A group of Christian pilgrims have set off from Bonn in Germany on a 1,000 kilometre journey to Poland where they will take part in the 2018 world climate conference in December.
The pilgrims, who came from a range of Christian denominations, took part in a worship service in Bonn’s Lukaskirche before departing on the ‘Ecumenical Pilgrimage for Climate Justice’.
Among those offering a blessing as they departed, Manfred Rekowski, representing the Roman Catholic Church Pastoral Office, told them it was “time to leave the use of fossil fuels behind”. “Our world’s climate is massively threatened.”
The pilgrims’ journey will visit “stations of pain and hope” along their journey to the Polish city of Katowice. The first milestone will be the town of Heimerzheim after which they will pass by the brown coal mining area around Hambach, worshipping at Hambacher Forst at the end of the first week.
The route will also take in Wuppertal, Hannover, Braunschweig, Leipzig, Dresden, Cottbus, Postdam and Berlin.
The 24th Conference of Parties (COP24) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will take place in Katowice from 3rd to 14th December.
