This suffering is inevitable. There is another kind that belongs to the constitution of creation itself, which can be controlled. In the latter case, man is asked not to cause it without good reason and to stop it wherever possible. This duty applies to every individual and to others with whom the individual is in contact. Jesus' preaching and the apostolic writings are full of instructions of this kind.
Christian thought goes in a very different direction.
Its centre is Christ and, in him, man. Strangely, it is precisely because of this dignity attributed to man that certain ecologists accuse Christianity of not considering the natural environment except as a context for human activity. Animals in particular seem to be reduced to the category of provisions. Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. Before attempting to answer these questions, we should immediately note that the following sentence from the Catechism , which provoked violent protests to the point that the Catholic position was accused of supporting vivisection, was altered between the first edition and the official, typical edition.