climate change Archives - Page 11 of 13

Young climate bloggers: Hal, Leah and Emer talk about the election and the upcoming climate change lobby

May 16, 2015

Our amazing young climate bloggers were busy during April, raising awareness of our climate change campaign and also raising funds for our Lent and Nepal appeals. Before the General Election, they took action themselves and encouraged all of us to do so by talking to our parliamentary candidates. As Hal from All Saints said before the election:

Hal, young climate blogger from All Saints

“Now that a General Election is coming up it’s the best time to ask your local candidates what they are going to do about climate change if they become MPs, so don’t miss out on this chance. You might think climate change is not as big an issue as the economy or immigration in this election but CAFOD are campaigning about it for a reason which is that it’s the single biggest threat to reducing poverty. We are a global family so we should make it our duty to help those in need or affected by climate change.”

Leah and Emer from St Erconwalds decided to do just that, and they contacted their local MPs. Here’s what they had to say:

“Emer and I have decided to write letters to all of our local MPs about climate change. This isn’t hard

Leah and Emer learning about how to blog — Leah and Emer on blogging residential

to do, because on the CAFOD website they have a page which can show you all of your local MPs and send an email (which is prewritten for you) to them when you enter your postcode and first line of your address. You could easily send it as an email, but we chose to write letters as we felt it was a more prominent way of getting our message across.”

Be inspired by what some of the other young climate bloggers have been up to.

Continue reading “Young climate bloggers: Hal, Leah and Emer talk about the election and the upcoming climate change lobby”

Ask an election question: challenging my candidates on poverty

April 27, 2015

Susan works in CAFOD’s Education team. This blog was written just before the 2015 UK general election.

I have a confession to make. Despite years of working for CAFOD and writing to my MP about social justice, I had never attended a hustings meeting of election candidates in my constituency until this month.

Email your candidates during the 2017 general election campaign with a question on poverty and climate change.

My parish, the Church of the Transfiguration in Kensal Rise, decided to host a hustings for the first time this year. The parish is on the border of two particularly interesting constituencies.

Hampstead and Kilburn is the most marginal seat in the country. Glenda Jackson won in 2010 with a majority of only 42. She is standing down this year, as is Sarah Teather, who has been my constituency MP. She had a slightly higher majority, but this is still the 51^st marginal seat. So there’s a lot to play for!

We had a great turn-out, from the candidates – almost all of whom came – and the audience, there were a mix of parishioners and other local community members. Continue reading “Ask an election question: challenging my candidates on poverty”

CAFOD campaigner? Don’t be shy, reply

April 24, 2015

Sarah works in CAFOD’s Campaigns Team.

Every month, we email CAFOD campaigners – maybe you’re one of them – to share news, feed back on progress and offer new ways in which we need your help.

What do you do when that CAFOD email lands in your inbox? Do you set to and take action? Do you skim through? Do you forward to your friends? Do you delete straightaway? Or do you click reply?

In recent weeks, as our climate change campaign gathers pace, we’ve been receiving lots of replies and emails from you. Some sharing stories of your campaign events, some asking questions, some telling us how we should or shouldn’t communicate.

Fill in our 2 minute campaign survey and tell us what you think

The big questions

Every one of these emails makes me stop and think. They reconnect me with what we are doing and why. They remind me that, without the support of countless parishes and individuals across England and Wales, our campaigns would make little difference. Continue reading “CAFOD campaigner? Don’t be shy, reply”

Listening to the cry of the earth

April 22, 2015

Today on International Mother Earth Day, Rachel McCarthy from the CAFOD Theology Programme reflects on listening to creation. This is the third of a series of blogs ahead of Pope Francis’ encyclical on human development and ecology, expected to be published this summer.

Flowers in Nicaragua — A blossom of flowers in Nicaragua

“The cry of the poor and the cry of the earth are one.”

(Canadian Bishops Conference, 2003)

We are called to open our hearts and hear what creation is saying to us.

But what does it mean to truly listen to our sisters and brothers across the world, and to the earth?

