Table of Contents
Threats to the diocese as an ecosystem
Introduction
Last week’s post examined centralisation and the feeding of the 5,000 in the context of Christ-centred economics. Today’s post examines the Church as an ecosystem, with particular reference to a diocese.
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms interacting with each other and with their physical environment, connected through energy flow and nutrient cycles. It includes biotic (plants, animals, microbes) and abiotic (soil, water, climate) components working together as a system.
Ecosystem is associated with biology, so the inevitable question is: What is ‘ecosystem’ doing in the Church? My response is that I adopt a new existentialist (distinct from existentialism) approach to theology, which critically appropriates elements from the physical sciences, social sciences, technology, arts, humanities, law, and culture to expound Catholic doctrine in terms appreciable to contemporary society. Hence, one thinks of the Church as an ecosystem because it highlights the interconnectedness of people, structures, and functions within it, just as in nature.
Caveat
One states from the outset that the entire Church is a living organism, for it is the mystical body of Christ (Mystici Corporis Christi, 1). The Second Vatican Council teaches that the Church “structured with hierarchical organs and the Mystical Body of Christ are not to be considered as two realities, nor are the visible assembly and the spiritual community, nor the earthly Church and the Church enriched with heavenly things; rather they form one complex reality which coalesces from a divine and a human element.” (Lumen Gentium, 8).
Hence, this post is merely an intellectual attempt to explain the Church using a metaphor of a natural ecosystem. The post avoids placing Christ himself within the components, thereby limiting his divinity and contradicting Catholic ecclesiology, which sees the entire Church as the body of Christ.
The diocese as an ecosystem
This post analyses the Church as an ecosystem by using the diocese, which “constitutes a particular church in which the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of Christ is truly present and operative” (Can. 369). There are several components of an ecosystem: habitat, biotic (living) components, abiotic (non-living) components, energy flow, and nutrient cycles.
The habitat
The habitat is the natural home or environment of a living organism. In the context of the Church, a habitat is the cultural setting in which a diocese exists. Habitats are important because they influence the behaviour of organisms. Every diocese exists within a cultural environment: tradition, language, and social realities. This environment determines the behaviour of the faithful, the threats to the diocesan ecosystem, and forms of adaptation through innovation. For instance, the theme of the inculturation of the Gospel is topical in Nigeria, unlike in most Western countries.
Biotic and abiotic components
Biotic factors are the living components of an ecosystem, such as plants, animals, and microorganisms. The living members of the Church comprise the Christian faithful. Through their communion and collaboration, they form ecclesial communities and institutions such as parishes, schools, seminaries, hospitals, and charitable organisations.
The Christian faithful are those who, through baptism, have been constituted as the people of God (Lumen Gentium, 9; Can. 204). The faithful are divided into clergy and laity, and from the clergy and laity are members who, through profession of evangelical counsels or other sacred bonds, are consecrated to God (Can. 207).
Each group has a different role in the system. Clerics are responsible for sacramental life and the pastoral care of the faithful, while the laity, by virtue of their baptism, are collaborators with the clergy (Apostolicam Actuositatem, 10) and are co-responsible in helping the Church achieve its mission (Benedict XVI, Message To the Sixth Ordinary Assembly of the International Forum of Catholic Action, 10 August 2012). Through consecrated life, the faithful manifest the Church’s communion and holiness, serving as a prophetic sign of the Kingdom of heaven (Vita Consacrata, 3; Fraternal Life In Community, 10). These living organisms play indispensable roles in ensuring spiritual nourishment, guidance, and service. They bring vitality, sustain the ecosystem, and adapt to changing conditions.
The diocesan bishop holds a special place in the diocese because he has “all ordinary, proper, and immediate power which is required for the exercise of his pastoral function” (Can. 381 §1). He is to ensure unity within the diocese, promote doctrinal integrity, and guarantee pastoral direction. The diocesan bishop “is the moderator of the entire ministry of the word” in the diocese (Can. 756 §2), the principal dispenser of the mysteries of God, and the director, promoter and guardian of the entire liturgical life in his diocese (Can. 835 §1). Therefore, within the diocesan ecosystem, the bishop serves as the principal coordinator and visible centre of ecclesial unity, ensuring that the various elements of diocesan life remain ordered toward the Church’s mission.
