Clogher Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation group held an event on 3 June 2017 to celebrate Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’. Liam Murtagh from the group provided the report below. You can read the talk by Tanya Jones on her blog here. The same piece was published in the Northern Standard newspaper and on the website of Transition Monaghan.
A celebration of Pope Francis’ 2015 Encyclical on humanity and the environment Laudato Si’ took place on 3 June in St Macartin’s Cathedral Hall, Enniskillen. The timeliness of the event coming shortly after President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord was noted by the chairperson of the event Sr Nellie McLaughlin. Tanya Jones spoke on ‘Heart, Hands and Voice – Living out Laudato Si’ and Anne Marie Russell delivered a presentation on ‘Zero Waste’.
Tanya Jones is Fermanagh based and a campaigner in the frack-free movement – and she welcomed the recent ban on fracking south of the border. Tanya is also deeply concerned with cross-community issues and is secretary and former chair of the Fermanagh Churches Forum. She is currently a member of the Green Party. In her address Tanya said that she believed that Laudato Si’ is one of the most important, in the true sense prophetic, documents of our time, and it is for all of us. Pope Francis she says writes, quite deliberately that he “would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home”.
The title of Tanya’s talk was Heart, Hands and Voice: Living out Laudato Si’. Tanya said that our response to the call to dialogue is often just one of the ‘head’. She says that more than reading is needed. She continues: “Use what you read to inform, to enliven, to deepen and to propel the rest of your response. Put your head at the service of your heart, of your hands and of your voice… Your heart, as the mindful source of all that you do. Your hands, making your daily life part of the solution instead of the problem. And your voice, boldly speaking truth to power.”
In addition Tanya suggests practical action “doing things that change the world a little in themselves but also form part of that great cry for the earth and for the poor. And they nurture our spirits as well. Yours could be anything from planting yellow rattle seeds as part of Ulster Wildlife’s Magnificent Meadows project to building homes for the homeless across the world.”
In conclusion Tanya focused on why people respond by more than just reading. She says, “… if we genuinely listen to our deepest urgings, we will naturally find ourselves doing it”. She recalls the quotation from Laudato Si’. “For all our limitations, gestures of generosity, solidarity and care cannot but well up within us, since we were made for love.” That ‘love’ …she said is “why we are here. It is why Laudato Si’ was written, and why we continue to respond to it. Each of us, in our own way, with our heart, our hands and our voice, can keep that love lit right through the darkness.”
Anne Marie Russell is a nurse living in Co Fermanagh and is a member of the Clogher JPIC Group. In her presentation on zero waste she explained the idea and outlined how she and her family apply the principle in their home. Anne Marie said that she has been passionate about the issue since her first trip abroad as it included a visit to a landfill site.
Anne Marie defined zero waste as a philosophy that encourages the redesign of resource life cycles so that products are reused. She went on to quote the words of Pope Francis: “We live in a wasteful culture in which we not only waste stuff, but also people”.
THE FIVE ‘R’s
Anne Marie explained that the strategy towards zero waste should focus on the five Rs in the order 1 – 5.
1. Reject / Refuse what you don’t need.
2. Reduce what you can.
3. Reuse what you can
4. Repair what you can
5. Recycle or compost what you can
PRIORITIES IN THE HOME
Anne Marie outlined ways in which she applies the zero waste philosophy in her home. She says it starts with her shopping and ensuring that she buys only what she really needs. At home she says she focuses on using minimum detergents (which are eco-friendly). Finally she recommends that we “think before we throw”. Can the item be repaired or reused instead of being thrown away as waste?
COMMON GROUND NI.
A short input was given by Robbie Breadon and Fi Gilmour of the Common Ground Centre which is located near Fivemiletown in East Fermanagh. They described their new Centre as an innovative education, ecotherapy and retreat centre. The Clogher JPIC Laudato Si’ event is featured on the Clogher JPIC Group page on Facebook.