Speaking at the St Patrick’s College Maynooth Annual Trócaire Lecture, Fr Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator SJ, the former President of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar, warned that we must collectively commit to assuming “responsibility for the legacy we will leave behind once we leave the world” and that modern Catholic social teaching can inform Catholics in their bid to be more environmentally conscious.

The conference, entitled ‘Climate Justice and Catholic Social Teaching: ‘Everything is connected’ and ‘No one is saved alone’’, provided those in attendance with a broader perspective on the overlap between Catholic Faith and environmentalism, with Fr Orobator extoling Pope Francis’ efforts to alleviate the global impacts of climate change.

Speaking at the lecture, Fr Orobator, said that “Pope Francis advocates for an urgently needed broader perspective to enable the present generation to assume ‘responsibility for the legacy we will leave behind, once we pass from this world’.

“Previously, in Laudato Si’, he identified a tripartite framework consisting of ‘a sound ethics, a culture and spirituality’. Climate justice grounded in a tripartite ethical framework such as advocated by Francis in the tradition of Catholic social teaching offers a vision of an ethics of solidarity and compassion, a culture of care and encounter, and a spirituality of mutuality and safeguarding. This vision is not utopian; it is achievable” he said.

The post World must be responsible for legacy left behind in climate change battle – Trócaire lecture appeared first on The Irish Catholic.

Leave a Reply