EarthBeat Weekly: A community of sisters focused entirely on the earth

A community of sisters focused entirely on the earth   EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change September 13, 2024   The Sisters of the Earth Community at Green Mountain Monastery and Thomas Berry Sanctuary is in Greensboro, Vt. The 160-acre site includes the monastery's main house, shown from the back. The sculpture, St. Francis and the Birds by artist Frederick Franck, honors Fr. Thomas Berry. (GSR photo/Gail DeGeorge) Earlier this summer, Gail DeGeorge, editor emerita of Global Sisters Report, took a road trip into the verdant hillsides of Vermont to visit a unique community of Catholic sisters who have devoted their ministerial lives to caring for the earth. The Sisters of the Earth community reside at Green Mountain Monastery and Thomas Berry Sanctuary in Greensboro, Vermont. The 160-acre grounds are a realization of a vision by Sr. Gail Worcelo, who with then-lay associate Bernadette Bostwick, were missioned by the Passionist nuns at St. Gabriel's Monastery in Pennsylvania in 1999 to start a new community centered on care for the earth and incorporating many of the teachings of Passionist Fr. Thomas Berry, who was cofounder. Berry is certainly familiar to longtime readers of National Catholic Reporter as an ardent proponent of ecospirituality and co-author with Brian Swimme of the 1992 book The Universe Story. A 25th anniversary celebration of the founding of the community and memorial of Berry, was held June 1 this year, drawing more than 80 supporters of the community to the monastery and hundreds more online. The memorial included a liturgy, art displays and a concert on the theme "awe and wonder." Many other women religious communities and related organizations have eco-ministries and retreat centers that focus on nature and protecting the environment, but what makes the Sisters of the Earth unique is it "is the first community of Catholic sisters founded specifically for Earth healing and protection within the ecozoic era," Worcelo told DeGeorge. While other communities approach their eco-ministries with a human-first approach, she noted, adding that all efforts to protect the environment are needed, the Sisters of the Earth Community stresses the integral connection between humans, the earth and the cosmos. Moreover, the founding of the Sisters of the Earth, Worcelo notes, was 16 years before Pope Francis published his encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." Yet the Sisters of the Earth Community cannot join the Leadership Conference of Women Religious as members because it is not a public association, the next canonical step in receiving recognition by the Catholic Church as a congregation. That step can take decades — 50 years or more — according to canon law experts. Read more: Sisters of the Earth Community focuses on 'largest pro-life issue' — the Earth     What else is new on EarthBeat:   Youth climate leader: Timor-Leste stands with Pope Francis on integral ecology by Isaura Baptista Barros Being in the same space as Pope Francis during his visit to Southeast Asia, we wanted to show him that the seeds he planted in his encyclical Laudato Si' are growing strong in our island nation of Timor-Leste. Read more here »   Praying With Creation: Listen to the Earth's cries of sorrow by Christina Leaño This week, our prayer invitation will shift: to attune to the sorrow of the Earth. We are invited to listen to the cry of creation and connect to our own sorrow for our role in the environmental crisis. Read more here »   As wildfires rage in Bolivia, bishops warn of lasting damage to 'Mother Earth' by Junno Arocho Esteves, OSV News "Today we repeat to all those in charge the words of Jesus from today's Gospel: 'Ephphatha,' open your eyes and see the reality, see how children, the elderly, the sick in hospitals, and people living in the countryside are suffering from the smoke of the fires, from the smoke that covers the purest sky in America," Auxiliary Bishop Stanislaw Dowlaszewicz of Santa Cruz de la Sierra said. Read more here »   Flash flooding temporarily closes Lourdes' grotto by Maria Wiering, OSV News River flooding forced the temporary closure of the famous grotto at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in southern France. The shrine complex remained open to visitors. A morning Mass, however, was canceled Sept. 7 at the major Catholic pilgrimage site, which has experienced several major floods in recent years. Read more here »   Clothing 'zombie' of NY Fashion Week puts throwaway culture on full display by Céire Kealty One piece from New York Fashion Week put fashion's throwaway tendencies on full display. Some NYFW-goers found themselves face-to-face with a towering clothing pile, animated and ambling about Manhattan. Read more here »   In election year, climate faith leaders urge voters to make environment a priority by Elizabeth E. Evans, Religion News Service Polls show voters are concerned with other issues, such as inflation and immigration. But the environment continues to be a top concern for many voters, especially younger ones, and the issue crosses lines of faith and politics in ways that others don’t. Read more here »   What's happening in other climate news: What to know about fracking, false claims and other climate issues mentioned during the debate —Alexa St. John and Melina Wallng for the Associated Press GOP gets 85% of the benefit of climate law. Some still hate it. —Kristi E. Swartz for Floodlight One of the most potent greenhouse gases is rising faster than ever —Sarah Kaplan for the Washington Post Regenerative agriculture is sold as a climate solution. Can it do all it says? —Julia Simon for National Public Radio A Pennsylvania fracking company with more than 2,000 environmental violations was selected for federal environmental justice funding —Kristina Marusic for Environmental Health News     Colombia deadliest country for environmentalists in 2023, rights group says —Oliver Griffin for Reuters Those Keurig Coffee Pods? They’re Not So Recyclable, the S.E.C. Says. —Hiroko Tabuchi for The New York Times Final Beat: As of Friday morning in the U.S., Pope Francis was heading home to Rome from his 12-day trek through Asia and Oceania. At various points in the trip, the longest of his 11-year papacy, he highlighted the importance of creation and the plight facing island nations from climate change. Most notably, in Indonesia he signed a joint declaration with grand imam Nasaruddin Umar calling on religious leaders to deepen their cooperation in order to fight climate change and dehumanization. Revisit all of NCR's coverage of Francis' first trip to Oceania. Thanks for reading EarthBeat.    Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org Instagram: @broewe_ncr     Featured Advertisers   FAITH+JUSTICE IN ELECTION 2024: Teach, Preach, and Pray with Education for Justice's nearly FIFTY election-based prayers and learning resources.   Advertisement

