“The passion of the earth is always the passion of Christ himself. When we’re gone, the earth will still be here. Whatever we do to Mother Nature always comes back to us.” Father Brando Recaña, C.P., pastor of St. Gabriel’s
In 2006 a new church was consecrated in Toronto, inspired by the cosmic vision of Thomas Berry, the teaching of Passionist Father Stephen Dunn, C.P and the work of architect Roberto Chiotti. St. Gabriel's was the first church in Canada to be certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or L.E.E.D., rating system. From its floor plan to its building materials to its parishioner programs, St. Gabriel’s has embodied a Catholic vision of ecology since its consecration in 2006, nearly a decade before Pope Francis published Laudato Si' in 2015. Read about the vision and reality of St. Gabriels here.
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Extractive industries are a major contributor to climate change, since they are responsible for extracting the natural resources whose consumption and extraction release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Even metallic mining such as silver and iron contribute to climate change given the energy needed to extract it, transportation to another country or region where it is processed and then sold.
The Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach has researched the connection between extractive industries and climate change and corruption. Read their reports here They Maryknoll Office of Global Concerns have just published their fourth article in a series on extractive industries. The series is designed to educate Catholic organizations about ways to participate in the fastest growing divestment campaign in human history - the fossil fuel divestment movement. Read the full series here Both these communities have worked closely with The Inter-religious Working Group on Extractive Industries, a Washington, D.C. based coalition of faith, human rights, and environmental organizations concerned about the negative impact of extractive industries on Creation which includes both the human and natural world. Learn more about their work here Finally, the Catholic Climate Covenant has been exploring various aspects of extractive industries. Explore their work here: Photo: Pixabay “From a spirit standpoint, folks are kind of beat-down and don’t feel like they can talk to their government or do anything about folks running over them...” Rev. Ronald C. Smith is the pastor of Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Union Springs, Alabama and is an instructor of forestry and natural resources at Tuskegee University. Smith and his family live near Stone’s Throw Landfill, one of the largest landfills in Alabama that has been expanded several times by taking land from black homeowners whose families have lived in nearby Tallassee for generations. Represented by Earthjustice, Smith and several other residents have filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its backlog; the community has had pending EPA complaints dating as far back as 1994. Motivated by his faith, Smith continues to fight for a clean and healthy environment for his community now and for generations to come. Learn more in this Center for American Progress article entitled “10 Faith Leaders to Watch in 2018” and in this Earthjustice article entitled “Righting Civil Wrongs.” After more than 15 months of planning and preparation, Sacred Heart Retreat and the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center have installed two of the largest urban wetlands in Louisville. Construction took place from August 28 – August 31, under the direction of nationally known wetlands designer Thomas Biebighauser. The wetlands, valued at $70,000, were installed at no charge because of a collaboration with the Sheltowee Environmental Education Coalition and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“Wetlands help to heal and preserve the integrity of creation,” said Kyle Kramer, the executive director of the Earth & Spirit Center. “They serve valuable ecological functions, like filtering storm water before it hits waterways, and they provide habitat for a greater diversity of plant and animal species. These wetlands will also serve educational purposes, as a living laboratory for local school students, universities, and Earth & Spirit Center program participants.” The wetlands are part of a larger effort to rehabilitate the 21-acre Passionist property in Louisville through invasive species removal, planting of native species and trees, hosting refugee gardeners from East Africa, installing pollinator gardens and rain gardens, building greenhouses, and many other projects. Click here for more photos Click here to read an article about the wetlands from the Louisville Archdiocesan newspaper. Passionist Fr. Thomas Berry, the cultural historian and early prophet of the current environmental crisis, encouraged artists and musicians throughout his lifetime (1914-2009) to tell the magnificent 13.8 billion-year history of the universe through music, poetry and dance. Berry wrote that we are direct ancestors of the stars and we humans collectively share a role as compassionate beings, to protect and to heal the earth. Creative artists, he argued, can bring us to this point of conversion quickest of all. One person who has heard this message clearly is Sam Guarnaccia, a composer, classical guitarist and environmentalist who debuted a major musical ritual based on an intimate look into the universe, in Cleveland on June 30. "Emergent Universe Oratorio," tells the story of the universe from the Big Bang to present day. Read more about it here. |
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