Stratford Caldecott: A great light in the West

“Christianity gives us no excuse to plunder the planet—but it does perhaps help to explain the reasons why we do. The doctrine of Original Sin describes the beginning of the process. Death, suffering and disorder were the results of a deliberate sin, in which we are all implicated—not just the eating of an apple, but the conscious decision to destroy an order of nature established by God. From the effects of this, the world can only be liberated by Jesus Christ, in whom all things ‘hold together.’ (Col 1:17)” Stratford Caldecott, Christian Ecology, 1996.


News of the passing of Stratford Caldecott has darkened the world, especially for those of us who seek to champion, communicate, and celebrate the Catholic view of ecology.

I did not know Stratford. Those who did have more to say than I—and there is much to say. One could spend days reading the tributes and analyses of his life and works, such as here in Patheos, the National Catholic Register, Catholic News Agency, and in many other publications.

But allow me, a simple blogger, to acknowledge Stratford’s life and death and his ongoing presence, which he has bequeathed to us in his writings.

As seen in the quote above, from 1996—the year my dad died, while I was still some variation of an agnostic/pagan/atheist/ex-Catholic—Stratford Caldecott has for some time been setting aright all things Catholic ecology. He provided a firm foundation on which many of us now seek to make some small contribution. (I remember the delight when I first realized that my blog made the list of those "Worth Reading" in the Economy Project blog. And I am more than a little taken aback when I realized that he contributed so often to The Catholic World Report, a publication that I now contribute to on issues of ecology.)

It's no wonder that Stratford's essays on nature resonate with me. He did brilliantly what I also strive to do: maintain ecology within Catholic orthodoxy—that is, within the doings of sin and salvation, within the framework of revelation, tradition, and of our relationship with the God that is love.

It would do us well, then, to keep the words of this great mind always at the ready—especially now, as our world continues to be consumed and choked by sin.

Of course, we will always have his many blogs and essays and books and interviews. We also have a new book, The Beauty of God's House: Essays in Honor of Stratford Caldecott (Cascade Books, 2014), to help us reflect and carry on Stratford’s work. The book includes reflections on the wide range of interests that he relished. Thus there is a chapter on ecology, written by Stratford’s dear friend Mary Taylor.

In corresponding with Mary this morning, she expressed to me her grief with the eloquence of her own gifted voice.

“I am quite bereft,” she wrote. “It seems to me a great light has gone from the earth; he was like the greatest of Elves in Tolkien, and he has gone into the west.”

Yes, this great man has succumbed to earthly cancer and has been taken from us. But his voice lives on. Because (as he noted above about the natural world) it is Christ, not our mortal doings, that in the end “hold together” all things. Evil and corruption may win the day, but they cannot win eternity.

Stratford wrote in his 1999 essay Towards the Second Spring, "We should not be disheartened by the profusion of tares among the wheat: that is of the nature of spring. The important thing is that seeds long hidden are bursting with life."

Stratford Caldecott planted many seeds. Now let the rest of us nurture them.

May God bless this excellent servant of the good, and may his soul, and those of all the faithfully departed, rest in the light of Christ.

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About the Blog

Catholic Ecology posts my regular column in the Rhode Island Catholic, as well as scientific and theological commentary about the latest eco-news, both within and outside of the Catholic Church. What is contained herein is but one person's attempt to teach and defend the Church's teachings - ecological and otherwise. As such, I offer all contents of this blog for approval of the bishops of the Church. It is my hope that nothing herein will lead anyone astray from truth.