People honour “Cookie”, the slice of a felled Douglas Fir from Fairy Creek, BC brought to COP15 to illustrate biodiversity loss in Canada. Photo credit: #Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek Blockade

“Indigenous Peoples sustain lands and waters not just for our own interests. We do this because we have a responsibility given to us by the Creator to care for these areas for the benefit of everybody. We know that if we take care of the land, the land will take care of us—all of us."
-Valérie Courtois, director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative which hosted the Indigenous Village (photo) during COP 15 in Montréal.

 

From left to right: Agnes Richard MLSM Canada, Anna Johnson Laudato Si’ Movement, Caroline Kiiru Laudato Si’ Movement, Amy Echeverria Co-Coordinator of the Vatican's Ecology Taskforce, Auxiliary Bishop Alain Faubert, Kim Gottfried Piché Archdiocese of Montréal, Joe Gunn MLSM Canada Advisory Circle, Louise Royer Archdiocese of Montréal, and Stone Iwaasa (not shown) share laughs.

Agnes Richard, Darlene O’ Leary, Caroline Kiiru and Anna Johnson at the Multi-Faith pavilion.

All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to his or her own culture, experience, involvements, and talents. LS 14

While reflecting on the gospel of Friday, November 18th, the same day the United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP27) was scheduled to close, parallels became apparent.

“My house shall be a house of prayer,
but you have made it a den of thieves.”
 LK 19:45-48

“My house shall be a house of prayer.”  Indigenous Peoples understand this in the beauty, abundance and inherent goodness of all creation, the fullness of the natural world all around us, of which we are a part. By embracing Laudato Si’ many more are reminded that our faith understands this too; that the great gift of a planet full of life is sacred, in all aspects, and we as part of it are sacred too.

“But you have made it a den of thieves.” If we consider Mother Earth as the home Jesus might also have been referring to, then today the powers that drive endless consumer culture and who thwart efforts to share the wealth gained from exploiting the jewels of creation at the expense of those who have lived harmoniously with it are modern day thieves on a global scale. The influence of oil and gas industry lobbyists, and their financial supporters were very visible at COP27 as they worked to weaken efforts to name the primary cause of the climate crisis. Those thieves are stealing the lives of so many creatures and humans now, and are stealing our collective futures for the sake of profit and greed.

The God who created the universe out of nothing can also intervene in this world and overcome every form of evil. Injustice is not invincible. LS 74

But people of faith are finding ways to steer us back to healthy relations with our planet home and with each other. We are finding ways to speak universal truths in the halls of power...

 The Story – Pope Francis in Canada:
A conversation with Métis Elder Jo Anne Young

First and foremost, Pope Francis’ visit to Canada was to ask for forgiveness for the harms done to Indigenous children in the Indian Residential Schools. Métis elder Jo Anne Young echoes the words of Métis National Council President, Cassidy Caron; “There is so much work ahead of us to seek out truth, justice and healing …Learning to love again after everything our people have gone through is tougher than learning to walk.  … These teachings of respect and of love must continue to guide us as we move forward …This week, and beyond, is about Survivors and supporting what they need to find peace in their lives.” 1

Jo Anne was impressed with the sincerity of Pope Francis. His words in Spanish, she said, signified more remorse than the English translations indicated. Many people, including Métis peers, agreed that they heard his sincerity. “We understand that he recognizes the abuse and assimilation that happened at Indian Residential Schools, and on his trip home to Rome, he agreed that genocide is the correct word to describe what happened.”

On Wednesday, February 23, 2022 MLSM Canada celebrated the virtual launch of the Catholic Eco-Investment Accelerator Toolkit, offered participants a quick tour and heard about its inclusion as a resource for a North American campaign. You can view the recording on the Faith & the Common Good YouTube channel, here.

The host pointed out methods to navigate the on-line Toolkit and some useful features that can be adopted by users as they begin conversations in their own contexts. Agnes was proud to share one of the short videos in the Toolkit, “Climate is a Common Good”. Other highlighted features included the Discernment Questions in the JUDGE section, and opportunities to apply investment considerations to Truth and Reconciliation calls to action.  In the ACT section she pointed out the many options for reinvestment, including how to evaluate financial market investments in energy and other sectors, non-financial market investment ideas, and examples of ecological investments made in communities, buildings and land use.

Karen Van Loon shared her knowledge of Scarboro Mission’s 2014 decisions around energy efficiency, an ecological financial policy and how these are tied to the order’s ecological mission statement.