WCC NEWS: Toolkit launched as part of initiative to stop online gender-based violence

The World Council of Churches and World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) launched a resource to address tech-facilitated gender-based violence. 13 September 2024 “Taking Action Against Tech-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence,” a new toolkit for trainers and advocates, offers practical ways to raise awareness and move towards overcoming tech-facilitated gender-based violence, said Rev. Nicole Ashwood, WCC programme executive for Just Community of Women and Men, at an online event on 12 September unveiling the resource.  “We are all at risk. Tech-facilitated gender-based violence is no respecter of race, class, or nationality, and it has consequences,” she observed. Tech-facilitated gender-based violence against women and girls is the “most pervasive form of human rights violation on the internet,” said Sarah Macharia, WACC programme manager for Gender and Communication.  She noted that such online violence has wide-ranging political, societal, psychological, and economic impacts, including the withdrawal and silencing of women.  She also pointed to the Global Digital Compact under development for the upcoming UN Summit of the Future that aims to foster an inclusive and open digital space that protects human rights.  “Commitments and aspirations on digital participation, digital inclusion, on closing the digital divide: they are dead in water when violation of the rights of women and girls remains a defining feature of tech tools and tech spaces.”  What is needed, she stressed, is “consistent data, good data” to drive policy change and create “evidence-based action plans.” The new toolkit, built on the methodology of WACC’s Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) in use for more than 25 years, enables the collection of good data in the social media sphere.   Monitoring for misogyny Participants gained practical insights into how this good data collection works and how social media monitoring can build gender-focussed digital literacy through a presentation by Joan Sanyu Nankya of the Uganda Media Women’s Association. The WACC partner recently ran a project to promote responsible coverage of women and girls in Uganda news media on the social platform X, formerly Twitter. The association monitored the X accounts of 40 women journalists, politicians, and civil society activists as well as those of media houses for misogynistic comments and posts about the women. The results were sobering, according to Nankya.  Tweets contained sexist stereotypes, objectification, body shaming, harassment, threats of violence, and remarks intending to dominate, discredit, and belittle the women. Women media professionals were targeted the most.   Become a social media watcher The toolkit is about changing attitudes and practice, WACC deputy general secretary Sara Speicher said.  Toolkit users become aware of the reality of tech-facilitated gender-based violence and are trained in the practical action of social media monitoring, gathering evidence, networking and involving others for advocacy at the local and global levels. Speicher noted that the new gender justice resource takes up the framework of a workshop in December 2023 that equipped a first cohort of trainers, ten young church leaders who are introducing social media monitoring in their own communities.  “Taking Action Against Tech-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence” is part of a joint WACC–WCC initiative to build a global gender-focussed observatory of social media, and all are welcome to participate, Speicher said.  “Download the toolkit. Pull together a group,” she urged and invited registration for a virtual training session that WACC will be holding on 2 October to give toolkit readers added confidence in using the social media monitoring methodology introduced in the resource.    Download the toolkit “Taking Action Against Tech-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence” for free in English, French, German, and Spanish Register for the 2 October training in social media monitoring (3pm Geneva) Learn more about the joint WACC–WCC initiative for gender justice online. See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland

