There are several items to highlight this month:
At last November’s Bishops’ Plenary Assembly in Leeds, the following resolution was passed: The Bishops’ Conference asks Dioceses of the Catholic Church in England and Wales to declare target dates for stated reduction of carbon emissions, or report on how close they are to having the information necessary to set such a target….The bishops will report on the progress of the diocese at the Easter season and November Plenary Assemblies in 2023.We all have a duty to help with the diocesan effort to decarbonise. What can we do?
Where does your parish or Diocesan building source its energy from? All parishes and Diocesan owned buildings can use the Interdiocesan Fuel Management Ltd (IFM) energy company. All the electricity used is from renewable resources, and a growing percentage of gas is from renewable or green sources too. Enquire at [email protected]
Does your building have space for solar panels? Check https://www.sheffieldrenewables.org.uk/for ideas.
Do you have a car park which could support an Electric Vehicle charging point?What about paper and cleaning products? Can your parish or diocesan building find environmentally protective products locally? Or through websites such as https://www.ethicalsuperstore.com ?
Enquiring about Diocesan use of paper, for example, I received the following reply: The Diocese does not recommend a particular supplier.
However, the Catholic Church has a purchasing marketplace arrangement that covers various products, including suppliers for paper etc. https://www.churchmarketplace.org.uk/ Prices should be competitive due to bulk buying power.
At the Pastoral Centre, we mainly purchase our paper through ‘Church market place’ and this would be recycled paper. Occasionally non-recycled is requested and we get this from a local supplier. Whatever power or lack of it we feel we have to influence parish purchasing decisions, we can all help by constantly referring back to Live SImply principles, – living moderately for the good of all humanity and its earthly home.
Prayer: Please join in prayer for the gathering around Parliament ‘The Big One’ over the weekend of April 21st – 24th. Read full article our website
This will be a peaceful gathering of many concerned groups. Particularly relevant to those of faith is the service at St. John’s Waterloo on Friday April 21st. See Green Christian https://greenchristian.org.uk/the-big-one/ and Cafod page https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/no-faith-in-fossil-fuels-service-and-pilgrimage-to-parliament-tickets-547860203617 for details.
Preparing for Laudato Si’ Week 2023.
Laudato Si’ Week is a celebration held every May to commemorate the anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’” on the care of our common home. It is organized by the Laudato Si’ Movement and sponsored by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development.
The week comes to an end on Pentecost Sunday when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives. Could we mark it in our prayers and liturgies?
