The future of life on earth hangs in the balance, Archbishop Dermot Farrell of Dublin has warned as he appealed to people to sign the Healthy Planet – Healthy People petition which is seeking agreement at Cop26 that climate warming should be limited to 1.5 degrees.
The petition, which has been endorsed by the Holy See, also seeks protection and support for those most affected by the climate crisis.
Speaking about his new 64-page pastoral letter on the climate crisis, The Cry of the Earth, the Cry of the Poor, Archbishop Farrell said humans are “unequivocally” driving global warming.
“It is beyond doubt that climate change is being caused by what we have done – and continue to do – in upsetting nature’s equilibrium and balance,” he underlined.
In a statement on Monday, the Irish church leader said lifestyles, and the economies which support them, are contributing significantly to climate change and to crises such as the many wildfires raging around the world, the melting of the polar caps, the rise of sea levels, the loss of biodiversity, and the depletion of the soil on which life depends.
The Covid-19 pandemic, he said, had brought home “in frightening and tragic ways” the fragility of our lives, and how fleeting many of the networks on which we have come to depend are.
“Our planet and its social organisation are as fragile as they are complex. What we need to realise is that, over the coming decades, the issues currently arising from climate change will impact far more on us than those from the coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, the havoc of the pandemic will pale when compared to that of climate change,” he said.
Speaking about his pastoral letter, Archbishop Farrell said it approaches the climate catastrophe from the perspective of faith but does not exclude the insights and contribution of the natural sciences.
“On the contrary, healthy faith takes on board what God says through creation. Faith and science are not opponents; in a truly Christian view, faith and reason go hand in hand. God reveals himself through the world. That is the heart of our Catholic faith.”
Noting that scientists have issued a code red not just for the environment, but for humanity itself, Archbishop Farrell said: “God now calls us, individually and collectively, to work for the good of the planet and the good of all. Let us not fool ourselves: there can be no enduring response to the cry of the earth without responding to the need for justice and dignity.”
He appealed to people, if not for their own sake, then for the sake of their children, and for the world’s children, to dedicate some time to the issues raised in the pages of the pastoral letter.
The title of the pastoral letter is drawn from the encyclical Laudato Si’ in which Pope Francis appeals to people to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. He suggests that social justice and the well-being of the planet are two sides of the same coin. “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.”
Brazilian liberation theologian, Leonardo Boff, deeply influenced catholic eco theology and environmental ethics, through his book, Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor which was published in English in 1997.
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