From dominion to communion: Theology as an interlocutor towards planetary well-being

Key findings from this study

This research indicates that:

• Anthropocentric dominion theology proves inadequate for addressing the climate emergency, requiring shift toward kenotic communion with the community of life.
• COP30 advances adaptation finance and just transition mechanisms but fails to deliver fossil fuel phase-out, revealing gaps between policy instruments and ecological necessity.
• Degrowth and rewilding function as normative expressions of ecodomy when theology integrates subjective, cultural, behavioral, and systemic dimensions simultaneously.

Overview

This article develops an integral eco-theology by integrating COP30 outcomes from Belém and the Earth Charter+25 renewal into a theological framework addressing the climate emergency. The work synthesizes Pope Francis's integral ecology with Ken Wilber's AQAL framework to reconceive theology as holistic engagement across subjective, cultural, behavioral, and systemic dimensions. A dialectical approach rooted in diastasis sustains creative tension while enabling transversal dialogue. The framework evaluates contemporary climate policy and ethical developments, proposing degrowth and rewilding as normative expressions of ecodomy within Christian praxis.

Methods and approach

The author employs a synthetic theological method that integrates multiple frameworks and normative developments. Pope Francis's integral ecology is combined with Wilber's AQAL model to construct a multidimensional theological engagement with reality. Diastasis functions as the methodological principle for maintaining dialectical tension without collapsing differences between theological and secular discourses. The Belém Political Package and Earth Charter+25 serve as empirical reference points for theological evaluation. This approach positions theology as a public interlocutor capable of holding policy trajectories and ethical visions in productive tension.

Results

The framework exposes fundamental limits of anthropocentric dominion theology and establishes kenotic communion with the community of life as an alternative paradigm. The Belém Political Package demonstrates progress in adaptation finance architecture and just transition mechanisms but fails to achieve fossil fuel phase-out commitments. Earth Charter+25 establishes a renewed moral horizon centered on ecological integrity and intergenerational responsibility, though its normative force remains distinct from binding policy instruments.

The diastatic tension between COP30's policy trajectory and Earth Charter+25's ethical vision generates a publicly accountable theological framework for Christian environmental praxis. Within this framework, degrowth and rewilding emerge as normative expressions of ecodomy, representing practical instantiations of the shift from dominion to communion. The integration demonstrates that theology can function as substantive interlocutor in planetary well-being discourse without sacrificing theological specificity or public accessibility.

Implications

The framework provides Christian communities with conceptual architecture for engaging climate policy and ecological ethics without defaulting to either sectarian withdrawal or uncritical adoption of secular frameworks. By positioning diastasis as methodological principle, the work models how theological discourse can maintain internal coherence while participating in transversal public dialogue. The reconceptualization of theology across AQAL dimensions suggests that effective climate theology must operate simultaneously at subjective, cultural, behavioral, and systemic levels rather than privileging individual consciousness or institutional reform alone.

The identification of degrowth and rewilding as normative expressions of ecodomy connects abstract theological categories to concrete policy proposals and land management practices. This linkage suggests pathways for translating kenotic communion from theological concept into institutional and economic practice. The framework's public accountability criteria indicate that eco-theology must engage specific policy outcomes and ethical frameworks rather than general environmental sentiments. The work positions theology as discipline capable of evaluating both the technical adequacy of climate mechanisms and their alignment with ecological integrity and intergenerational justice.

Scope and limitations

This summary is based on the study abstract and available metadata. It does not include a full analysis of the complete paper, supplementary materials, or underlying datasets unless explicitly stated. Findings should be interpreted in the context of the original publication.