If the planet is being destroyed, what can faith do and why isn’t God preventing these disastrous changes to our earth?
These are some of the questions facing faith traditions today, as they tackle issues of climate change and other environmental challenges in the 21st century.
Religious leaders from a number of faith traditions will be coming together for an interfaith forum at Sydney University on 20 May, looking at what we can learn about humanity’s relationship with the earth from our sacred texts.
Fr Steve Sinn SJ will be among the panelists at the forum. Fr Steve, who has been the parish priest of St Canice’s Church in Elizabeth Bay for the past 15 years, will be joined by Sheikh Yahya Safi (Imam at Lakemba Mosque) and a Rabbi Paul Jacobson (currently serving at Temple Emanuel in Sydney). Donna Jacob Sife, an award winning storyteller, educator and writer, will be the special guest.
‘Jesuits are committed to a faith that does justice’, Fr Steve says. ‘There can be no justice without an ecological conversion. The poorest countries will suffer the most from the effects of climate change.’
Fr Steve says the issue of climate change is close to the hearts of Jesuits who have grown up reading Teilhard de Chardin, who had a profound understanding of the spiritual dimension of the story of creation.
The event will begin at 6.30pm with a formal discussion by the three religious representatives as they respond to questions submitted by an environmentalist, legal ethicist, scientist and others on how religion can provide leadership in the current environmental struggle.
The Affinity Intercultural Foundation and the Kings Cross Interfaith Centre are sponsoring the forum. For further information or to participate in the discussion, please email lesabelle@canrock.com or call 0439 327 328.