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Nearly three years after the publication of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical letter on the care for our common home, the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development promoted an international conference to reaffirm a sense of deep urgency and profound concern for the precarious state of our common planetary home.
With participation from the World Council of Churches (WCC), the conference intended to assess the impact of Laudato Si’ and envisage the journey ahead. It unfolded following the “See-Judge-Act” trajectory of the encyclical, in line with the integral ecological approach adopted by Pope Francis, who looks at the ecological crisis from a holistic perspective.
For Rev. Henrik Grape, as senior advisor on Care for Creation, Sustainability, and Climate Justice and coordinator of the WCC Working Group on Climate Change, this conference is a great step forward in the ecumenical work on climate justice.
“The ecumenical momentum on climate change is really encouraging to take new steps forward together,” says Rev. Grape. “There is a sense of deep and honest conviction that faith-based actors really can do a lot together to change and transform our societies to save the Earth.”
Grape, one of the speakers during the closing session of the conference, spoke on ethical investments in an era of climate change.
The event gave special attention to testimonies of individuals and communities who are the victims of the crisis in basic areas such as food security, health and migration, and with special reference among others to children, women, indigenous communities, minorities, and small island states. It also reflected on the criteria to understand and respond in an integral way to the climate crisis.
Learn more about the WCC's work on Care for Creation and Climate Justice