Listening to God’s creation

The call to listen to creation is grounded in our belief that all of the earth reflects God’s glory.

Scripture reveals the inherent goodness of creation as made by God. Jesus talked to his disciples about the natural beauty of

the flowers in the fields, and said, “Not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these” (Matthew 6:28-30).

All living beings are made by God, and we have a deep connection with the whole of creation. Indeed, God establishes an everlasting covenant with all creatures on earth (Genesis 9:16).

Humankind, as created in the image of God, is simultaneously interconnected with all creatures and is given a special role to care for creation.

Inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron Saint of ecology, we remember that we are all members of the eco-family. We are called to praise the Creator God together with our ‘Brother Sun’ and ‘Sisters moon and stars’.

Contemplate the beauty of creation with our reflections

Continue reading “Listening to the cry of the earth”

Easter: Christ the redeemer of all creation

April 8, 2015

Father Augusto Zampini Davies is a RC priest, Moral Theologian and theological advisor to CAFOD. In the second of a series of blogs, Father Augusto explains how caring for creation is at the heart of the Easter message.

Christ the Redeemer — At Easter we celebrate Christ who redeems all of creation

The environmental question brings together two central elements of Church teaching: promoting human development and caring for creation. This may sound overwhelming; some may feel it is too broad, or that it is exclusively related to scientists and experts. And including these concerns into our already busy and moving activities of the Easter season can be exasperating. Yet as Christians we have important reasons to consider the environmental question.

Reflect on creation this Easter

Caring for creation in Nicaragua

First, many of our brothers and sisters across the world experience the disastrous effects of climate change on a daily basis. For example in Nicaragua, crops are failing due to the extreme drought.

Lázaro Gutierrez is a teacher in the community of Santa Ana in the dry corridor of Nicaragua. Lázaro has seen the struggles which the families of his students have faced over the last few years due to the changing climate. With the support of our partner Caritas Jinotega, he has been working with the children to learn how to care for the environment and live sustainably.

Lázaro has a dream for the school. With our partner Caritas Jinotega he has been working to create a school garden, with fruit trees and vegetable plots, so the children can learn about nutrition and growing food and share what they learn with their families. He looks forward to the day when the trees they are planting now grow tall and throw shade where the children can sit and play at break times.

The meaning of redemption

At Easter, we celebrate that Christ has risen from the dead and set us free from our sins, instilling hope amongst the futility of death. Continue reading “Easter: Christ the redeemer of all creation”

Young climate bloggers lobby their MP who raises their questions with Prime Minister

April 1, 2015

The fantastic CAFOD young climate bloggers and Step into the Gap volunteer from Ss John Fisher and Thomas More Roman Catholic High School arranged to meet their local MP, Andrew Stephenson, to lobby him on climate issues. As a result, he raised climate change with the Prime Minister! Watch their video to find out what they asked.

We’re the Fisher More CAFOD young climate bloggers. We invited our local MP, Andrew Stephenson, to our school to discuss the issue of climate change. We had a great afternoon speaking to him and it was fantastic to hear all the things he’s been doing to help tackle climate change and engaging him with our work.

Watch the young climate bloggers’ vlog of Andrew Stephenson’s visit:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24EKanmnnkA&w=560&h=315] Continue reading “Young climate bloggers lobby their MP who raises their questions with Prime Minister”

Supporting my CAFOD young climate bloggers

March 31, 2015

Bernie with the All Saints young climate bloggers. — Bernie (second from right) with the All Saints young climate bloggers.

Bernie Healy is Chaplaincy Coordinator for All Saints Catholic High School. She is accompanying a group of CAFOD young climate bloggers. Here she talks about the joys and challenges of enabling her group of young people to campaign on climate and explains why the young climate bloggers training week end was like stepping back to her childhood!

My name is Bernie and I am a Chaplaincy Coordinator for a secondary school ‘up North’! I’ve been in this role for the last seven or eight years, time goes so fast it could be even longer.

