Healing a Broken World - Society of Jesus

Healing a Broken World
disasters, as well as an increased effort regarding ecological awareness and
ethical and theological reflection.
28] While Brazil, India, South Africa and China are emerging as new and
influential economic powers, wealth tends to be concentrated with a small
percentage of the population. From an ecological point of view, this is
reflected in the low per-capita access to critical resources such as water and
energy. The facades of megacities mask the hundreds of millions of people
who encounter the same social difficulties. These social problems may be
summarized as follows:
Continuing pressure on natural resources because of human population
growth.
Advancing environmental degradation caused by inappropriate
agricultural production systems and unsustainable exploitation of
natural resources.
Huge differences in income between the poor and the rich.
Lack of access to basic services i.e. education, health services, etc.
Rapid urbanization associated with an increasing number of urban poor
and homeless families.
Growing consumerism within an economic paradigm that does not pay
the ecological costs.
Corporate interests often over-riding public interests to influence
national environmental policies.
Escalation of inter-religious and inter-ethnic conflicts, often driven by the
socio-economic context.
29] The global financial and economical crisis has made evident the inner
relationship between environmental degradation, the consequences of the
new shift in the geo-political order, and the cultural conflicts confronting the
world. A lasting solution to this complex crisis would require us to take into
account all those three aspects.
30] Out of these global trends comes the concern for the early recovery of
communities from the experience of disturbances and disasters, a recovery
that is a critical part of the response to poverty alleviation and
environmental sustainability. Communities need to be resilient and able to
spring back, quickly re-establishing the daily routine. Properly designed
enterprises can create economic, social, and environmental resilience to
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