Launch of Green Pilgrimage Network in Assisi

Assisi

A ban on cars on pilgrimage routes (Kano, Nigeria); solar panels for its cathedral roof (St Albans, UK); provision of fresh clean, water for pilgrims (Amritsar, India), the planting of thousands of trees around sacred sites (Etchmiadzin, Armenia) - these are just some of the initiatives which participants pledged to implement at the launch of the Green Pilgrimage Network in Assisi, Italy,today.

The event has been organised by the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) in association with WWF. Representatives from 15 faith traditions from around the world gathered in Assisi, Italy with secular and environmental organisations to launch the world's first global commitment to green pilgrimage.

ARC Secretary-General Martin Palmer said: "Cities from China to Norway and faiths from all around the world today commit to making one of the most powerful religious experiences - pilgrimage - a living witness to a commitment to protect our living planet. This idea does not belong to these founder members or even to ARC or WWF. This is an invitation to all holy places to put into practice what they preach - namely, that when we walk upon this Earth, we walk on sacred land."

Many thousands of people a year become pilgrims, whether for a few hours, days or even weeks, according to figures compiled by ARC.1 The Green Pilgrimage Network brings together faiths and local governments to make their pilgrim cities and sacred sites as environmentally sustainable as possible, according their own theologies and understanding of the natural world.

Other plans announced today by the 12 founder Green Pilgrimage Network members include measures to protect nature (Louguan, China), teaching children about conservation (Luss, Scotland); protection of sacred forests (Jinja Honcho, Japan), reducing waste and encouraging recycling (Haifa, Israel); organising nature tours
for pilgrims (Assisi, Italy), In addition, Trondheim, Norway, is developing environmental award certificates for
local restaurants and hotels, as well as for church buildings; the city authorities of Jerusalem will work to restore the currently polluted Kidron Valley, the major pilgrim ascent to Jerusalem for Jews, Christians and Muslims; while St Pishoy Monastery in Egypt, already a model of environmental sustainability, plans to become self sufficient in food for monks, labourers and pilgrims.

The event opened yesterday with a procession - with banners, flags, drummers and torch-bearers - of religious delegates, led by Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent, herself a devout Catholic, who represented ARC's founder, the Duke of Edinburgh, who was unable to attend due to illness.

It was followed by a dazzling celebration bringing together music, dance, ritual and teaching from many religions and cultures, illustrating their common sacred mission to care for the natural world with examples of projects worldwide, and a banquet in the 13th century Palazzo Monte Frumentario.

HRH Princess Michael of Kent read Prince Philip's speech, in which he recalled how the first Assisi event in 1986 was to see how the faiths could work with the conservation movement to protect Nature.

"It seemed to me that if someone believes that all of life was created by God this should mean they would feel a sense of responsibility to protect the handiwork of God," she read on Prince Philip's behalf.

"It was much more successful than I could have expected and from this single event has grown what is now the fastest growing conservation movement in the world."}

To download the Green Pilgrimage handbook, see: www.arcworld.org/projects.asp?projectID=521