Launching The Cry of the Earth Archbishop Clifford said “We are all stewards of God’s creation.  As political leaders from around the globe meet in Copenhagen next month for the UN Framework Conference on Climate Change to decide on a new global climate change deal, the Bishops of Ireland wish to raise awareness of our vital responsibility toward sustaining the environment.  We need to protect the environment today and on behalf of future generations.  Our response needs to be at an individual, community and governmental level.

“The Cry of the Earth, with an accompanying DVD, has been sent to all parishes and is available on www.catholicbishops.ie.  It reflects on our Christian responsibility towards the environment and outlines the scientific analysis of climate change, the theological and ethical principles as to why we as Christians have a duty to respond, and practical advice as to how we can act now to sustain the environment.”

Archbishop Clifford continued “When the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, published his encyclical Caritas in Veritate in July he reminded us that the ‘environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole … The Church has a responsibility towards creation and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere." [see full speech below]

The Cry of the Earth is a resource for those who care for a better environment.  In it parishes are asked to establish groups to discuss various actions, such as:

    * conduct an environmental audit of your parish
    * increase our use of renewable energy, recycle more, waste less
    * raise awareness in the parish of our carbon footprint
    * show solidarity by supporting Trócaire’s Climate Change campaign
    * enrol in the Eco-Congregation Ireland environmental programme for Churches
    * include the theme of care for God’s creation in homilies, prayers of the faithful and examinations of conscience.

Columban missionary priest Father Seán McDonagh, a contributor to The Cry of the Earth, said at the launch “On 3 November last the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, addressed 200 religious leaders at a Celebration of Faiths and the Environment at Windsor, London.  He implored religious leaders to make their voice heard in the run up to the Copenhagen Conference in December.  He told them ‘you can inspire, you can provide, you can challenge your political leaders through your wisdom and through your followers.’

“The Cry of the Earth is an attempt by the Irish Bishops to respond to the challenge of climate change by drawing on the wisdom of contemporary science and our faith tradition which is rooted in the Bible and the witness of the Church down through the ages.  The Cry of the Earth marries science, good theology, prayer and action. It calls for an ‘ecological conversion’ from everyone, especially in the way we used fossil fuel.  This is a timely challenge one month before the Copenhagen Conference.”
 

For more information  go here

Over 80 –people, from all over Ireland, gathered in Dalgan Park,  Navan, County Meath  to remember the life and work of Fr. Thomas Berry who died on June 1,2009 at the age of 94. At least 10 of the participants had been at Thomas Berry’s lectures in Dalgan on November 1995.

Every month here in Dalgan we hold a small farmers market. The idea grew out of contacts made through Meath County Council, who were trying to promote the idea of locally produced food and to encourage local small scale  food producers.

The whole issue of food, how it is produced and how it is distributed, is a key moral concern of our time. Industrialised food production systems have raised concerns about food security, their contribution to global warming as well as their often destructive effect on local ecosystems.

On the other hand many people currently depend on these systems for their food supply and their  livlihoods, and if we are to move to a more sustainable future there needs to be a lively and engaged debate about the issues involved.

A recent article in the Tablet magazine called Faith on the Farm was one such contribution. You can read it here .

Mary Colwell has another interesting article on the contribution of religious traditions to the global  ecological crisis here