From Stewardship to Sacrament: A Search for Theological Foundation for Ecological Responsibility in Catholic Healthcare Institutions

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore how the understanding of creation as a sacrament can promote ecological responsibility in the Catholic Healthcare institutions. To do justice to this research work, we adopted conceptual analysis as a research methodology with the aim of analysing some encyclicals, biblical texts, theological texts, and the works of some Christian ecologists. These resources will enable us to explore the stewardship model as a stepping stone towards developing the sacramental model of ecological responsibility. This study finds that while Catholic social teaching is rightly framed around the idea that human beings are stewards of creation, a more efficient framework is to see creation as a sacrament, an idea also backed by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. Drawing on Scripture, sacramental theology, Catholic social teaching, and healthcare ethics, this article proposed a theological foundation for ecological responsibility in healthcare that is both spiritually rooted and institutionally actionable. When creation is seen as a sacrament, it implies that creation is sacred and ought to be protected, since it bears the presence of God who created it. This study concludes that Catholic healthcare institutions will improve their health outcome if they move from the narrow stewardship model to a sacramental ecology, in which care for the environment is understood as integral to healing, worship, and moral praxis.