Posted Friday 04 December 2009
Scotland’s faith leaders have thrown their weight behind a major climate change protest in Glasgow this weekend.
On Saturday (5 December), thousands of people will descend on Scotland’s biggest city for The Wave. The family-friendly march will depart Bellahouston Park at 11am and finish with in a mass rally with music, entertainment and speeches in Kelvingrove Park.
The Most Rev David Chillingworth, The Rt Rev Bill Hewitt and Cardinal Keith O’Brien and will take part in a joint ecumenical church service before the rally at 10am in St Leo the Great Roman Catholic Church in Beech Avenue, Bellahouston, as part of the demonstration.
The Most Rev David Chillingworth, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, said: ”We must care for the earth and pass it on to the next generations. That’s our duty to our children.”
The Rt Rev Bill Hewitt, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said: “We need to be sure that the negotiators gathered in Copenhagen are aware of our support and our belief in the importance of their task.”
Cardinal Keith O’Brien, leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, added: “People from all faiths and none will suffer the effects of catastrophic climate change if world leaders fail to deal with the problem. The leaders of the industrialised nations meeting in Copenhagen next week must deliver a legally binding agreement to tackle climate change urgently. “
Osama Saeed, chief executive of the Scottish Islamic Foundation, said: “We see it as essential to take part in the Wave to demonstrate the fact that the stakes are high, we only have one world and it’s our job to protect it and the people on it though being cleaner and greener.”
The Wave, organised by Stop Climate Chaos, will call on Gordon Brown and other world leaders to agree a strong and legally-binding deal at the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen which starts next week.
On Sunday 13th December, churches across the world will ring their bells 350 times to highlight the importance of the international summit.
The ringing will begin at the high-profile ecumenical service at the Lutheran Cathedral in Copenhagen, and it is hoped that Christians around the world will echo them by sounding their own bells, shells, drums, gongs or horns.
They are ringing 350 times, because this refers to 350 parts per million (ppm) – the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, according to scientists, climate experts and government figures.
Category: Primus