WCC NEWS: WCC workshop in Kenya highlights the church’s role in land restoration

From 1-3 September, the "Restoring the Land, Protecting the Climate" workshop, organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC), convened in Limuru, Kenya, bringing together faith leaders, climate advocates, and agricultural and forestry experts.  7 March 2018, Arusha, Tanzania: Elhadi (right) and Hussein (left) prepare the field to grow onions, in Usa River. The Usa River 2 project is supported by the Meru Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania's Sustainable Livelihood programme, designed to support sustainable agriculture through biogas production and diverse practices, so as to keep the soil in good shape through many decades of work on the land. Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC 12 September 2024 The event explored how churches can spearhead sustainable land restoration and climate resilience efforts. Focusing on advocacy, community engagement, and faith-rooted solutions, participants addressed the pressing environmental challenges of our time. Athena Peralta, director of the WCC Commission on Climate Justice and Sustainable Development, highlighted the church’s essential role as environmental custodians. “Churches are uniquely positioned to bring hope and transformation. By integrating care for the land and all creation into our faith and actions, we can respond to the climate crisis in ways that promote the livelihoods of the socio-economically vulnerable and uphold the dignity of life,” Peralta stated. Workshop participants shared knowledge on land use, climate mitigation, and adaptation strategies. A key achievement of the gathering was the creation of a network of churches dedicated to promoting climate-resilient farming and sustainable land use and restoration practices. Rev. Jotham Odari of Kenya underscored the influence of churches in shaping climate action policies: “Churches play a vital role in advocacy, pushing for policy changes in agricultural practices and ensuring climate-resilient approaches are embraced by both communities and policymakers.” One highlight of the workshop was a visit to a Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) site in Nakuru, where participants witnessed the transformative potential of faith-based land restoration. Sally, a local farmer, shared how adopting FMNR techniques allowed her to sustain her family and provide education for her son, who lives with a disability. Her farm, now thriving with indigenous trees, vegetables, and livestock, exemplifies how simple, sustainable practices can create lasting change. The workshop also showcased global faith-based initiatives, such as the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s conservation efforts across 35,000 monasteries and the Anglican Communion Forest’s global reforestation projects. “FMNR restores the identity of the land,” noted Irene Awino Ojuok from the University of Bonn-Centre for Development Research, reinforcing the spiritual dimension of land restoration. In conclusion, workshop participants committed to advocating for sustainable land restoration policies at international forums, including upcoming UN climate conferences. They also pledged to strengthen partnerships between faith communities, NGOs, and policymakers, ensuring marginalized voices—particularly indigenous peoples, women, and youth—are central in climate justice efforts. Nicholas Pande of the Communion Forest emphasized the significance of these efforts: “The aim is to significantly increase Anglican tree growing and ecosystem conservation around the world, deepening care for creation within the life of the Church.” The workshop was made possible with support from the German Federal Foreign Office and critical partners, including the All Africa Conference of Churches, Bread for the World USA, the Global Evergreening Alliance, the National Council of Churches in Kenya, the Organisation of African Instituted Churches, Oikodiplomatique, the Right Livelihood Foundation, and World Vision Kenya. Sustainability and Economy of Life Care for creation and climate justice See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland

