Season of Creation

The Season of Creation has begun! Over the coming weeks, from Friday 1 September to Wednesday 4 October, Christians around the world will join together in celebrating creation and contemplating our role in protecting it.

Last Friday 1 September, on the World Day of Prayer for Creation, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew released a joint statement, inviting all people of goodwill to pray for the environment and pointing to the need for greater simplicity and solidarity in our lives.

During the Season of Creation, Christians around the world are invited to organise their own events upload them on the online map. There are also a number of online events taking place throughout the month, including a Mass with Pope Francis on his trip to Colombia and an online Taizé service with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the details of which can be found on the Season of Creation website.

Operation Noah is a partner in this year’s Season of Creation, which is sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Global Catholic Climate Movement and ACT Alliance. Operation Noah’s Bright Now campaign, launched in 2013, calls on Churches and the Christian community in the UK to divest (disinvest) from fossil fuels and invest in clean alternatives, including renewable energy.

There are plans for a global fossil fuel divestment announcement at the end of Season of Creation on Wednesday 4 October (the Feast of St Francis), when Churches and religious communities around the world will join together in announcing their commitment to divest from fossil fuels.

On Wednesday 6 September, Global Catholic Climate Movement and Trocaire (CAFOD’s sister agency in Ireland) organised a webinar entitled Prophetic Actions and Voices on Fossil Fuels and Climate Justice: Silent Disinvestment or Public Divestment? The recording of the webinar is available to watch again online here, and is particularly relevant for anyone interested in how their religious community or local Diocese could make a commitment to divest from fossil fuels. The programme for the webinar can be found on the Global Catholic Climate Movement website.

Operation Noah has produced a ‘how to’ guide, Divest Your Church, explaining the process of divestment from fossil fuels and investment in clean alternatives. While primarily written for local churches, the process is similar both for Dioceses and religious communities. For organisations without existing fossil fuel investments, making a divestment commitment is straightforward and involves a commitment not to invest in fossil fuels in future.

If you are a member of a religious community and would be interested in making a divestment commitment during the Season of Creation or in the months ahead, or would be interested in learning how your local Diocese can take steps to divest from fossil fuels, please contact James Buchanan by emailing james.buchanan@operationnoah.org

Let us join together this Season of Creation, both in prayer and action, for our common home.

James Buchanan is Bright Now Campaign Manager for Operation Noah: www.operationnoah.org
For more information on Season of Creation, visit www.seasonofcreation.org
To learn more about Operation Noah’s Bright Now campaign, visit www.brightnow.org.uk