Climate Change, The Response of Catholics

Father Sean McDonagh is a Columban missionary who has worked for many years in the Philippines. At the Canberra Conference on Climate Change he gave a wonderful talk on how we could rethink the liturgy to more closely reflect Pope John Paul II's call for an "ecological conversion". Father Sean feels passionately that Catholics should view themselves as a part of the natural world, part of the intricate web of life, not above it or separate from it. He told a beautiful story of local fishermen in the village where he lived accidentally snaring a Philippine eagle - the largest eagle in the world. The bird was brought to the mission house and someone went to get a vet to help. While he waited with the eagle many people came to look and marvel at this magnificent bird and it dawned on Father Sean that they could be the last people ever to see one in the wild - only 200 now are thought to exist as their home is fast being destroyed. This is Father Sean's paper on the Canberra conference.

Mary Colwell