CSDC 486

Serious ecological problems call for an effective change of mentality leading to the adoption of new lifestyles,¹⁰¹² Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 36: AAS 83AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 83 (1991) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1991), 838-840. “in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of the common good are the factors that determine consumer choices, savings and investments”.¹⁰¹³ John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 36: AAS 83AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 83 (1991) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1991), 839. These lifestyles should be inspired by sobriety, temperance, and self-discipline at both the individual and social levels. There is a need to break with the logic of mere consumption and promote forms of agricultural and industrial production that respect the order of creation and satisfy the basic human needs of all. These attitudes, sustained by a renewed awareness of the interdependence of all the inhabitants of the earth, will contribute to eliminating the numerous causes of ecological disasters as well as guaranteeing the ability to respond quickly when such disasters strike peoples and territories.¹⁰¹⁴ Cf. John Paul II, Address to the UN Center, Nairobi, Kenya (18 August 1985), 5: AAS 78AAS — Acta Apostolicae Sedis (official gazette of the Holy See)Volume 78 (1986) at vatican.va — scanned PDF (1986), 92. The ecological question must not be faced solely because of the frightening prospects that environmental destruction represents; rather it must above all become a strong motivation for an authentic solidarity of worldwide dimensions.