In September of last year I introduced CAFOD’s One Climate, One World campaign to the school. I asked every form to think of something that would be affected by the climate if we don’t act now. The results were fantastic and we created a heart to display of all the things we love and don’t want to lose.

Download free One Climate, One World campaign resources for teachers, chaplains and youth leaders to inspire young people. Continue reading “Supporting my CAFOD young climate bloggers”

Lent 2015: Pray and Fast for the Climate

March 26, 2015

Lent is traditionally a time of fasting and prayer, to give thanks for what we have and remember those who have less.

Donate to CAFOD this Lent and every £1 you give will be matched by the UK government, up to £5 million

Barbara Kentish (pictured centre) is the Justice and Peace worker for Westminster diocese and a CAFOD supporter. She explains here why she’s extended the practice of fasting to the first of every month, and why fasting and prayer is gaining momentum with people of all faiths as a way to highlight the need for urgent global action on climate change.

I have worked all my life for inclusion of one kind or another: race, rich and poor, gender and culture. Climate change challenges all of us to see ourselves in relation to the whole human family and to deepen our solidarity in order to address our common future.

It was my sister who first got me involved in climate change campaigning. She is an eco-theologian with a deep expertise on drought in Rajasthan. But I’ve also been influenced by close friends who have been climate advocates for decades.

Add your voice – email party leaders calling for action on climate change

Why fast and pray?

The idea of praying and fasting for the climate came from Yeb Sano, Filipino leader of his country’s delegation to the Warsaw Climate talks in 2013.

He made an impassioned speech about the devastating effects of Typhoon Haiyan in his country and pledged to fast for the climate until an effective international solution had been reached. He will also be walking from Rome to Paris in December, with a copy of the Pope’s forthcoming encyclical, in the lead up to the COP 21 climate change talks in Paris. Continue reading “Lent 2015: Pray and Fast for the Climate”

Challenge indifference this Lent

March 18, 2015

Father Augusto Zampini Davies is a RC priest, Moral Theologian and theological advisor to CAFOD. In the first in a series of blogs reflecting on love of creation, he explains how we can confront the ‘globalisation of indifference’ this Lent.

Do you sometimes feel that you are not as joyful as you should be? It happens to me quite often. I remember being embarrassed about my indifference in a visit to Zimbabwe with CAFOD. The people I met there face many challenges. Yet, when they gather together for Mass in a Church, or discuss a problem as a community under a Baobab tree, they discover a joy that is out of this earth. Or is it?

In his latest document, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of The Gospel) (2014), Pope Francis has exhorted all Catholics to renew the beauty of life. The inspiring Good News of Jesus Christ should set our spirits on fire, transforming our beings and enabling us to reveal the Kingdom of God.

Reflect on the beauty of creation with our climate reflections

Why are we so indifferent?

If the Joy of the Gospel transforms us, both personally and socially, why are so many Christians not being attentive to the cry of the poor –as we should as be as good disciples of Christ? Why do we tend to defend and sustain an arguably damaging economic model of growth that, although it brings wealth to some, it rules out millions of people? Why are we so indifferent?

Continue reading “Challenge indifference this Lent”

Young climate bloggers: Our Lent Cut it Out! challenge

March 12, 2015

St Robert's young climate bloggers — St Robert’s young climate bloggers

A CAFOD young climate blogger from St Robert’s tell us why giving up chocolate for Lent is helping tackle climate change and gives some hints and tips on how you can Cut it Out! too.

What are you cutting out this Lent? What difference will it make to stop climate change? This year, CAFOD are organising a Cut it Out! challenge to enforce their climate change campaign. For every pound they raise, the government are going to match it, up to £5 million, so it is a great opportunity to raise money for our sisters and brothers overseas.

Watch Martin’s film to see how CAFOD’s work supports those most vulnerable to a changing climate.

Usually in Lent I promise myself to give up chocolate or sweets and then it gets to the second week and I completely give up! But this year, I have a cause to work for and so do you. Continue reading “Young climate bloggers: Our Lent Cut it Out! challenge”