The word “ecology” was used for the first time one and a half century ago, in 1866, by the German naturalist Ernst Haeckel to refer to the exchanges of matter and energy between living beings and natural bodies of air, water and soil: an actual “economy of nature”. Ecology remained a chapter of biological studies for a long time until the 1950’s, when radioactive contamination following nuclear tests, toxic pesticides abuse, industrial poisoning and floods were recognized as ecological effects of human activities on nature. Many branches of the discipline have been developed since, such as industrial ecology, vegetal ecology, social ecology, but only an actual “human ecology” can describe the connection between human activities and nature. This paper examines the origin and development of “human ecology” as a branch of social studies. As such the discipline has been taught by the author for some decades at the Gregorian University of Rome. In fact, “human ecology” has found in the Catholic world its truest interpretation. An analysis of the use of the term “human ecology” in several papal encyclicals suggests the changes needed in human behaviour to ensure a “human future” in harmony with Nature.
