Article from Church Times
Photo credit: CAFOD
THIS cry from the Prophet Amos, almost 3000 years ago, still needs to be spoken in our world today. During the Season of Creation, will we heed this call to join the river of justice and peace, to pursue climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most impacted by climate change and the loss of biodiversity?
This season offers an opportunity to pray and respond together to the cry of creation, as Christians around the world unite to listen and care for our common home. The season began on 1 September, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends on 4 October, the feast of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology. The theme this year is “Let justice and peace flow”.
Just as tributaries come together to form a mighty river, every person, family or Christian community can be part of this great movement.
This is also the season for celebrating Harvest Festival in many churches. As we give thanks for God’s gift of the fruit of the earth, so this can be a time to renew our commitment to caring for the earth.
The ill-health of our common home is all too apparent in our daily news bulletins. This year has seen weeks of record-breaking heat, coinciding with deadly storms. July was the hottest month ever recorded, with the global average temperature reaching 16.95°C, some 0.33°C higher than the previous record set in 2019.
The weeks-long heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures fuelled deadly wildfires. At least 115 people died in Hawaii owing to wildfires in August. Other countries were simultaneously deluged with rain. Health officials sounded alarms from North America to Europe and Asia. New data is showing that the Arctic ice-sheet is thinning twice as fast as previously thought. We continue to see fewer insects.
More than three billion people worldwide now live in places that are vulnerable to climate breakdown. As things get worse, there will be more human misery, compounded by violence, war, and migration.
“The extreme weather which has affected many millions of people in July is unfortunately the harsh reality of climate change and a foretaste of the future,” the World Meteorological Organization secretary-general, Professor Petteri Taalas, said. “Action on climate change is no longer a luxury but a must.”
The Pope added his voice at the end of his Angelus message to crowds in St Peter’s Square, in July, saying: “Please, I renew my appeal to world leaders to do something more concrete to limit polluting emissions. It is an urgent challenge, it cannot be postponed, it concerns everyone. Let us protect our common home.”
The need to act is urgent, but not too late. Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a “final warning” on the climate crisis in a report earlier this year. We can act to limit carbon emissions, but we must do it now.