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Tackling Environmental Crime throUgh standardized Methodologies

temporary humankind. He speaks of something he deeply cares for, connecting
with his own serious worries to expand the view of the problem, which then
becomes not just a problem of humankind, but of Christ and the Gospel. In
terms of method, this solution must not be underestimated. The most appro-
priate aim of “Laudato Si”, in fact, is not to provide indications for daily practice,
but to develop an ecological spirituality, whose centre is not in ecology but in
Christ himself, the One through whom everything has been made. We need to
promote this new vision by humankind of created things that are besides us and
that we use every day. “Laudato Si” addresses the great issues of economy, finan-
ce and politics and, in this sense, it deals with institutions. But it also deals with
small everyday deeds by which, when we are at work, in the family or in our free
time, we relate to the environment and through this, to other men and women,
and to God. This is precisely the point: to consider that, when we relate to things,
we also relate with others and with our creator. Here a spiritual ecology is born,
which, according to Pope Francis’s encyclical, should concentrate on an ecologi-
cal conversion. This statement has often been read as if the earth, the planet and
environmental imbalances were the subject of this conversion. Certainly, faced
with negative behaviour and a damaging contempt for nature, we may talk about
the need to change the direction of our actions i.e. a conversion, albeit in a redu-
ced sense, without the religious meaning the word assumes in a Christian context.
The subject of this conversion is not water, though it still should be used wisely,
or air, that should not be polluted, because otherwise the prospect becomes the
deification of nature. The subject of the conversion is God, who demands from
us also a change in the way we look at creation. Therefore the conversion consists
in seeing the creation in God, within His plan for salvation and in the light of his
providing will; therefore not just in endorsing some form of ecology. Here too
the model of Saint Francis of Assisi remains valid.

The Catholic Church interprets these problems as signs of the times. It
proposes its own contribution to the search for solutions. We are in an interna-
tional context: for example the Holy See’s diplomatic action, on the occasion of
important international conferences, performs this service. The Holy See, in fact
encourages the activity of international bodies and the international community
as they are called upon to work in the service of the whole human family and

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