The recent conversation that the Reconciliation with Creation group in the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific organised is an attempt to propose and adapt a practical guide on what ministries on the ground can do.
Discerning the Magis: Sharing a Framework to Assist Ministries in Responding to Laudato sí shared the Laudato sí Action Plan Framework of the Jesuit ministries in the Australian Province. While the task of ecological conversion may easily overwhelm us, this framework shows us a way forward by organising better our ministries for this purpose.
Ecological conversion is front and centre of the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus, and poverty and ecological justice are likewise central thrusts of the JCAP apostolic plan.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released on 9 August the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6 Climate Change 2021:The Physical Science Basis), which is yet again another clarion call for all of us to do something to curb carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions.
We have seen so many red flags on climate change and global warming since four decades ago. We get excited each time warning signs are given, but the resolve is not matched with collective and effective action. Even with all the red flags we have been seeing, we don’t seem to learn any lesson, and we continue to live our lives as usual.
Recently, we saw the red flags in the flooding in China, Germany, the US, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, and so on. We also witnessed wildfires in Australia, California, Greece, Turkey, and in many other places. The pandemic is also a red flag for us.
The world system is just so fragile and flawed, and our common home is heading to a major and irreversible disaster. Unless we imagine another world and find new ways of living, new ways of caring for our common home, now, and not later, I’m afraid there won’t be any more red flags to see because there won’t be any more future to behold.
Succeeding generations will condemn us for not doing enough.
The 26 August 2021 JCAP-RwC webinar can be viewed here.
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