By Xavier de Bénazé, SJ | French-speaking Western European Province
[From “Jesuits 2024 - The Society of Jesus in the world”]

A Jesuit Province has chosen to respond seriously to the Laudato si’ call - for ecological ... and spiritual reasons.

Since 2021 the EOF Province (South Belgium, France, Greece, Luxemburg and Mauritius) has been more actively engaged on the path of ecological and social transition. We are reviewing here more than two years of a conversion process.

Before starting this assessment, let us recall that:

• This process is rooted in the conversion of the Church and the Society of Jesus, driven by the encyclical Laudato si’, the decrees of the 35^th General Congregation and our four Universal Apostolic Preferences [UAP].

• The dynamic commitment of the EOF Province is rooted in God, especially since our Province retreat of 2018, which had chosen the theme: “Integral Ecology”.

• In order to make this conversion concrete, the Province decided to focus on CO₂ emissions. That is, to spend time on issues and projects that lead to concrete results (with the support of a layperson employed on a full-time basis and a Jesuit on part-time). From the start, we chose to work within the European network of the “Jesuit European Social Centre”.

This background work made it possible to know where our Province stands concerning its CO₂ emissions (through its communities). Two main observations emerge:

1. There are variations according to the countries, mostly because the national sources of electricity are more or less carbon-intensive. This reminds us that these transition issues require a regional, national and international political vision!

2. All in all, our Jesuits are below their national averages but above the medians. In other words, we belong to the half of the population with the highest CO₂ emissions. Therefore, genuine climate and social justice requires us to act.

In addition, with regard to the four usual CO₂ emission sources, we notice that:

• “General consumption” is quite moderate. To put it in another way, we are already living a sound kind of happy sobriety. It may well be that this comes from the wisdom of our vow of poverty. The inspiration therefore is to be found in our following of Christ. This is worth pondering, while the other three points will require more effort on our part.

• The first source of CO₂ emissions is our buildings. Our houses are generally old, poorly insulated, heated with fossil fuels and too big for us. We will therefore have to work not only on technical changes (insulation, heating), but also on a proper use of our buildings.

• As far as food is concerned, we are within the national average, which is however incompatible with international climate objectives. Since, in this regard, one of the main sources of CO₂ emissions is our consumption of meat (especially red meat), we need to work on making our dishes more vegetarian. All the more so since food is also a major source of our impacts on other planetary boundaries, in particular land use change and the ongoing sixth mass extinction of biodiversity.

• With respect to transportation, we are slightly below national averages. Which is not satisfactory. We need to think about reducing our use of carbon-based transportation (planes and cars) and opt for public transportation, especially trains for long distances and bicycles for daily life outings.

Thanks to these first lessons, we know now where we are starting from: we will have to work at the personal, community and provincial levels to try to halve our CO₂ footprint per Jesuit per year by 2030, and move towards 1.5-2tons CO₂ per year per person. However, today, if the global economy as a whole does not decarbonise faster than the current rate, we will not be able to achieve these goals on our own. Our first projections show that, so far, by acting ambitiously, 40 % of the effort is in our hands. It is up to us to carry out those acts of justice and love that provide a taste of eternity in God.

But we have also to bring about wider changes. This is where the networks of universities, social centres and schools of the universal Society are precious assets. Which is why our Province decided, in 2023, to hire an extra lay person to accompany our 25 schools in ambitious transition projects. The challenge is huge! For those who wish to “work with others in the care of our common home”, the Ignatian maxim of the Hungarian Jesuit Gábor Hevenesi (1656-1715) has a burning relevance: “The first rule of action is this: so trust in God as if the success of things depends entirely on you, and nothing on God; yet put all your labour into it as if God alone would do everything (and) you nothing”.