Religionernas ansvar för miljön

[Charlotte]

I senaste kyrkans tidning handlade ledaren om detta viktiga ämne:

http://www.kyrkanstidning.com/opinion/ledare/2007/ledare08.asp

[Elisabet]

17 February 2007
Australia

Church in the World

Green issues are
grounded in Bible,
says bishop
Mark Brolly

Concern about the environment could become a "pseudo-religion" if the Church's strong
spiritual and biblical traditions of caring for the Earth are not recognised, an Australian bishop
has warned.

Bishop Christopher Toohey, chairman of the Australian Bishops' Commission for Justice and
Service, told The Tablet that Catholics would not be true to their own tradition if they
approached the ecological crisis without a firm theological and spiritual base.

"Sometimes an interest in the environment can become a bit of a pseudo-religion ... whereas
we have a strong spiritual tradition and a biblical one for care of the environment," Bishop
Toohey said.
He said the Church was "behind the game" in terms of its use of energy, with many church
buildings being old and wasteful of energy, but it could draw on a rich source of teaching from
Scripture, and saints such as Clare and Benedict.

Bishop Toohey's diocese of Wilcannia-Forbes is one of the areas worst affected by the 10-
year drought afflicting much of Australia. The bishop also said that Mass attendance in one
town, Bourke, had fallen because the drought was causing people to leave the area.

The St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia has launched an appeal to help rural communities.

© The Tablet Publishing Company