For the first time, St Vincent de Paul has included a commitment to caring for the environment as an integral part of its strategic plan for the next five years. Caring for the planet is an essential part of living the Gospel today, says John Kennedy-Good, leader of the Society’s social justice outreach. “Vincentians are Read more
Epitomizing the disconnect between scientific warnings and human action, global temperatures are now on track to rise by an unacceptable 3.2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels by 2030 while greenhouse gas emissions hit all-time highs. As the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP25 Read more
A company in Japan is taking conservation to extremes by providing the ability to even eat the plate the food is served on. That is a small Japanese confectionery company which offers edible takeaway containers and is working on an edible coffee cup. The cups and edible takeaway food trays are aimed at tapping into Read more
With the upcoming Amazon Synod, some people are only focused on whether it will recommend that the priesthood be opened to the ordination of married men, but there is a lot more at stake. True, the synod will discuss the possibility of ordaining married men because there is a shortage of priests to serve such Read more
“If we can get rid of enough people,” the El Paso terrorist wrote in his grotesque manifesto, “then our way of life can be more sustainable.” His bigoted rampage left little doubt who he meant by “we” and “our way of life.” The eco-fascism of the far-right couches its racist intent as concern for the Read more
It’s good, it’s wise and it sounds so nice: “Season of Creation” – a time for us to stop taking the wonderful God-given gift of creation for granted. A time to wake up and smell the flowers! The Season of Creation is an annual month long ecumenical celebration of prayer and action to protect creation. Read more
Thirty years ago, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople put September 1 on the Orthodox calendar as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Last month, Pope Francis did the same for the Catholic Church and on Sunday marked the occasion by issuing a new message on climate change. Moving beyond his 2015 encyclical Read more
An eco-option for excess churches could be to repurpose them for ecological uses. Small congregations could cluster together instead of being dispersed over a number of buildings, says Dr Kevin Hargaden of Dublin’s Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. “The buildings that don’t get used, I think can get repurposed. Again, that’s an opportunity for Read more
A study by the IFO think tank in Munich found that electric vehicles in Germany emit 11 – 28 percent more carbon dioxide than their diesel counterparts. The study considered the production of batteries as well as the German electricity mix in making this determination. Germany spent thousands of euros on electric car subsidies per Read more
In an effort to expand the Vatican’s green environmental stance, the city state has decided not to sell any single-use plastic items after its current supplies run out. Single-use plastic include bags, water bottles, cutlery, straws and balloons. The top five single-use plastic items polluting Europe are cigarette butts, bottles and caps, food packaging, cotton Read more