Faith Leaders in Sweden Told Climate 'Crisis' Can Trigger Change

November 28, 2008

Author: Peter Kenny

Source: ENI

http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=2509

Politicians, religious leaders and royalty, gathered in the Swedish city of Uppsala, have heard a reminder ahead of a key U.N. conference on climate change that faiths carry a hope that can resist despair and fatalism.

"We are not at this meeting to find special religious answers to the environmental crisis," said Archbishop Anders Wejryd of the (Lutheran) Church of Sweden, which organized the interfaith climate summit in the Swedish university city of Uppsala. "We have to share the realities of technology, economy and politics with all people. This meeting draws on facts and theories that we all, regardless of belief, can take in, question, debate and possibly share."

The archbishop added, "The environmental crisis is obvious in many parts of the world. So are the consequences of a more unstable climate." He noted, "In times of crisis, fear may block us but it is mainly in times of crisis that real change can take place. The crisis of the world may even show us a kairos, a suitable time for change."

Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria officially opened the 28 to 29 November meeting, and said she believed faith could bring people together on the issue of climate. Other speakers included Oren R. Lyons of the Native American Indian Onondaga tribe, history professor Hava Tirosh-Samuelson of Arizona State University, and Swedish environment minister Andreas Carlgren.

Wejryd said before the meeting, "The Uppsala Interfaith Climate Manifesto, which will be signed by the 30 religious leaders and teachers, is a concrete expression of shared responsibility. People from different faith traditions from around the world will be united around the same commitment."