Sisters of "Saint" Greta
Sisters for the environment. Integrating voices from the margins
Sisters dialogue with the international development community to safeguard the environment and people affected by climate change and the loss of biodiversity. The first Sister-led dialogue on the environment, inaugurating a series of dialogues on international development organised by the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), takes place today in Rome
On the eve of Earth Day on 22 April, the Sisters of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) are gathering their partners in Rome to give prominence and space for dialogue on international development issues. The organisation, which brings together more than 1,900 Superior Generals in 97 countries, representing more than 600,000 sisters worldwide, is promoting the first Sister-led dialogue on the environment to discuss the protection of the environment and of people affected by climate change and the loss of biodiversity, with particular attention to the most marginalised. Today's meeting is the first of a series of events organised within the UISG Sisters Advocating Globally initiative, in partnership with the Global Solidarity Fund, which will culminate in the first UISG Advocacy Forum, scheduled to take place in Rome in November 2023. Represented today are international organisations, governments, civil society, Vatican institutions, academia and the press from different parts of the world, gathered to discuss three key themes: integrating responses to climate change and biodiversity loss; integrating care for people and planet; and integrating vulnerability into leadership. These three themes were outlined last November in the declaration 'Sisters for the Environment. Integrating voices from the margins', launched by UISG sisters in the run-up to the COP27 climate summit.
The declaration built on the experience of advocacy and assistance to communities that developed from the environmental campaign Sowing Hope for the Planet, initiated to promote Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si'. Through a series of practical directions for global policy, the statement sheds light on the sisters' response to the environmental challenges of our times. In addition to responding to current emergencies, the document expresses the vision for a faith-rooted and faith-driven ecological conversion, which has inspired the sisters' mission for decades and continues to do so every day, worldwide. "This is our response to Pope Francis' invitation in the encyclical Fratelli Tutti: 'Let us turn to promote the good, for ourselves and for all humanity, and in this way we will walk together towards genuine and integral growth,'" says Sister Patricia Murray, executive secretary of the UISG. - The Catholic sisters are part of a global movement to shape conversations about international development around the needs of the world's most marginalised communities. At the first Sister-led dialogue, Catholic sisters and their interlocutors will explore how to promote, support and empower vulnerable people affected by climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and environmental degradation". "The sisters are engaged in advocacy for the care of our common home from the global to the local level," adds Sister Maamalifar Poreku, coordinator of the Sowing Hope for the Planet campaign. - At the global level, the UISG has built into its strategic plans a central commitment to safeguarding the most marginalised affected by environmental degradation, which includes working towards the implementation of the COP27 and COP15 conclusions. As bridge builders, the sisters call everyone's attention to our common humanity, to walk towards a safe, just and peaceful future for all and for all of Creation. That is why we are gathered today at UISG, to dialogue and share ideas on how to create a healthy environment for all the Earth's inhabitants".
Cathcon: No mention of God or Jesus Christ. Church as a glorified environmental NGO.
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