This year will be a challenging one for people of faith working on behalf of the planet. Along with increasingly urgent efforts to ease the pain of the climate crisis, 2020 will include some important milestones:
• It will be the 50th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22.
• The fifth anniversary of Pope Francis completing his encyclical, Laudato Si, Caring for our Common Home, on May 24.
• The UN Climate Change Conference COP26 takes place from November 9 to 19, 2020.
In the Scottish Bishops’ address to the faithful for the 2019 general election, they called upon MPs to “commit the nation to responsible stewardship of the earth and all of its resources, and act on Pope Francis’ call to be ‘protectors of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment’."
I wonder how the Bishops will bear witness to this moral issue and demonstrate their responsible stewardship in line with their expectations in the election address?
COP26 will be the biggest conference ever staged in Scotland, welcoming participants from all over the world as they come together to address climate change. It is an ideal opportunity for Church leaders in Scotland to show by actions their commitment to Laudato Si.
Catholic organisations throughout the world, including SCIAF and Justice and Peace Scotland, are among those leading the charge to make the tough but fundamentally moral decisions about fossil fuel use and climate change. Perhaps the Scottish Bishops could take the lead from the Bishops in Ireland in committing to Global Divestment, bearing witness to the values of Laudato Si and clearly demonstrating responsible stewardship.
Each diocese could follow a programme of ‘Transition to a Sustainable Future’. This could acknowledge the diocese’ carbon footprint, land use and ecology, and could incorporate a sustainability policy to ensure that all materials purchased come from a recyclable or sustainable source. This could be extended to all suppliers and contractors to ensure all timbers are accredited and do not come from illegal foresting. The life cycle of all materials purchased should also be considered before purchasing.
At the heart of transition should be Laudato Si, encouraging and promoting best practice in parishes. All parishes could have a Laudato Si circle, actively promoting the many excellent initiatives and resources, such as SCIAF’s ‘Caring for our common home’ and the Catholic Social Justice’s ‘Promoting Care for Creation’.
Parishes could also become Eco-congregations and Fair Trade parishes, as well as subscribing to Living Simply, the Global Catholic Climate Movement, and the Carbon Trust.
The Scottish Bishops called for MPs to commit to responsible stewardship. Their own challenge is to demonstrate their engagement in this urgent moral crisis of climate change. I hope they will inspire us both by courage and conviction to realise God’s dream of a just world in which humanity is reconciled to all of creation. It would be their gift to the faithful for the anniversary of Laudato Si and the world when nations gather in Glasgow in November.