⛪🌎 MASS FOR COP30 AND CARE OF CREATION

What a fantastic day we had in Glasgow yesterday! A huge thank you to everyone who joined us at St Andrew’s Cathedral to pray for our common home and for world leaders as COP30 begins in Brazil.

We were delighted to host the Mass and the presentation afterwards in Eyre Hall in collaboration with the Bishops' Conference of Scotland’s Care of Creation Office, SCIAF and the Scottish Catholic Education Service. It was lovely to see such a turn out of supporters from across our networks, especially on a Monday afternoon!

A special thank you goes to pupils and teachers from schools across Scotland, including as far away as Dumfries, who came together to pray and reflect on our call to care for creation and to act for our brothers and sisters who are suffering the impacts of climate change.

We were also honoured by the attendance of the Presiding Officer The Scottish Parliament, Alison Johnstone, and Scottish Labour Party Leader, Anas Sarwar.

In his homily, Archbishop Nolan commended all those individuals who strive to protect our common home, while reminding us that genuine progress depends on world leaders embracing their shared responsibility for all humanity. He urged us to pray that the tide will turn and that leaders will act for the good of all peoples rather than narrow national interests.

The Archbishop’s words echoed Pope Francis’ appeal in Laudate Deum, written ahead of COP28, which calls leaders to rise above short-term interests and act with moral courage for the sake of future generations:

💬“May those taking part in the Conference be strategists capable of considering the common good and the future of their children, more than the short-term interests of certain countries or businesses... To the powerful, I can only repeat this question: ‘What would induce anyone, at this stage, to hold on to power, only to be remembered for their inability to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do so?’”

Following Mass, we were joined live from COP30 by SCIAF’s Ben Wilson, who reminded us that our call to care for God’s creation is inseparable from the pursuit of climate justice - to achieve fair outcomes and substantial change for those who are most impacted by climate change but who have contributed to it least. Ben spoke with hope about the witness and role of faith communities in achieving these goals as often they are the ones who can hold leaders and states to account through shared values and pursuit of dignity and the common good for all.

Pope Leo XIV in Dilexi Te calls us to allow our contemplation of Christ’s love to move us to action:

💬“Contemplating the love of Christ helps us to become more attentive to the suffering and needs of others and strengthens us to participate in his work of liberation.”

As we heard from Ben yesterday, this work of liberation is urgently needed where people face loss and damage caused by climate change.

May our prayer and advocacy continue to be a sign of hope and a call to action for the care of all God’s creation and all His people. 🙏💚🌱