Church leaders from across the world unite against climate change

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

*Perilous Times and The One World Church/Religion*

From The Times
December 4, 2009
*
Church leaders from across the world unite against climate change*

Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent


Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Rowan Williams

Church leaders across the world have united in advocating the “moral
imperative” for effective action to counter global warming in Copenhagen.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams will preach in
Westminster tomorrow at a service led by 16 senior churchmen from
throughout the UK. More than 3,000 worshippers are being bused in from
around the country for the service, to be followed by a “stop climate
chaos” march with as many as 10,000 protesters.

The demonstration, when the Houses of Parliament will be surrounded in
what has been styled the “wave”, is expected to be the largest yet in
Britain on the issue of climate change.

Dr Williams told The Times: “This is a very important moment for us all
in trying to keep everyone’s eyes open to the serious environmental
challenges we face. The world’s leaders need to hear from the world’s
people about their desire for a safe, sustainable environment in which
God’s care for all he has made is honoured by us. This weekend’s events
should send a clear message of urgency and hope to the Copenhagen summit.”

The Roman Catholic leader Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster,
said: “Politicians today need public support if they are ever to achieve
right and lasting change. Today I hope we can make clear our readiness
to live simpler lives, to be more attentive to the needs of the poorest
people, to be responsive to the needs of our planet. Unless it is clear
that we are prepared to change, political leaders will not be able to
reach the agreements which are now needed.”

The Church of England has launched an Advent Calendar themed around the
Copenhagen talks and celebrating God’s creation.

Churches of all denominations have also joined in publishing new prayers
designed to advocate “bold and legally binding agreements at the
Copenhagen summit”. Westminster Catholic Cathedral and York Minster are
among the churches in Britain that will be ringing their bells at 3pm
local time on December 13 to coincide with the Copenhagen summit.

Stephen Cottrell, the Bishop of Reading, said: “Would you deliberately
tread on your grandchildren’s hands? Or lock them in a room and deprive
them of water? Or leave them standing alone in the heat of the day?
Well, that’s what we’re doing if we fail to find a sustainable way of
inhabiting this planet. We won’t suffer, but the generations who come
after us will. These talks in Copenhagen offer the world the chance of a
better future. That is why they matter”.

Ecumenical Patriarch Batholomew I of Constantinople, spiritual leader of
the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians, also entered the debate. He
said: “Reaching a substantial consensus at the international
negotiations in Copenhagen is a moral imperative for the preservation of
God’s creation. It is also a fundamental step in achieving economic and
social sustainability. Taking urgent action against climate change
should not be perceived as a financial burden, but as a critical
opportunity for the benefit of all humanity and for the sake of a
healthier planet.

“We fervently pray for the best possible international agreement during
the UN Conference on Climate Change, so that all industrialised
countries may undertake a generous commitment to reduce polluting
greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2020 and provide crucial
financial support to developing nations.”

The Catholic bishop Abune Tesfaselassie Medhin of Adigrat in Ethiopia
said: “It is time for the developed countries to stand up for the
poorest who are feeling the impacts of climate change first and worst.
Developing countries are owed investment to help cope with climate
change and to help put environmental sustainability at the heart of
their economies. In a just and binding agreement at Copenhagen the
industrialised nations can put themselves on a path of right
relationship with Creation before it is too late.”

Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: “Care for our world, it is the only one we
have.”

Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, primate of the Episcopal Church of the
US and a former scientist, said: “My first vocation was as an
oceanographer. That led me to understand that no life form can be
studied in isolation from its surroundings or from other organisms. All
living things are deeply interconnected, and all life depends on the
life of others.

“God creates all people and all things to live in relationship with one
another and the world around them. The crisis of climate change presents
an unprecedented challenge to the goodness, interconnectedness, and
sanctity of the world God created and loves. The faith community has a
sacred responsibility to stand on the side of truth, the truth of
science as well as the truth of God’s unquenchable love for the world
and all its inhabitants.”