Archbishop calls for ‘ecological conversion’ to fight climate crisis

The immense challenges of the climate crisis cannot be left to governments to solve, the leader of the Irish Church has said.

 

Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin, calling for ecological conversion, said: “The challenge rests with each and all of us.” He said everyone is called to share both the burden of the climate crisis and the search for solutions in their personal lives at home, in their schools, and in parishes and communities.

 

In his homily to mark the beginning of this year’s Season of Creation, the archbishop noted that global efforts to tackle climate change will continue at Cop27 in Egypt in November and at the UN biodiversity conference Cop15 in Canada in December.

 

He said that God is calling everyone today “to be caring stewards of creation, to protect and nourish our planet and its resources, and not to selfishly waste them or ruthlessly and excessively exploit and destroy them”.  

 

The planet’s sickness and the destructive impact of climate change, he said, could be heard especially in the cry of the poor in those parts of the world most impacted by the effects of climate change, through droughts, extreme weather events, desertification, deforestation, flooding and fires.  

 

“We are also well aware of the threat to biodiversity and the loss of so many species of creature and plant,” he told the congregation at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh.  

 

Referring to the way the world’s resources are sometimes squandered or exploited out of greed and for narrow economic interests, the Primate of All Ireland warned of the threats to the great forests of the world and the displacement of indigenous peoples.

 

“This summer we have seen the devastation of forest fires, lost crops, homes and livelihoods destroyed, scorched earth, massive floods, and temperatures never before recorded. On top of this, war continues to disrupt the food chain, pollutes the atmosphere still further, and exacerbates the world’s huge dependence on fossil fuels like oil and gas,” he said.

 

Pope Francis’ call for ecological conversion, he said, can begin with people asking themselves how they might change their lifestyles.

  
“How can I use more respectfully the good things of this earth that God has given us? Can I make some personal sacrifices in answer to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor that is knocking out of tune the harmony of the great cosmic choir? Can I accept that less is sometimes more?”

 

The theme of this year’s Season of Creation is: “Listening to the Voice of Creation.”