London: Blessing of endangered riverside trees

On Saturday afternoon, Canon Giles Goddard from St John's Church in Waterloo, blessed the beautiful boulevard of trees on the South Bank, at risk of being destroyed by the construction of a proposed new multi-million pound ’Garden Bridge’ across the Thames. More than 40 parishioners and friends attended the service which included quotes from Pope Francis about the environment and the hymn All things bright and beautiful.

This leafy promenade is an extension of the London plane trees planted outside the Royal Festival Hall as a memorial to those who sacrificed their lives in World War II.

A review led by Dame Margaret Hodge in April this year advised that the £200m project should be scrapped and Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he will withhold all further funding, but developers are still promoting the scheme. Planning permission for the controversial crossing lapses later this year.

Martha Gott, a parishioner at Holy Apostles, Pimlico, told ICN last week: “I am delighted to see Rev Goddard and St John's, Waterloo supporting this campaign and coming to to bless these 'lungs' of London. Pope Francis has commented that: ‘Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last 200 years.’

“Building a Garden Bridge bedecked with trees in pots, while tearing down trees deeply rooted in our soil would have constituted just one more example of such a mistreatment of our home. London is one of the world's few remaining major cities blessed with green lungs and I hope we are able to keep it that way for a very long time to come."

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