SojoMail - The question the debate moderators should have asked

This week: debate questions that went unasked, Harris on faith and abortion, and analyzing Christian nationalism in Latino churches Winning Debates Is Subjective. Winning Elections Shouldn't Be Adam Russell Taylor writes in this week’s SojoMail that people of faith should want a free and fair election — and candidates who agree on the rules: If I’d been the moderator on Tuesday’s debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, the first question would have been this: Will you accept the results of a free and fair election? According to most political commentators, Harris won the debate, her first against Trump. Throughout the 90-minutes, Trump often appeared angry and unhinged, spreading a flurry of falsehoods while Harris appeared poised and commanding, often putting Trump on the defensive about his record. Both candidates repeatedly dodged moderators’ questions and spent significant time attacking their opponent; when Harris taunted Trump about the size of his rallies and his reputation among world leaders, Trump took the bait and responded exactly as we have come to expect: with bluster. But while assessing who wins a debate can be fairly subjective, determining who wins the upcoming election can’t — or shouldn’t be. As we’ve learned since 2020, confidence in our electoral system has increasingly become a partisan issue, with over 70 percent of Republican voters believing that President Joe Biden’s win in 2020 was illegitimate, a belief fueled by the pernicious, big lie that the election was stolen due to widespread voter fraud. Changing these numbers and restoring bipartisan confidence in our electoral system will require real work — and leadership from our elected officials. It will also require voters to care. Though polling shows issues like the economy, immigration, and abortion — not democracy — are among top issues for most voters, I believe voters, especially voters of faith, need to listen carefully to how Trump and Harris talk about the freedom to vote, the process of administering the election, adjudicating the results, and all the other rules that govern our elections. After all, how well we defend our democracy will impact every other issue we care about, including poverty, climate change, foreign policy, and so much more. Which brings me back to the question I wish moderators had asked. Read the full article Advertisement Our Latest Stories Harris Says ‘One Does Not Have To Abandon Their Faith’ To Support Abortion Rights. What Does That Mean? (by Bekah McNeel) The VP and Democratic nominee has long held to her pitch asking faith voters to hold abortion rights and faith together. Will it work? Read more How Tim Walz Worked With Faith and Justice Organizers in Minnesota (by Sierra Lyons) Those who worked with Walz say their relationship began well before the murder of George Floyd in 2020, describing the Minnesota governor’s faith outreach as “authentic and genuine.”  Read more Why Did Kendrick Lamar Mention Lecrae and Dee-1 on New Single? (by Mitchell Atencio) On “Watch the Party Die,” Lamar referenced two Christian hip-hop artists who have clashed in the last year. Read more From the Magazine: Latino Churches and the Rise of Right-Wing Politics (by Tony Tian-Ren Lin) Pastor and sociologist Tony Tian-Ren Lin asks: Is “miraculous meritocracy” driving some believers towards a gospel of entitlement? Read more Advertisements Pacific School of Religion: Free Hybrid Series on AI & Christian Nationalism Christian Nationalism in the U.S. threatens to undo hard fought progress on equality and justice. Additionally, the rapid development of AI raises concerns about its impact on the way we work and govern. PSR’s 2024 Earl Lecture Series, Disruptive AI, Christian Nationalism, and Democracy seeks to speak to the intersection of these forces. Sharing Hope with a Meal "As a way to share hope with farming families like Antonia’s, World Renew invites individuals and families to host a “Dinner for Good”. This initiative offers a meaningful alternative to dining out by encouraging you to gather with family, friends, and neighbors for a special evening at home." Read more from the latest sponsored article on our website. Donate Subscribe

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