AQUA FONS VITAE - ORIENTATION ON WATER

Water is the only substance on earth that occurs naturally in solid, liquid and gas forms. Without it there would be no life on our planet. It is also a powerful spiritual symbol associated with the cleansing and purification of the body and the spirit. 

For Christians, baptism by water – itself a symbol of God’s grace – signifies spiritual rebirth.

Aqua fons vitae. Orientations on Water, symbol of the cry of the poor and the cry of the Earth.  

This is the title of a new Vatican document rooted in the Social Magisterium of the Popes, and inspired by work carried out by national and local Churches in different countries.

The document distinguishes three aspects or dimensions relating to water:

1) water for human use;

2) water as a resource used in many human activities, in particular agriculture and industry;

3) water as a surface, namely rivers, underground aquifers, lakes and especially oceans and seas. 

For each aspect, the text presents the related challenges and operational proposals to increase awareness of the issue and commitment at local level. 

The final part of the document proposes a reflection on education and integrity.

In a press release on Monday, the Dicastery also announced that a strategy is being defined to address the situation regarding water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). This will apply to health care facilities belonging to the Catholic Church. 

The press release notes that in poor and developing countries too many sanitation facilities do not have adequate access to water for the most basic needs of cleanliness and hygiene. This places billions of people at risk.

Without clean water, sinks, soaps, toilets and hygiene procedures patients, care staff and families lack the foundation or infrastructure for decent, safe, quality care.

“Births, surgery, infections, epidemics: none of these can be managed safely without water, and the situation is particularly alarming in these weeks marked by the COVID-19 pandemic,” reads the communiqué.

 

 " .... 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 heavilyimpacts ‘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, theplanet and the human community. .... 

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