Principle of Stewardship

Stewardship requires us to appreciate the two great gifts that a wise and loving God has given: the earth, with all its natural resources, and our own human nature, with its biological, psychological, social and spiritual capacities. This principle is grounded in the presupposition that God has absolute Dominion over creation, and that, insofar as human beings are made in God’s image and likeness (Imago Dei), we have been given a limited dominion over creation and are responsible for its care. The principle requires that the gifts of human life and its natural environment be used with profound respect for their intrinsic ends. The gift of human creativity especially should be used to cultivate nature and the environment, recognizing the limitations of our actual knowledge and the risks of destroying these gifts. Accordingly, simply because something can be done does not necessarily mean that it should be done (the fallacy of the technological imperative). As applied to Catholic-sponsored health care, the principle of stewardship includes but is not reducible to concern for scarce resources (see Ethical and Religious Directives, n. 6); rather, it also implies a responsibility to see that the mission of Catholic health care is carried out as a ministry with its particular commitment to human dignity and the common good.

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