Following their spring general meeting Catholic bishops' said they were asking parishes across Ireland to give over almost a third of their grounds to nature, a process sometimes called 'rewilding'.

Environmental issues have been firmly on the Church's agenda since Pope Francis published his encyclical Laudato Si', with its subtitle 'on care for our common home', in 2015.

The Irish Church has a Laudato Si' working group and there are numerous initiatives being undertaken at diocesan and parish level across the country.

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It made the comments in its submission to the Finance and Expenditure Committee about the Budget Policy Statement 2022.

Inequality has increased during the Covid crisis and both short-term and long-term measures are required to deal with this, Caritas said.

Listening to local and most-affected communities would help, Caritas suggests. This way the Government will be better informed to tackle ongoing crises.

Its submission spells out five specific concerns for the Government to consider.

Housing

Unaffordable, unavailable housing is an issue numerous support agencies are anxious about.

The cost of living is scarily high. Rental prices have surged yet again to an average of $575 a week. That's an increase of 7 per cent on last year. If you're living in Porirua, you'll be spending an average of $670 a week.

"The rent increases are huge and it's having a real impact on whanau, their ability to provide the necessities," says Porirua's Salvation Army Nicki Dutton.

"Lots of people are staying with friends or staying in cars, a lot of overcrowding. I've heard recently of a family of 13, extended whanau in a three-bedroom house."

Caritas says access to a wide range of safe, affordable and healthy homes remains one of New Zealand's most pressing social issues. It's a concern that is affecting people across the country.

It would like to see a broader approach to accommodation being taken: including it "in the objectives relating to physical and mental wellbeing, and the just transition."

Environmental support

Caritas says increased climate funding to address the climate emergency needs to be accountable to taxpayers and communities most in need.

"Assessment of impact needs to be based on criteria relevant to local communities," says Caritas.

"We support directing proceeds from the Emissions Trading Scheme to the new Climate Emergency Response Fund (CERF), and look forward to seeing clear directives, funding criteria for projects and evaluation of impact towards New Zealand's climate response."

Health and COVID-related funding

Caritas submitted that the government needs to prioritise appropriate funding and relevant data for Maori, Pasifika, the elderly, people with disabilities and those with underlying health conditions.

The health system's overhaul needs to take sufficient account of subsidiarity - that decisions be made at the most appropriate level to ensure responsiveness and accountability to local communities.

Technology

Caritas welcomes new technologies and greater digital connectivity to provide jobs and more sustainable ways of working.

Technology and the economy must serve the common good of humanity, the Agency cautioned. "Nothing can replace face to face encounters and the need for genuine human connection and interaction."

It recommends an "integrated approach to providing services" to allow "full participation in ways appropriate to different people."

Te Ao Maori

"We support inclusion of Te Ao Maori perspectives with the Living Standards Framework as applicable to the wellbeing of all ... and which also supports a long-term intergenerational approach to wellbeing," Caritas wrote.

Source

• NewsHub
• Supplied: Caritas Submission on Budget Policy Statement 2022

"Soon we will start collaborating with automobile manufacturers who are able to provide electrical vehicles for evaluation," said Roberto Mignucci, director of workshops and equipment for the office governing Vatican City State.

He told L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Nov. 10 that an electric fleet was perfect since the average annual mileage for each of their many service and support vehicles is less than 4,000 miles (6,000 km) given the small size of the 109-acre city state and the close proximity of its extraterritorial properties, such as the papal villa and farm at Castel Gandolfo, 13 miles south of Rome.

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It is the largest Catholic religious order in the UK so far to join the global divestment movement.

The fossil fuel divestment is just part of an in-depth examination of the orders investments which is also focusing on issues such as carbon footprint and human rights violations.

"Climate change is the most pressing challenge the world faces as climate disasters wreak more and more destruction, hitting poorer countries the hardest - despite them having done the least to cause them," says Damian Howard SJ, the Provincial Superior of the British Jesuits.

"The decision to divest is principally a response to the clear moral imperative of acting to safeguard our planet for future generations at a time when scientific evidence is mounting that we are facing a grave climate emergency.

"What happens to the climate and the environment will have implications for us all."

"That's why we need to act together to protect the conditions for human life. I am glad that the Jesuits can contribute to that joint effort."

"All our institutions need to respond to this ecological crisis and take bold action to reduce energy use and switch to renewable sources. Large-scale investors should be doing everything possible to help avert the severe consequences that could result if adequate measures are not taken."

Corporate failure to respond quickly to the threat of climate change is behind the Jesuit's decision to divest itself from its fossil fuel portfolio.

The Jesuits, which has 400 million pounds invested with three money managers to finance its work, said it is more than halfway through the process of selling out of its holdings in oil majors BP, Shell (L:RDSa) and Total (PA:TOTF).

"Our trustees took the decision to completely divest from oil, gas and coal-producing companies because they felt these companies were not making enough progress towards better solutions," said Stephen Power.

Power is a Brother in the Society of Jesus, which manages the group's ethical investing strategy.

The Jesuits had considered outright divestment for a decade, but until now had opted only to restrict investment in companies with large holdings in thermal coal or those using Canadian tar sands.

With diversified energy companies BP and Shell, the Jesuits have been focusing on encouraging the companies to follow a "greener and more future-focused policy".

"However, the severity of the climate emergency has made it crystal clear that action is needed more than words if climate action is to be effective," Power

The order's main equity investment managers are AXA Framlington Investment Management, CCLA and Cazenove Capital Management.

Source

• Investing
• Independent Catholic News
• The Tablet
• Image: Britannica