“The ecology tagline: The system debate is not over." With this statement Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, coined the two-day conference "Integral Ecology in the Digital Age" at the Munich University of Philosophy. A striving for progress, which defines prosperity only through material prosperity, endangers the cohesion of many societies and the future of the entire planet. Concepts such as capitalism or socialism were no longer helpful and, according to Marx, belonged "in the archives of history" - a new idea of progress was necessary for this, in which not only ecology but also human "culture, identity, one's own self-confidence and the dignity of the human being" had a special significance.

But what could such an idea of progress look like? In order to pursue this question, the Pontifical Foundation "Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice", the the Hochschule für Philosophie and the network "European Liberal Education Alliance" invited top-class representatives from science, business, politics and society to an intensive exchange of ideas.

Father Bernd Hagenkord SJ, former head of the German department of Radio Vatican, who now accompanies the synodal path of the German Bishops' Conference, provided important impulses: according to Hagenkord, this process is also an example of the application of the encyclical Laudato Si'. "Conversion" is a key term of Pope Francis' doctrine: "Conversion" as refusal of ecclesiastical, social or economic fantasies of omnipotence - but also a refusal of a leisurely continuation-so! The basic prerequisite for this is an open and appreciative dialogue: "and one cannot dispose of a dialogue, one has to get involved with it". This was also underlined by the education expert Barbara Schellhammer, recently the first professor at the Hochschule für Philosophie and head of the Centre for Global Issues, and Sascha Spoun, President of Leuphana University Lüneburg.  The refusal of many populists to engage in discourse is particularly dangerous, as they do not address individual concrete mistakes, for example in climate protection measures, but declare their discussion partner a liar: "They want to destroy social discourse because they do not master it". But education is not only an "acquisition of knowledge and abilities", it also means an equally active "leaving behind and letting go" of prejudices and half-truths, added Friedrich Bechina, who as Undersecretary of the Education Congregation is jointly responsible for more than 220,000 Catholic schools worldwide.

The host of the event, University President Johannes Wallacher, underlined that an appropriate CO2 tax, which was demanded by numerous participants, was a central element of such framework conditions and made it clear: the pricing of carbon dioxide was not a tax, but a necessary compensation, which makes the damage potential of climate gases visible where they arise

To ensure that the important idea of an integral ecology does not become a "non-binding broadband concept", as the social ethicist Markus Vogt warned, the interdisciplinary and social discourse is of enormous importance, a special guest from the Vatican underlined: Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the "Dicastery for the Holistic Development of Man" created by Pope Francis. Peter Cardinal Turkson was born the son of a simple miner in a mining settlement in Ghana. Now he is conducting talks in the Vatican with oil companies and mining companies in order to involve them in the necessary dialogue - because everyone is called upon to turn back and to support the necessary socio-ecological change. 

Stefan Einsiedel (Center for Global Issues, Environment / Postal Growth Project)