Glasgow, Oct 28, 2021: As the various faith Caminos and relays to Conference of Parties (COP) 26 converge on Glasgow this coming weekend they will be joined by official faith delegations. Prominent among them will be the Catholic lobby.
Pope Francis may not be going but he is likely to send a video message. His presence will be very influential, as it was at the Paris COP21 six years ago, just months after Laudato Si’ provided the agenda for action on Climate Justice. It linked “the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor” and gave us the term “integral ecology” to connect the climate crisis with other concerns over biodiversity, water, and our “throwaway culture.”
Its call for “ecological conversion” was not new, but it gained a fresh prominence as a part of the mission of the Church. Pope Francis inspired humanity to save ourselves from ourselves, start valuing the whole interconnected web of life on Earth, and avoid catastrophic climate change.
The Vatican delegation to the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow will be headed by its secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, an indication of the importance the Church attaches to the summit. Other members are likely to include staff of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which has been preparing the Laudato Si Action Platform for the whole Church, to launch immediately after the summit.
Also, Alistair Dutton, chief executive of Caritas Scotland’s Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (Sciaf), which is a key local organizer and aims “to make sure that the voices of the Global South are heard clearly and are taken seriously”. The head of Cafod, Christine Allen, will be there too, along with a team highlighting the impact of the climate crisis on poor communities in the global south.
Members of the delegation will be actively engaged in the so-called blue zone, which is the UN-managed space hosting the official negotiations with delegations from observer organizations and more than 190 government “parties” who signed the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change. They will also be contributing to side events in the green zone, managed by the UK government for the public to visit or watch online in order to promote dialogue, awareness and active commitments.
The Catholic bishops of Scotland and England and Wales will be well represented, particularly by Bishop William Nolan, the Bishop of Galloway and President of the National Justice & Peace Commission of Scotland, and Bishop John Arnold of Salford, episcopal lead on the environment for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and Chairman of CAFOD’s Board of Trustees. An invitation-only COP Mass, organized by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, will be celebrated on Sunday 7 November at St Aloysius Jesuit Parish.
Churches throughout Glasgow and further afield are also hosting events and offering hospitality. Many Catholic groups are coming together for ’24 Hours for the Climate’, a global live streamed vigil in a Glasgow parish 5-6 November for people of faith to pray and advocate for the success of COP26. There will be a focus on hearing from communities suffering from climate change, praying, and writing messages that will be delivered to COP26 negotiators.
Among the organizers are the Missionary Society of St Columban, Justice and Peace Scotland, Cafod, Sciaf, Pax Christi International, Jesuit Missions, Don Bosco Green Alliance and Religious of the Assumption. Live events in the parish will include Mass at 9am on the Saturday morning. The vigil will conclude with a setting off for the climate march in Glasgow for the international Day of Action on Climate on Saturday 6 November. Cafod is organizing a similar march in London the same day, but events will also be held in many UK cities and globally.
Ecumenical events in Glasgow include Green Christian and Eco-Congregation Scotland running daily talks and prayers, the Glasgow Quaker meeting house offering a program of activities and an ecumenical service at Glasgow Cathedral. All the Churches are celebrating their huge contribution towards divestment from fossil fuels, largely organized by Operation Noah, which just a few days ago announced the latest 72 faith institutions on six continents to promise divestment.
A ‘Prayer for the COP26 Climate Talks’ has been sent to every parish in England and Wales for use during the summit, produced by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and . The ‘Healthy Planet, Healthy People’ Petition to world leaders meeting at COP has been promoted by many Catholic groups internationally, particularly the Laudato Si Movement.
All hope to see bold new promises to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions from the nearly 200 nations present and delivery on pledges already made at Paris in 2015 to give US$100 billion in aid annually to countries at the front line of climate disasters. And this is the first COP to give serious attention to nature-based solutions, which the Catholic development agencies support.
Source: https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/43340