Jesuits in Britain 'going green'

Source: Jesuits in Britain

The Jesuits in Britain will be 'going green' on 1 April 2018.

Nineteen out of the twenty-two Catholic dioceses in England and Wales have got together and formed Interdiocesan Fuel Management LTD (IFM) a not-for-profit company, in which they have taken shares.

The Jesuits in Britain, along with other Catholic organisations, have come to an agreement that all their energy use should come from renewable sources. From April 1st 2018, a number of Jesuit properties will have one-hundred percent renewable electricity and there are plans being made to have one-hundred percent renewable gas by September 2019 at the very latest. Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) will be the new green energy supplier.

The Jesuit properties that will be switching over include the Ignatian Spirituality Centre and Jesuit community in Glasgow, Manresa House (the novitiate) in Birmingham, the Hurtado Jesuit Centre in Wapping, the Corpus Christi Jesuit Community (retirement home) in Boscombe, Copleston House Community in Hampstead, the St Ignatius Community at Stamford Hill and Jesuit Missions in Wimbledon.

Tim Edwards, Finance Director for the Jesuits in Britain commented: "A lot of our electricity contracts were coming up for renewal on the 31st of March 2018 and we have taken this opportunity to buy into IFM for their electricity.

"This plan to go green was made in direct response to Pope Francis's influential encyclical Laudato Si, which urges all people of faith to "care for our common home" by respecting the environment and the equal needs of all who rely on the planet's fragile ecology and limited resources for their livelihood."