The Church and Pastoral Theology in Conflicts over Natural Resources: The Case Study of Juan Antonio López

Conflicts over natural resources reveal the inseparability of issues such as ecological degradation, structural injustice, human dignity, and peace. This article examines the Catholic Church’s pastoral role in such conflicts through the case study of Juan Antonio López, a Honduran lay Catholic leader, environmental defender, and Delegate of the Word who was killed in September 2024 after years of advocacy against extractive projects threatening local communities and water sources. Drawing on political ecology, development theory, biblical reflection, and Catholic Social Teaching, the article argues that conflicts over natural resources cannot be adequately addressed through legal, economic, or institutional frameworks alone. They also require moral, cultural, and pastoral responses capable of sustaining communities in their pursuit of justice and peace. First, the biblical narratives of disputes over wells in Genesis illuminate both the necessity and fragility of legal agreements when fear, domination, and unequal power shape access to life-sustaining resources. Then, in dialogue with the Church’s social magisterium, especially the tradition of integral human development, the article claims that the Church’s distinctive contribution lies in pastoral accompaniment: walking with vulnerable communities, defending the common good, encouraging the development of just societies by raising just individuals, denouncing structures of injustice, and finally witnessing to a just peace rooted in human dignity, fraternity, and care for creation.