Church lets herself be instrumentalised by environmentalist
Von Hirschhausen also relies on the churches for climate protection
"We need Love that goes beyond"
Doctor and presenter Eckart von Hirschhausen took part in the first Climate Forum for Welfare and Church in the Archdiocese of Cologne. He attributes a major role in climate protection to the church and has high expectations.
DOMRADIO.DE: What is your topic at the event?
Dr. Eckart von Hirschhausen (cabaret artist, presenter, physician, founder of the foundation): With the foundation "Healthy Earth - Healthy People" we are co-operation partners. In my impulse, I was able to talk about why church institutions in particular have three super reasons to do pioneering work. The climate crisis has many different facets.
I don't talk about climate at all anymore, I talk about livelihoods. I'm a doctor, I also only discovered the topic of planetary health for myself five years ago. But everyone understands it immediately when you ask: What does health start with?
Not with a pill, not with a diagnosis or an operation. Health begins with the air we breathe, the water we can drink, the plants we eat, tolerable temperatures and peaceful coexistence. And anyone who walks through the world with their eyes open knows that all five of these foundations of health are in acute danger.
In the summer of 2023, we had more signs than ever before that the climate crisis is not someday, but now. What drives me a lot is the question of the "antidote"? Where are the positive narratives?
Eckart von Hirschhausen
"Love that goes beyond: compassion for the next generation and the generation after that."
Christianity actually has an idea of hope, has an idea of an "intergenerational contract" that you ask yourself, why am I a Christian? Because my grandparents were, and my parents were. We automatically have an idea of that. What we found, we want to preserve. We want to pass on something good. We want to practice charity.
In the 21st century, that also means "love for others". "Love that goes beyond" means compassion for the next generation and the generation after that, both in time and space. The climate crisis is already a brutal reality for people in the global South.
There is a huge wave of conflict ahead, when people will have neither water nor food, nor tolerable temperatures, when a third of the world's population will be forced to migrate.
These are all images that are not pretty at first. That's why I looked at where there is hope, where there are great projects, also in the church area. The very concrete approach was to ask: Why is there still cheap meat in canteens? Can't we just make plant-based, delicious food the standard?
DOMRADIO.DE: At the political level, there is still very little movement. It's not even clear yet whether the 49-euro ticket will continue to exist. Should the Church be louder?
Eckart von Hirschhausen
"The greatest leverage the church has is its land ownership."
Von Hirschhausen: Unlike politics, churches can get things done in the longer term because they are not based on popularity and re-election, but are still one of the most powerful institutions, one of the biggest employers in the country and also one of the biggest landowners.
The greatest leverage the church has is to put its land ownership and leasing under clear, sustainable aspects and to make sure that in the future only someone gets land who tills it in such a way that it literally becomes a God's field
That means that this land is preserved and not flattened with pesticides and fertilizers so that future generations have nothing to eat.
Many people are still not aware of the urgency with which we need change. The church can become a pioneer not only on Sunday, but also from Monday to Saturday.
DOMRADIO.DE: What is the message to your audience?
Von Hirschhausen: The church has a global network. The Church has an anti-materialistic worldview and an image of man. That means we could communicate much more strongly that this poly-crisis of our time is also a spiritual crisis.
We consume so much because we don't know what we really need. Churches can be much, much more assertive about the idea of how we want to live or what constitutes a good life and lead by example.
What is there to eat in the hospitals? Why isn't there a green roof and solar panel on every Christian daycare centre? What about Churches' financial investments? What about the lands? Under what conditions are they leased? And what can each individual do?
The most important thing an individual can do today is not to remain an individual. We have to form networks. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm also a cooperation partner with my foundation. Because it's hard to save the world on a volunteer basis when others are destroying it full-time.
We have to stop believing that my bamboo toothbrush and my jute bag make the difference. The big difference is in the institutions, in the framework. And that's where I see the churches way out in front.
First Climate Forum for Welfare and Churches
Concrete - practical - professional - motivating - on August 29, the first Climate Forum for Welfare and Church will take place in Cologne's Maternushaus. The event, organized by the Department for Responsibility for Creation in the Archdiocese of Cologne and the Diocesan Caritas Association for the Archdiocese of Cologne, offers all people involved in church and society on a voluntary and full-time basis the opportunity to further educate themselves and exchange ideas on this year's main topic, "Mobility".
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