Abiotic factors are non-living elements that define the environment and support life, such as water, sunlight, soil, and atmosphere. In the context of a diocese, abiotic factors include laws, and temporal goods include buildings, finances, laws, and other infrastructure.
The energy flow
The energy flow in an ecosystem refers to the transfer of energy within the ecosystem, originating from the sun and passing through producers and consumers.
The ultimate source of energy in the ecclesial ecosystem is Christ himself, who communicates divine life through the Word and Sacraments.
The sacraments are “efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” (CCC, 1131). Just as energy flows through food chains, the sacraments are the spiritual energy that sustains and renews the diocesan ecosystem.
God reveals himself through the word (Dei Verbum, 2). In the scriptures, “the Father who is in heaven meets His children with great love and speaks with them; and the force and power in the word of God is so great that it stands as the support and energy of the Church, the strength of faith for her sons, the food of the soul, the pure and everlasting source of spiritual life” (Dei Verbum, 21; cf. Heb. 4:12, Acts 20:32, 1 Thess. 2:13).
As Pope Francis affirms, “sacred Scripture and the sacraments are thus inseparable” because the “regular reading of sacred Scripture and the celebration of the Eucharist make it possible for us to see ourselves as part of one another” (Aperuit Illis, 8). Moreover, the Holy Spirit is the divine agent who animates the ecosystem, distributes gifts, and enables adaptation and growth.
The nutrient cycle
The nutrient cycle describes the continuous movement and exchange of organic and inorganic matter back into the production of living matter within an ecosystem. In the Church, several factors support the faithful: the sacraments, spiritual gifts, catechesis, the Church’s temporal goods, and charitable acts. They circulate like nutrients, keeping the ecosystem healthy.
Just as the law of nature governs the biological ecosystem, so too does canon law govern the Church, with the purpose of promoting order and stability, which are necessary for carrying out the Church’s mission of promoting the salvation of souls.
The purpose of an ecosystem is to maintain life and ecological balance by facilitating energy flow, nutrient cycling, and biological interactions between living organisms and their environment. In the same way, balance in the Church concerns how the various members of the Church, bound together by baptism, and the various institutions and functions in the Church, regulated by law, work together towards the whole to promote the salvation of souls.
Threats to the diocese as an ecosystem
The balance in every ecosystem can be vulnerable to climatic changes and human threats from pollution and disruption, threatening the whole. In the same way, dioceses become unhealthy due to clericalism, abuse of power, and internal conflicts that undermine interdependence and collaboration; scarcity of funds to run the institution; poor catechesis, which undermines intellectual apprehension of the Catholic faith; and inadequate engagement of the youth.
Another threat to the diocese is offence, which manifests in two dimensions: sin and delict. Sin has a social dimension in the Church because it could form the basis for committing a delict that affects the entire system. This highlights the necessity for the spirituality of canon law, which focuses on how the law can support the Christian journey toward holiness. In light of this, the purpose of penal law is to safeguard and promote the common good and that of each of Christ’s faithful, wherein penalties are applied with canonical equity and having in mind the restoration of justice, the reform of the offender, and the repair of scandal (Can. 1311 §2).
As every ecosystem grows and adapts to climatic changes and human threats to its existence, so also do dioceses grow and adapt to situations that undermine the Church’s mission within that locality. The threats in Nigerian dioceses include secularisation, disinterest in Christianity and return to traditional religion, rural-urban migration, scarcity of resources, youth unemployment and underemployment. Dioceses are adapting by intensifying catechesis, digital evangelisation, collaboration, and the co-responsibility of the laity in ecclesiastical governance; by introducing new special ministries, skills-acquisition programs, investments, and diversification of income sources; by undertaking charitable actions; by promoting social justice; and by inculturation.
Conclusion
In sum, just as an ecosystem thrives on the balance between its parts, a diocese functions through the synergy of the faithful, the various institutions and groups in the Church, and the Church’s activities.
May God continue to help us🙏🏾
K’ọdị🙋🏾♂️
