Listen to the voice of creation
Thursday September 1, 2022
Dear JPIC promotor in the Chevalier Family and all good people,
Yes, no doubt the world is on fire. Several parts of the world are once more struggling with extreme weather conditions, intense heath wave in much of the northern hemisphere (1000 people killed in Spain and Portugal, 5 million people left without water in Monterry – Mexico …; flooding in California …).
The International Climate Panel is warning us constantly that this is going to happen more often and many people become aware that this is not a fairy tale but more and more a bloody tangible reality.
Last July 21, Pope Francis published his message for the World Day of Prayer for the Season of Creation celebrated on September 1. This ecumenical period unites Christians to pray and take action for our common home.
The 4 key points of his message:
° A time to cultivate our ecological conversion. This is a concept used by S. John Paul II as a response to the ‘ecological catastrophe’ announced by S. Paul VI as early as 1970. This conversion is not simply individual but also a community conversion
° Sweet song and bitter cry
Listening to creation, Francis mentions that there is a “kind of dissonance”: “On one hand, we an hear a sweet song in praise of our beloved Creator; on the other, an anguished plea, lamenting our mistreatment of this our common home”.
We are reaching a breaking point and we must act now.
° A warning message ahead the COPs
Ahead COP27 on climate (Egypt, November 2022) and COP15 on biodiversity (Canada, December 2022). It is important to promote the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement (recently ratified by the Holy See).
° Four key principles for biodiversity
When this message was released at a press conference the Pope asked ‘in the name of God’ that large extractive corporations “stop destroying forests, wetlands and mountains, stop polluting rivers and seas, stop poisoning people and food”
This year the theme is : Listen to the voice of creation.
The burning bush is the symbol reminding us that God’s Spirit calls us to listen to the voice of creation. On the link below you find the booklet available to help you in preparing the celebration this year. Please share it with your membership. Send them materials in your language.
>> 2022-Celebration-Guide-Final-English
>>You can know more about it on https://seasonofcreation.org (in several languages)
Some good news:
By the end of July in the USA Faith groups responded to the historic, and for many unexpected, a milestone of a breakthrough on climate legislation — the largest investment ever by the country in addressing climate change and the first significant legislative package on climate change in three decades — with a mixture of joy, shock and cautious optimism after years of prayer and advocacy.
“We’re delighted and heartened by this surprising movement,” said Jose Aguto, executive director of Catholic Climate Covenant. He called the bill “a huge win” that represents the significant congressional action on climate that environmental groups have sought for years. The $433 billion bill has a new name, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
Some bad news :
Methane is a greenhouse gas that is almost 30 times more potent than CO2. That is why researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Space Research SRON are looking for large methane leaks around the world. A garbage dump in Buenos Aires appears to emit tens of tons of methane per hour, comparable to the climate impact of one and a half million cars. Methane provides the largest share of the man-made greenhouse effect after CO2, causing about a quarter of the warming. This is due to its high Global Warming Potential (GWP-100): by weight, methane is almost 30 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than Methane released during oil extraction is flared at an installation in North Dakota, USA. ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE Never before has so much methane in the atmosphere as it is now, and never before has the rise been so rapid. SRON researchers have now used satellite data to find 4 garbage dumps in Argentina, India, and Pakistan that emit several or even tens of tons of methane per hour. Thus, work in progress!
I wish you and your communities enthusiasm and determination to do something. Tell us what you did these last months since we joined the Laudato Si Action Platform in December 2021.
André Claessens, JPIC – MSC Roma
