Special Redditch mass to celebrate creation - and combat climate change - The Redditch Standard

Special Redditch mass to celebrate creation - and combat climate change

Redditch Editorial 15th Sep, 2019   0

A SPECIAL mass is to be held in Redditch celebrating the gift of creation and calling for more action on climate change.

Organised by members of the town’s Catholic community, it’s at 6.30pm on Wednesday, September 18 and people are asked to gather at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Beoley Road West for the Creation Celebration mass.

The event is being held in ‘Creation Time’ which was started by the World Council of Churches in the 1990s as a way of celebrating and drawing attention to the state of the world’s environment.

All member churches of Churches Together in Redditch have been invited.




Jim Quinn from the local CAFOD Group said: “We all enjoy the beauty and bounty of the gift of creation which has evolved into something truly wonderful and, until recent times, something able to sustain life on the planet for the benefit of all.

“However, due to our lack of concern for this beautiful but finite resource the very existence of life on earth is now threatened.”


The mass aims to not only celebrate this gift but will also include stories from the around the world on how the Catholic charity CAFOD is helping people in developing countries to cope with a changing climate which is causing them, those who have done the least to cause climate change, great harm.

There will also be an opportunity to sign a petition to the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, asking the government to commit to zero net emissions by 2045.

This is because it is now known that the government’s current target of 2050 is no longer enough and a new target date of 2044 is necessary to meet the targets in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

After the mass there will be a bring and share supper and table discussions on individual and collective action.

The text of the petition is:

Dear Prime Minister,

The transition to net zero must start now. Achieving net zero emissions will limit the worst effects of climate change on our health, homes and communities and people living in poverty around the world. Will you act quickly to ensure:

· All government departments urgently bring forward policies to achieve net zero emissions. And go further, faster to achieve net zero emissions honestly, transparently and without caveats by 2045.

· UK investment overseas and at home is consistent with keeping global temperature rise below1.5 degrees. This should include stopping all new public support for fossil fuels overseas.

· The UK shows leadership by connecting the crises of poverty, environmental degradation and climate change and makes concrete commitments to combat them at key international events.

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