CSDC 461

The biblical message and the Church's Magisterium represent the essential reference points for evaluating the problems found in the relationship between man and the environment.⁹⁶⁹ Cf. Paul VI, Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens, 21: AAS 63AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 63 (1971) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1971), 416-417. The underlying cause of these problems can be seen in man's pretension of exercising unconditional dominion over things, heedless of any moral considerations which, on the contrary, must distinguish all human activity. The tendency towards an “ill-considered” ⁹⁷⁰ Paul VI, Apostolic Letter Octogesimo Adveniens, 21: AAS 63AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 63 (1971) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1971), 417. exploitation of the resources of creation is the result of a long historical and cultural process. “The modern era has witnessed man's growing capacity for transformative intervention. The aspect of the conquest and exploitation of resources has become predominant and invasive, and today it has even reached the point of threatening the environment's hospitable aspect: the environment as ‘resource' risks threatening the environment as ‘home'. Because of the powerful means of transformation offered by technological civilization, it sometimes seems that the balance between man and the environment has reached a critical point”.⁹⁷¹ John Paul II, Address to participants in a convention on “The Environment and Health“ (24 March 1997), 2: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, 9 April 1997, p. 2.