Churches/ Fridays for the Future

Sister Beate Krug is an environmental engineer and a Franciscan nun from Oberzell. Her community is part of "Churches for Future". She explains in an interview with katholisch.de how this came about, why the environment is close to her heart and what task she sees for the Church.

Since 2018, mainly young people have been demonstrating for environmental protection at "Fridays for Future". This also gives rise to sub-groups such as "Christians for Future", in which individuals get involved. Churches for Future" is where groups come together - such as the Oberzell Franciscan Sisters. Their sustainability officer, Sister Beate Kruge talks in an interview about their commitment to climate justice.

And a reminder what Franciscans looks like

And their model Saint Clare

Whose devotion to Christ and His Church cannot be doubted

Question: Sister Beate, your community is part of "Churches for Future". How did it come about?

Sister Beate: We became aware of the ecumenical network Climate Justice. We have been members since 2019 and in the same year the movement "Churches for Future" developed. We found that worth supporting and joined. Although this is also a loose association and not something binding - as with "Fridays for Future".

Question: But this was not your first involvement with the topic.

Sister Beate: We already had a group in the 90s that dealt with the keywords Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) in a Franciscan context. In 2013, the Franciscan responsibility for the integrity of creation was deepened and recorded in our chapter. Further steps were then taken, so that in 2016 we introduced my position as Sustainability Officer. So I am the contact person for all environmental matters in our community. A short time later, together with a group of sisters and staff, we developed creation guidelines, which we have been implementing since 2017. We are trying to implement these six points step by step.

Question: What are these points, for example?

Sister Beate: Raising awareness is important to me personally and to my community, both internally and externally: there are study days for sisters and staff as well as exhibitions in the house that guests can also view. Our Haus Klara, the guest house, has been EMAS-certified since 2019, which means it is sustainable. So we try to motivate as many people as possible to get involved. But of course we also do something, for example through measures such as replacing them with more efficient pumps in the heating systems or replacing conventional lamps with LEDs.

Among others, the Oberzell Franciscan Sisters took part in the Climate Demo in 2019.

Question: What does climate protection mean to you personally?

Sister Beate: Climate protection was already a concern for me in my youth. It is my way of living my religious life, with my talents and my knowledge. I am an environmental engineer. We Oberzell Franciscan Sisters have been committed to helping disadvantaged women in challenging situations since our foundation. This is a great motivation for me, because with the commitment to climate protection, I also stand up for women, children, especially girls. They are often the ones who suffer: When I think of the global south, where girls often have to walk for hours to fetch water for their families. Or where women are responsible for providing vegetables for the families, where ever greater droughts or floods destroy harvests.

Question: What duty do you have with regard to climate protection, you and your community, because you are Franciscan Sisters?

Sister Beate: I wouldn't say duty, that's a big word. If I did, then I have a duty as a human being, as a Christian. It is an fundamental Christian duty to work for the future and for creation. The Franciscan view is also important here. Francis called all creatures brothers and sisters. We should live with all elements and thus also with the climate and the air as brothers and sisters. The social aspect also plays a role, to stand up for others, to see the disadvantaged, the neighbour. This is also evident at the moment in energy prices, where poorer people can afford less than rich people. Everything is interconnected.

Question: What does your involvement with "Churches for Future" look like? I have seen pictures of demonstrations, among other things.

Sister Beate: Exactly, we also participate in the climate strikes. There are usually big, global climate strikes twice a year. During the pandemic, that went down a bit, but now it's starting again. We also have two big banners that hang on the houses, for example, or on the monastery wall, just at the time of the climate strikes or during Creation Time, which the Christian churches celebrate annually from 1 September, the World Day of Prayer for Creation, to 4 October, the feast of St. Francis. There is a regional group of committed people here. We also had a discussion with the bishop to consider what can be done. In the ecclesial sense, it's about a three-step process. This includes the liturgia, to pray for the cause. The martyria, the proclamation: We are given life in abundance and we can contribute to all having life in abundance. And of course the diakonia, the working. These must go hand in hand.

To set an example, a banner hangs on the monastery wall of the Oberzell Franciscan Sisters.

Question: How did you perceive the mood during the strikes?

Sister Beate: The first big strike was in 2019, which I found impressive. We were a larger group of church actors from Würzburg and the surrounding area. Overall, I perceived the mood as very positive: We want to change something, give it a voice and stand up for it. During the last climate strike in March, many people were on the streets in Würzburg and I think it's nice to see that now, after the Corona break, more people are fighting for this cause again and it's not petering out.

Question: "Fridays for Future" - let's say as an umbrella organisation - is sometimes criticised. They say it's just truants or children of rich parents who don't know what else to do. How do you see it?

Sister Beate: I see that the "Fridays for Future" movement has done us a service as humanity by bringing the issue of climate change - or I prefer to speak of climate justice - back into the consciousness and onto the political agenda. I see that as the main merit, because the issue is more present than it was five years ago, before Fridays for Future started. I understand the young people because it concerns their future more than mine, for example. From that point of view, I can hear the criticism, but I wouldn't adopt it as my own. The movement takes up what scientists have been saying for decades and brings it to the attention of a broader mass. In principle, this would also be a task for the churches, to draw attention to the suffering caused by climate change.

"I can understand actions that are directly related to the cause, such as sticking in traffic, because without a change in transport, Germany will not achieve the climate targets it has set itself. In my opinion, actions that are not directly related to climate protection do not serve the cause. I find it regrettable and not doing justice to the cause when there is more talk about the way of resistance than about the goal."

- Quote: Sister Beate about the "Last Generation".

Question: And how do you evaluate the actions of the so-called Last Generation?

Sister Beate: The Last Generation primarily demands a speed limit on German motorways and affordable public transport. These are goals that many German citizens also support. I can show solidarity with these concerns, which I have in fact already done by signing my name. The Last Generation practices non-violent civil resistance, a means that has been used for centuries in various contexts to draw the public's attention to grievances. I can understand actions that are directly related to the cause, such as sticking in traffic, because without a change in transport, Germany will not achieve the climate goals it has set itself. In my opinion, actions that are not directly related to climate protection do not serve the cause. I think it is regrettable and does not do justice to the cause when people talk more about the way of resistance than about the goal.

Question: How could the Church get more involved in climate protection? Do you see religious orders, especially your community, as pioneers?

Sister Beate: I don't see us as a pioneer; it is important that everyone does their part. We religious communities have the advantage that we are more independent of church structures and decisions can be made and implemented more quickly. If we can encourage others to join in, we are happy. The church could take on more of the proclamation mandate and, of course, follow up words with deeds. In addition, there is also the aspect of peace, as war has now come so close to us. There is no question about how much damage a war causes to the climate, because a lot is destroyed. Every contribution to peace is also a contribution to climate protection. The Church could do more to be an ambassador for peace. The connection between creation and nature should also be made more aware by the Church: I only protect what I love. There could be more offers for the perception of this diversity, for example, by celebrating services outside.

Source

Cathcon: Sister has left a very deep impression on me.  She managed to get through this interview without mentioning God, Jesus Christ, Saint Clare or Saint Francis once.   In better days, religious changed their names when entering onto religious life to indicate that they had left wordly matters behind.  Sister remains an environmentalist.    Traditionally Friday is the day when Christians, not least in their devotion the Franciscans, commemorate the death of Christ on the Cross and the Redemption of the world thereby.  The modern church engages in so many displacement activities in the post-conciliar stasis of mismanaged decline and failure.