop the oilsands, with all of their strip mining, tailings ponds, greenhouse gases and use of fresh water?

The answer, says Bouchard, will partly come from science, noting that countries such as Norway are succeeding with low-carbon fossil fuel development.

"That's where we need the help of scientists. Everything has to be explored, from carbon sequestration to alternative energy," he says.

"The scientific world has a great service to render to all of us. They have to be used wisely and responsibly at the service of humanity."

"We can use those great gifts of God and channel them. That is why the debate (over the oilsands) is so important."

A hand-painted wooden plaque sits on the wall of Bouchard's office on the second floor of the old nunnery in St. Paul.

It's a crest designed especially for the bishop, with a blue background for Alberta skies and four symbols -- a Bible, a wheat sheaf to represent his largely rural parish, the staff of the Good Shepherd and an anchor that represents Christ.

Etched into the plaque is his personal motto, chosen from a verse in the Gospel of St. John: "So that they might have life."

It's a message of hope, he says, because he is fundamentally optimistic and hopeful about humanity's ability to deal with the problems that society creates. "We need to do what is our duty."

"I appeal to the goodwill of the people at all levels. We're all in this together. As part of creation, we are in solidarity and the Earth is our home.

"We're not looking for people to be miserable; its just that maybe we've gone overboard."

The Edmonton Journal 2009