Ecology meeting focuses on care for Creation

Pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace was the theme of Pope Benedict's journey to Assisi last week in the company of leaders from all the world's major religious communities. Among the commitments made at the end of that meeting was a pledge to work for justice and peace among all of God's people and with all of His creation. The responsibility of all people to be more proactive in caring for creation is at the heart of this week's meeting in Assisi organised by the Alliance of Conservation and Religions. It's celebrating a quarter of a century of partnership between religions and environmental groups and launching a new Green Pilgrimage Network with 11 cities or sacred sites leading the way in reducing their carbon footprint in accordance with their own spiritual and religious traditions.
“We need each other. Science needs the ability of faith to change lives and faith needs the knowledge of science to understand the nature of the challenges facing our planet”. That was how Princess Michael of Kent, well known as one of the few Catholic members of the British royal family, introduced the work of this three day meeting. Significantly the inaugural ceremony, including music, poetry and dance from many different faith traditions, took place on the eve of All Saints Day, with the lighting of candles to symbolise the way faith can banish darkness, bringing light and hope to even the most difficult and challenging situations.
In the 25 years since this multi-ethnic mix of spiritual and secular experts first met in Assisi to launch this project, much progress has taken place. With the end of the Soviet era, many more faith leaders, for example Buddhist monks from Mongolia or Orthodox bishops from Armenia have been able to join the alliance, while at this meeting Taoists from China were able to showcase their green pilgrimage partnership with local government authorities. In countries as diverse as India or Israel, Nigeria or Norway, religious leaders listed ways they are working with government officials to recycle rubbish, plant trees, tackle the plague of plastic bags and bottles, promote public transport and use alternative energy sources for lighting and heating places of prayer and worship.
Yet at the same time, delegates noted there has been a rise in fundamentalist agendas on both the religious and secular fronts, providing new challenges to this ambitious partnership. While the faiths are encouraged to be proud of their own religious traditions, are they still humble enough to listen to what others have to say. Are the environmental experts more interested in management models of eco-sustainability than in promoting a better more respectful relationship between people and our planet. Or as one long time green campaigner put it, we need to think about the direction in which we are travelling as pilgrims -- from an era of ever rising consumer expectations to an era of greater solidarity and sustainability – a theme that can of course also be traced through the social encyclicals of the Popes over this past century.
Since the days of Noah and his ark, protecting humanity and the rich biodiversity of the natural world from rising tides, a recurrent image at this meeting, the environment has been under threat, yet statistics now show that our current models of consumption and levels of pollution are putting an intolerable strain on our ability to support an ever growing population. That's why there is an ever greater need for all the world's faith communities to tap into their ancient spiritual traditions and bring that wisdom to bear on the lives of present and future generations. Firm in the belief that in humbly bowing down towards the earth, we are in fact stretching up towards the heavens. Or as St Francis of Assisi taught us, by rejoicing in the splendour of brother sun and sister moon, we are in fact praising the Lord of all creation. Listen