Canberra’s religious leaders will assemble on Capital Hill this week to pray for effective measures for addressing the climate crisis at COP28, the United Nations annual climate negotiations, being held in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December.
The public prayer vigil will be held on the front lawns of Parliament House on Sunday 26 November from 2.30pm to 4pm, and again on Monday 27 November from 8am to 9.30am.
These are the dates when members of Parliament return for the sitting week before COP28.
The Australian delegation to COP28 and the diplomatic corps in Canberra have also been notified.
All are welcome to attend. The prayers will be multi-faith. Christian denominations from the ACT Churches Council, including Anglican and Greek Orthodox bishops and other pastors, will join Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and other faith leaders from the Canberra Inter-faith Forum. Multi-faith prayer intentions will also include justice and peace in our world.
“Canberra is uniquely placed for the public prayer support to national COP28 endeavours, from students at the end of their school year and from people of all faith backgrounds,” a spokesperson said.
The local prayer gatherings are organised by the Caring for Creation movement in the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, in close collaboration with the ACT Churches Council, the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC), and the Canberra Inter-faith Forum.
COP28 will be the first COP where a Faith Pavilion is being provided. COP28 aims to encourage religious organisations to exercise their moral authority to support effective responses to the climate crisis.
A pre-COP28 interfaith summit was convened in Abu Dhabi on 6 and 7 November. Twenty-eight faith leaders, from all the world’s major religions and Indigenous traditions, attended.
“Ecological teachings are increasingly being seen as a vital, integrating part of faith journeying in today’s world,” a spokesperson said.
“As the moral issue of today, they are now a mainstream part of faith groups’ mission and social teachings, not just a special interest or an optional area. They are rooted in ecological spirituality and on theological understanding of humanity’s place in creation.
“For example, Pope Francis issued an exhortation Laudato deum on 4 October, the opening day of a major global synod in Rome. It focuses on the global climate crises and amplifies the Pope’s 2015 landmark encyclical On Care for Our Common Home. Addressed to all people of goodwill, the exhortation calls for timely and effective action by both multinational corporations and the United Nations collectively at their annual global conference COP28.
“The Pope is dissatisfied with the adequacy of global responses to date, given the impacts on all and particularly the most vulnerable. He intends to be present at COP28 for three days, 1 to 3 December (early in the proceedings).”
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