"You cannot work
for Justice and Peace and not be concerned about the environment"
according to Columban missionary priest and eco-theologian Sean McDonagh.
Speaking at the 27th annual gathering of the National Justice and Peace
Network of England and Wales in Derbyshire last weekend, he told 350
participants that "Climate Change is the biggest issue facing agriculture
over the next 50 years" and pointed out that ten million people
currently need food aid in Southern African because of drought-related
crop failure. He pointed out international concerns that melting glaciers
on the Himalayas will affect the melt waters of The Ganges, Bramaputra, Mekong and Yangtse rivers and that one third
of humanity depend on these rivers for their food production. "Poverty
will never be history if climate change is ignored" he said, welcoming
the fact that CAFOD, CIIR and Columban Faith and Justice all members
of the Make Poverty History Campaign - are all members of a new Working
Group on Climate Change and Development involving the main development
and environment agencies in Britain.
The
Irish priest, who worked in the Philippines for more than 20 years, also urged listeners to join
him in lobbying the Vatican not to endorse genetically modified seeds as a solution
to world hunger. He reminded conference participants that the late Pope,
John Paul ll, called for Catholics to undergo
an "ecological conversion" and so promote right relationships
in the social and ecological sphere to ensure that all members of the
Earth community enjoy the habitat and resources which they need to flourish.
The neo-liberal model for economic development came under particular
criticism. "Today the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), the policeman for the Western capitalist system, are imposing
conditions of repayment on the Two Thirds world, through Structural
Adjustment Programmes," he said, "which
are leading to starvation, illiteracy, political and social breakdown
and irreversible destruction to important ecosystems like the rainforests".
The
role of the Catholic Church in promoting sustainable development and
responding to environmental challenges was the focus of the conference
8-10 July organised by the Catholic Diocese
of Nottingham and attended by its bishop Malcolm McMahon. Participants also
heard CIIR partner Fr Andres Tamayo, a priest and environmentalist from Honduras, urge them not to buy rainforest products in
the UK and lobby the UK government to reduce carbon emissions. He has
led thousands of people on two weeklong marches to the Honduran capital,
drawing national and international attention to the problems caused
by unregulated logging. These marches have been supported by Cardinal
Oscar Roderiguez of Honduras. Fernando Mudai and JoJi Carino, both from indigenous
communities in the Philippines, outlined the negative environmental impacts of large-scale
mining in their country. "When the western mining companies came,
our water supplies became contaminated with mining waste and our forests,
the source of our livelihoods, estroyed"
complained Mudai, a Subanon
tribal. He was particularly critical that the mineral being mined is
gold, a luxury commodity. Mulima Kufekisa
Akapelwa, Head of Justice and Peace in Zambia and a CAFOD partner, urged western donors to support
Zambia's traditional crops and hold out against the imposition
of GM seeds on poor Zambian farmers.
"Creating
a Climate of Justice", a new campaign video on Climate Change produced
by Christian Ecology Link, was launched at the gathering, the first
NJPN conference to be devoted to environmental concerns. Edward and
Barbara Echlin of Christian Ecology Link suggested many ideas for promoting
sustainable lifestyles in the UK, including using the car less and conserving water.
The National Justice and Peace
Network comprises Justice and Peace representatives from the 22 Catholic
dioceses of England and Wales plus mainly Catholic agencies, missionary
groups and Bishops' Conference committees involved with issues of Justice
and Peace.
© Independent
Catholic News 2005
LONDON - 12 July 2005
