Soon it will be easier to find a priest to minister to a melting glacier than to a dying person

Climate change: Ecumenical mourning ceremonies for dying glaciers

Ecumenical Requiem for Brandner glacier in Vorarlberg - Archdiocese of Munich "celebrates" Requiem Mass for glacier

With Requiems for the "dying" and melting glaciers, the Catholic and Protestant Churches in Austria and Germany are drawing attention to the consequences of global warming and environmental destruction. The diocese of Feldkirch, for example, celebrated an ecumenical requiem for the Brandner glacier at the beginning of July. The focus of the funeral service was the glacier itself, which is expected to disappear completely in a few years, warned glacier researcher Georg Kaser in the "Vorarlberger Kirchenblatt" (20 July issue). This negative development is not a Vorarlberg phenomenon, but can be observed in the entire Eastern Alps region, the expert said.

As Christians, we are called upon to work "wholeheartedly for the preservation of our homeland", the organisers explained their motivation. It was a matter of preserving God's creation. In addition to the Protestant and Catholic Churches, the Welthaus Vorarlberg, the Alpine Club and the Nature Conservation Union were among those participating in the funeral service.

During the funeral service, the churches and environmental associations demanded a reduction of CO2 emissions, a general replacement of all oil and gas heating systems, a reduction of car traffic, a stop to all public road projects and a renunciation of the "rampant sealing of green spaces". Instead, the expansion of public transport and green energy infrastructure must be pushed forward.

There is nothing left to save, the matter is finished, the Feldkirch church newspaper quoted experts from the University of Innsbruck. The loss of the glaciers also goes hand in hand with the loss of biodiversity and species diversity. The development is fuelled by the high consumption of resources and the associated CO2 emissions. Humans are changing nature "dramatically" through their lifestyle, according to the glacier researchers' dystopia.

Funeral services also in Germany

With a Requiem Mass for the "dying glacier" on 25 July at 12 noon in the chapel on the Zugspitzplatt, the Catholic and Protestant churches in southern Germany also want to draw attention to the consequences of the rapidly advancing climate change. The Archdiocese of Munich issued a press release saying that they wanted to draw attention to the importance of preserving creation. Prayers will be said for nature, the preservation of creation and habitats. In addition, the motto "I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where does help come from?" There will be information about Germany's highest mountain and about future perspectives.

The Chapel of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, consecrated on 11 October 1981 by the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at an altitude of around 2,700 metres, is the highest place of worship in Germany.

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See previous story on the Eco-Requiem madness