Pope blames coronavirus on Environmental damage

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I never think of a virus as being a part of “nature.” A virus is not like an earthquake or a tidal wave.
It’s kind of a leap to suggest that nature is rebelling against changes to the environment and giving us a virus.
 
I think maybe people don’t understand that the pope is just saying something that amounts to common sense, but he says it in a way that escapes most people.

If I eat bad food, my stomach throws a fit. If people mistreat exotic animals in a dirty market place, then that which is being mishandled may “throw a fit”. If chemicals are dumped in a river, the river may throw a fit (catch on fire). I fail to see what is controversial about his comment.
 
I fail to see what is clear about his comment, but if you say so.
 
Is the Pope not saying something very similar to what is already in the Bible?..i.e. Leviticus 26:43
For the land shall be deserted by them, and enjoy its sabbath years by lying desolate without them, while they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they dared to spurn my ordinances, and they abhorred my statutes.
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The Pope is making a fair point worthy of discussion IMHO.
 
From the aspect that it is against nature to cage a variety of different animals…AND stack them one upon the other…AND let them defecate, bleed, excrete from top to bottom…AND butcher said animals without proper sanitary regulations…AND handle the meat to cook and eat it. THEN, I agree with the Pope, what is happening in Chinese wet markets is against nature
 
Methinks having the Holy Father castigate the subhuman and disgusting lifestyle promoted among the poor Chinese citizenry in those wet markets might be more accurate, effective, on the nose, and easy for people to understand.
 
Irishmom2 said:
I never think of a virus as being a part of “nature.”
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Viruses, bacteria, funguses, etc are all part of nature. They have a place in the natural world. One of their functions is to limit populations, as awful as that sounds.
It would probably help if people would stop eating exotic animals from the wild that they really don’t need for a food source, such as the kind killed and eaten at these “wet markets” where the outbreak seems to have started.
Other than that I don’t see how this virus is being caused by a disregard of nature though. It’s not like we all caught it by deforesting the Amazon or something.
 
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I think it is better to see this as a chastisement willed or permitted by God for the various sins of mankind to help purify us–I don’t see much of this directly linked to pollution or whatnot, as if this virus is a natural result. And it would be certainly wrong to ascribe agency to “nature” to punish us.

That being said, in general, introducing disorder in the natural order–which might include disordinate exploitation of natural resources–can lead to misery or punishment from God–but there tends to be a more direct relationship (e.g. air being good for us to breathe, while polluted air harms us to breathe)

Leo XIII, Arcanum Divinae
  1. From the beginning of the world, indeed, it was divinely ordained that things instituted by God and by nature should be proved by us to be the more profitable and salutary the more they remain unchanged in their full integrity. For God, the Maker of all things, well knowing what was good for the institution and preservation of each of His creatures, so ordered them by His will and mind that each might adequately attain the end for which it was made. If the rashness or the wickedness of human agency venture to change or disturb that order of things which has been constituted with fullest foresight, then the designs of infinite wisdom and usefulness begin either to be hurtful or cease to be profitable, partly because through the change undergone they have lost their power of benefiting, and partly because God chooses to inflict punishment on the pride and audacity of man.
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Tis_Bearself said:
Other than that I don’t see how this virus is being caused by a disregard of nature though. It’s not like we all caught it by deforesting the Amazon or something.
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That is actually what I meant when I said not a part of nature, but I did not make it as clear as you did. I didn’t go far enough with what I meant by my comment. I meant I don’t think of it as an event of nature like an earthquake etc.
 
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Hail Mary, Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of our death. Amen.
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I read an article written by an epidemiologist (I can link to it if someone’s interested, but it’s in French and rather long) pointing out that the epidemic was probably the result of our un-natural way of life. It started with selling live wild animals in markets, and, except from the elderly, is making victims mostly among people with underlying health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart diseases or diabetes - all of which, he said, can be linked in part to our sedentary lifestyle.

He could agree the Pope.
 
High blood pressure, heart diseases or diabetes aren’t necessary “linked to our sedentary lifestyle”. A lot of such diseases are genetic. My family has a genetic tendency towards heart disease (I suspected this for years and it was just confirmed via my DNA test) and it’s happened to folks in my family even when they are very active (previous generations that did physical labor for a living, or exercised a lot under doctor’s orders, etc) although being active will put it off for a while. I also know people who are active as all get out but have diabetes and high blood pressure. You can manage these things to an extent but they’re hereditary in the population.

What we actually have going on nowadays is that with drugs and health care, people’s hereditary diseases are manageable and they live to much older ages rather than just dying younger of their condition, as previous generations with the same thing probably did. I’ve read several articles that said this is how Italy for example ended up with so many older people with underlying conditions; they have good health care there to keep the old folks alive. Unfortunately, when a new bug like this goes around, for which there is no cure and not much good health care, then people with the underlying conditions are more vulnerable. It’s basically a form of natural selection.
 
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Genesis315 said:
Leo XIII, Arcanum Divinae
  1. From the beginning of the world, indeed, it was divinely ordained that things instituted by God and by nature should be proved by us to be the more profitable and salutary the more they remain unchanged in their full integrity. For God, the Maker of all things, well knowing what was good for the institution and preservation of each of His creatures, so ordered them by His will and mind that each might adequately attain the end for which it was made. If the rashness or the wickedness of human agency venture to change or disturb that order of things which has been constituted with fullest foresight, then the designs of infinite wisdom and usefulness begin either to be hurtful or cease to be profitable, partly because through the change undergone they have lost their power of benefiting, and partly because God chooses to inflict punishment on the pride and audacity of man.
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Enlightening.
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Tis_Bearself said:
High blood pressure, heart diseases or diabetes aren’t necessary “linked to our sedentary lifestyle”. A lot of such diseases are genetic.
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I agree, and so does the author of the article, too. But his point was that when there are no hereditary factors, then environmental ones are the most likely culprit.
 
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