Aqua fons Vitae
Original document published by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
I. INITIAL MEDITATION
The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development proposes the following meditation1 as the starting point of these orientations. ***
1. O God, who by invisible power accomplish a wondrous effect through sacramental signs and who in many ways have prepared water, your creation, to show forth the grace of baptism and to be a source of life, when you pronounced your words at the creation “Let the water teem with living creatures” (Gn. 1:20), may you help us, human beings, to reject indifference and to recover an awareness of our common origin, of our mutual belonging.
Laudato si’ (Praise be to you) our Creator God!
2. At the very dawn of creation your Spirit hovered over the waters, so that the very substance of water would take to itself the power to sanctify. Even by the flood you foreshadowed regeneration and the baptism so that, today as then, water marks the end of sin, and the beginning of new life. Of this gift of creation you made a sign of your goodness: through the waters of the Red Sea you freed your people from slavery; the flood was an invitation to repentance and to conversion; in the desert you brought forth a spring to quench the thirst of your people; with the image of living water the prophets foreshadowed the new covenant that you wanted to give humanity. In the fullness of time, your Son, baptized by John in the water of the River Jordan, was consecrated by the Holy Spirit. Even today, for us Christians, water represents an essential element of purification and of life, and we think immediately of Baptism, the sacrament of our rebirth in Christ. By means of the water made holy by the Spirit you give us life and renew us; it is the blessed source of undying life. Jesus, in the course of his mission, promised a water capable of quenching human thirst for ever (cf. Jn. 4:14) and prophesied “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink” (Jn. 7:37). To drink from Jesus means to encounter him personally in prayer and contemplation as the Lord, drawing from his words the meaning of life. Therefore, from an eschatological point of view, contemplation also leads us to the “river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Ap. 22:1). May the words he spoke from the cross – “I thirst” (Jn. 19:28) – echo constantly in our hearts. O God, may you bring forth in all hearts the water of eternal life.
3. Through water (let us think of rivers, groundwater, rain and seas) you invite us to reflect on our origins. In considering the fundamental role of water in creation and in human development, we feel the need to thank You with Francis of Assisi for “sister water”, simple and useful for life like nothing else on our planet. The great waters and all that they contain (cf. Jn. 1:20-21; Sal. 146:6; Sal. 104:6) speak the language of boundlessness, of your infinite power (cf. Sir. 39: 17) and wisdom, of the expanse that unites 1 Meditation inspired by the blessing of the baptismal water and the liturgy of Holy Saturday, from the Message of Pope Francis for the Day of prayer for the care of Creation on 1 September 2018, from the Catechesis on Divine Providence of 7 May 1986 and from the Homily of Saint John Paul II given during the celebration of the Word with the people of the sea in Gdynia on 11 June 1987. 3 the destinies of all the continents. May we ponder the immense open seas and their incessant movement, since it also represents an opportunity to turn our thoughts to you, who constantly accompany your creation, guiding its course and sustaining its existence and calling us to responsible solidarity with the whole creation and with each other, through the generations. When “nature-based solutions” are envisaged, may we be reminded that you are the Creator of nature and understand the wisdom of the biblical accounts2 .
4. The Lord continues to ask that his thirst be quenched; he thirsts for love. He asks us to give him to drink in all those who thirst in our own day, and to say through them, “I was thirsty and you gave me to drink” (Mt. 25: 35). May we understand that the way we respect and share water is an indicator of how we are carrying out the mission you have entrusted us with, in Genesis, of taking care of the earthly garden.
Laudato si’ our Creator God!
II. PRESENTATION AND PURPOSE OF THE DOCUMENT
5. The document Aqua fons vitae is rooted in the teaching of the Popes and inspired by the reflections and experiences of members of national and local Churches, over centuries. Many dioceses, congregations, Caritas organizations, Justice and Peace Commissions, associations of lay people, catholic schools and universities are very actively committed to the promotion of human dignity and the realization of an authentic integral development, particularly in poor and deprived areas, even where Catholics are a minority. In view of the challenges raised by the crisis of the COVID-19, and in the light of the magisterial teaching about the interconnectedness of everything3 , be it ecological, economic, political and social, we are called to consider all the elements which contribute to elaborating a new paradigm for a new development model. The consideration of water, in this sense, clearly appears to be one of the elements that heavily impacts ‘integral’ and ‘human’ development.
6. The common good promoted and pursued by the Church is not some particular national agenda, but “the sum total of the social conditions which allow people, either groups or individuals, to reach their fulfilment more fully and more easily”4 . These conditions undoubtedly include “a safe environment”5 , access to healthcare, sanitation as well as access to potable water. Therefore, these conditions also imply a management of water so as to ensure universal and sustainable access to it, for the future of life, the planet and the human community.
7. To ensure the availability of water to all, as a primary good, demands personal and common gestures of respect and charity, concrete choices and policies which contribute to promoting and to realizing the right to life. Taking care of springs, water basins and seas is an urgent imperative. However, it is not enough to take care of these, simply to avoid fines or to appear eco-friendly. It is of ultimate importance to respect the intrinsic value of water, in every context. The wells, according to the Bible, have been created so that the deep and invisible groundwater can be shared among all, men and women, inhabitants and foreigners (Cf. Gn. 24: 10-22; Gn. 29: 1-10; Jn. 4: 7; Ex. 2: 15-17). Thus, water appears as an effective way of uniting the human family; and wells contribute to the realization of the principle of the universal destination of the created goods, water being such a created and common good.
8. Today, more than ever, we need to look beyond immediate concerns and beyond purely utilitarian views of reality. According to this utilitarian approach, efficiency and productivity are geared to the selfserving profit of small interest groups. The human dignity of so many people is disregarded, since they do not seem to be a primary concern for policies, infrastructures and investments. We urgently need longterm shared projects, supported by valid ethical references, a healthy anthropology, and genuine motivations. Water management can find a strong inspiration in the Catholic Social Teaching, especially, in papal contributions about human dignity, solidarity, justice, universal destination of goods, subsidiarity, common good, integral ecology and integral human development, and the priority of option for the poor.
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