Water and spirituality

This is not about baptism or the Easter blessing of families or the custom of blessing animals on the feast of St Francis. It is just a quick, brief look at a workshop organised in the Vatican last month by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

The workshop was titled: "Water Conflicts and Spiritual Transformation: A Dialogue." Several religions and many countries were represented by the workshop's 25 participants, who included scientists, scholars, government officials, aid workers and religious leaders.

Conflicts over fresh water sources are likely to increase in the coming years, but political and scientific approaches are not sufficient to resolve them. Spirituality, ethics and a strong commitment to justice must be part of the solution, agreed the water experts gathered at the workshop.

"The survival of humanity and of all other species on earth depends on the fate of water. Where water is absent, life is absent," said Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Vatican academy.

He added: "There must be two approaches to the problem. Scientists must work to conserve, locate and even produce sources of fresh water. And the social sciences, including religions, must try to ensure justice in the distribution of water. Water must be available to everyone," the bishop said.

Water, which is "valued and respected in all religions and cultures", has become a "symbol of social equity", Bishop Sanchez said. The lack of water in many parts of the world is not a question of actual scarcity, but of the distribution. One of the biggest threats to equitable water rights is the trend toward privatisation, he said.

Professor Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-director of a Harvard Divinity School project studying ecology and the role of religions of the world, said that a religious approach to the environment is relatively new. "There's the realisation that scientific and political approaches are needed, but they are not sufficient. A spiritual and ethical approach is needed as well."

We in Malta should be particularly interested in such issues and discussions. But the really interesting thing is the holistic attitude adopted, which respects the multi-dimensionality of the human person.