As commercial deep-sea mining is increasingly being considered in parts of the Pacific, the region’s bishops have called for prudence.
“Until there is convincing evidence that such activity can be undertaken without causing serious or irreversible harm, prudence calls us to exercise great caution.”
The Episcopal Conference of the Pacific (CEPAC) expressed this in a pastoral statement issued on August 10 on deep-sea mining, signed by the Conference’s President, Archbishop Ryan Jimenez of Agaña, Guam, who also serves as President of the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO).
In the letter, the bishops stated, “We respectfully encourage all who bear responsibility for decisions concerning deep-sea mining to proceed with wisdom, transparency, humility, and genuine concern for the common good.”
For generations, they noted, humanity has extracted the mineral resources of the earth to sustain economic development, often without fully considering the long-term consequences for our common home…
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Source: Vatican News