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Australian Catholic bishops call for a more sustainable church

Sydney, Australia

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has committed to working towards a more sustainable church in its annual statement promoting social justice.

In the ‘Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor’ statement released this month, the bishops have committed to a seven-year “journey towards seven ‘Laudato Si’ Goals” – a reference to Pope Francis’s May 2015 encyclical, calling for global action to remedy inequality among the poor, mitigate the devastating consequences of climate change and adopt measures to care for and share the world’s resources along Biblical principles.

Cry of the Earth Cry of the Poor

Cover of the ‘Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor’ statement

“The Pope’s Laudato Si’ recognises that the contradiction between economic growth and the Earth’s ecological balance cannot be considered progress because too often people’s quality of life actually diminishes – by the deterioration of the environment, the low quality of food or the depletion of resources – in the midst of economic growth”, said Bishop Vincent Long, chair of the Bishops Commission for Social Justice, Mission and Service.

“Sustainability practices need to serve the environment as well as the disadvantaged, vulnerable and excluded members of our global society, including future generations.”

The call comes at the same time as the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a grim “code red” warning that Earth is 10 years from heating by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s subsequent refusal to commit to a target of net zero emissions by 2050.

“We are facing an ecological crisis and Pope Francis wants the whole church globally to act with a greater sense of urgency,” Bishop Long said.

“In Australia, passionate individuals, religious institutes, schools and organisations have been working on ecological issues for a long time. I want to affirm and thank them all, and to urge the whole Catholic community to join them.”

He called on those groups to join the bishops in signing up to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform to adopt greater use of clean renewable energy, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, protect biodiversity and Indigenous cultures, increase access to clean water and focus attention on vulnerable groups.

Among other principles worth considering were reduced consumerism and an end to GDP being the gauge by which success is measured, sharing with neighbours and financial and practical support for organisations in developing nations, as well as people volunteering or joining environmental protection groups.

“These and other simple principles a certainly worth consideration and can be important parts of a larger journey towards sustainability,” Bishop Long said.
“At the same time, individual changes of behaviour and lifestyle need to be embedded in institutional and societal change.”

Catholic Earthcare was one example of how ‘creation care’ was working in the wider church through Caritas Australia, which offers programs for Catholic schools and parishes to become more sustainable and care for creation.

“Some schools and parishes across Australia, including in the Diocese of Parramatta, have been part of a trialling phase. They have installed solar panels, opened a community garden, or started a bush care project,” Bishop Long said.

Australia Bishop Vincent Long

Bishop Vincent Long, chair of the Bishops Commission for Social Justice, Mission and Service. PICTURE: Giovanni Portelli/ACBC/Supplied.

“A full program roll-out is yet to happen and will support more schools and parishes in their endeavours to care for creation.”

But the wider Australian population also needed to listen and learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who understood and had been caring for Country “from time immemorial”.

“The new Social Justice Statement clearly states: ‘When it comes to human knowledge of the lands and waters now known as Australia, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are our first teachers. We need to learn how to listen more attentively to them’.”

Bishop Long said Australia’s First Nations people see the land and country in terms of a sacred relationship of interdependence and reciprocity within the diverse webs of life.

“Now is the time for us to learn from our Indigenous wisdom of giving back to the land what it needs for regeneration, instead of endless extraction.”

The church will commit to a seven-year plan to gather ideas for action from around the globe, something Bishop Long says may appear to be a long time.

“However, the task before us is huge and change cannot be achieved overnight. Seven years have an important symbolic meaning for Christians [Biblical concept of sabbatical rest and jubilee] but also present a middle way between urgency and feasibility,” he said.

“The Laudato Si’ Action Platform, which Pope Francis launched in May, 2021, can unite the global Catholic community around care for creation and sustainability.

“Many of our Catholic dioceses, parishes and organisations in Australia will not have to start from scratch. They have already cared for creation and worked towards becoming more sustainable, over years.”

 

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