Columban podcasts on Biodiversity - Episode 5: 'No land to live on'

Source: Columban Missionary Society

'Jubilee for the Earth' is a podcast mini-series about biodiversity, produced by the Columbans for the Season of Creation. Six episodes explore biodiversity and a related issue like economic justice, peace, migration, and other topics related to Catholic Social Teaching.

Episode 5 takes the theme, 'No land to live on.

Because of the damage we are inflicting upon the Earth, more and more land is becoming uninhabitable. In 2017 alone, 68.5 million people were forcibly displaced by conflict, poverty, or environmental factors, more than at any point in human history. Climate change and biodiversity loss create environmental conditions that strain local economies and exacerbate conflicts for scarce resources. In these situations, it is always those who are living in poverty or are forced to the margins of society that suffer the most.

This podcast features Scott Wright, Director of the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach in Washington, and Fr Kurt Zion Pala, a Columban priest based in Myanmar. There are interviews with Kachin people in Myanmar displaced by civil war and denied access to land to grow food and nurture biodiversity. The speakers call for better education, respect for indigenous knowledge and caring for the land. They want to help young people reconnect to nature.

The Earth's resources - which have been entrusted to us - are for the life of the whole world. They do not belong to a wealthy minority, or even a human minority. Grounded in Catholic Social Teaching, the Columbans hope that these podcasts will help a growth in understanding of how caring for "our common home", as Pope Francis calls it, is fundamental to our lives as people of faith and as global citizens.

LINKS

Podcast 5: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk9h3oAm1Gs

Columban Centre: www.columbancenter.org/jubileepodcast

(Click on the youtube links for visuals)