Nearly 40 Laudato Si’ animators from 15 dioceses in England and Wales and two in Scotland have written to Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy since 6 September, challenging his public support for fossil fuels. This is despite UK government commitments on emissions reductions at the Cop26 UN climate conference in Glasgow last November.
In their letter they appeal to him as a Catholic, pointing out that his policies are “short-sighted” and at odds with Church Social Teaching. “We felt that such a strong Catholic as yourself would help to promote Catholic Social Teaching on environmental responsibility,” they said, quoting from the 2015 environment encyclical Laudato Si’.
“To us, it seems clear that the Pope is calling for an immediate end to fossil fuel extraction, as a means not only of saving the planet but also of providing for the needs of poor people,” they say. “It is with great disappointment that we read about your determination to press for more oil and gas extraction from the North Sea, and about your meeting with oil and gas companies in a bid to boost North Sea supplies.” The animators’ group called for “immediate action to end fossil fuel extraction and use, and to develop clean energy”.
They point out in the letter that on 14 September 2019, Pope Francis told oil and gas executives whom he met at the Vatican: “The climate crisis requires our decisive action, here and now.” He indicated that switching to clean energy “is a duty that we owe towards millions of our brothers and sisters around the world, poorer countries and generations yet to come”.
The 39 signatories to the letter are members of the Laudato Si’ Animators UK group of people who have graduated from the Catholic Laudato Si' Movement’s Animators’ Course, which educates and enables participants to inspire action locally on the environmental crisis. They included John Woodhouse of Westminster Archdiocese, Bob Turner of Salford Diocese and Virginia Bell of Northampton Diocese. If interested in becoming a Laudato Si’ animator, visit here.
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