USA
Update from the UN: Conference of the Parties on Climate Change
November 6-18th is the COP 27 meeting in Egypt.
Sister Sharon Zayac shares an introduction to this important next step in saving our planet.
A huge delegation of people will be in Egypt at the foot of Mt Sinai where the monks of St. Catherine have been in continuous prayer for 17 centuries. The first official icon of Jesus was written in this monastery.
As the delegation moves towards COP 27 I ask for your prayers that countries will make a firm commitment to 1.5 Celsius and not just words. Please pray for all of us as we move into this
Important meeting of the nations and civil society.
JCOR, Justice Coalition for Religious that our UN is a member of has put together a special guide and a particular pilgrimage that we can all take during the month of November.
Here are the links to the guide and pilgrimage
Shoeless on Sinai: A digital pilgrimage to COP27 https://jcor2030.org/shoeless-on-sinai-a-digital-pilgrimage-to-cop27/
JCoR Guide to COP27: https://jcor2030.org/communications-guides/
Included in Sharon’s introduction at the end is a Calendar of videos and reflections from around the Dominican World. Some of you will also receive a daily reflection through DSC and St. Catherine Chapter of the Adrian Dominicans via the listservs. We look forward to joining you in prayer and looking at the wonderful videos that have been shared with us as an example of how Dominicans are mitigating Climate Change. The videos are all different and begin at the beginning of November. Enjoy and let us pray for a positive outcome of this incredible two weeks ahead.
Conference of the Parties on Climate Change
COP27 – A Dominican Response
November 6-18, 2022
The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP27, will be held from November 6 to 18 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Sharm El Sheikh is Egyptian for the city of peace, an apt name for the international gathering to address the increasing urgency for climate crisis action. The city is also tellingly located only 50 miles from Mt. Sinai, a site sacred to three major faith traditions, all of whom recognize the one Creator whose love encompasses the whole of life.
This is a gathering of heads of State, ministers and negotiators, climate activists, mayors, civil society representatives, CEOs, and concerned citizens from many nations who come together to continue the on-going efforts to revitalize international cooperation on climate action. It is essential that they hear from as many voices as possible. We are all of us affected by the growing consequences of climate change.
Our Dominican voice is one of the many that must be heard. There are ___ sisters and brothers in almost every nation of the globe. We are on the ground, literally, experiencing the crises, living and working with the increasing numbers of people, particularly the poor and marginalized, whose lives and livelihoods are devastated by extreme heat, loss of biodiversity, storms, drought, floods, and fire. It is not only our compassion and desire for justice that moves us to action, however. Our response comes from the very heart of why we were founded.
In the 12th Century, the dualistic Albigensian heresy pitted the material world, created by the evil God, against the spiritual, created by the good God. Dominic de Guzman’s response was to found an Order to Preach the Truth of the integrity of the whole of creation, created by the One God.
This was further affirmed by Albert the Great, who shifted academia from Plato’s cosmology, which did not see reality in the material word, to that of Aristotle, who did. Thomas Aquinas recognized that the shift in cosmology required a whole new understanding of the Divine, and he spent his life, literally, rewriting theology. Catharine of Siena’s theology is deeply rooted in images of creation. Meister Eckhart is our creation mystic par excellence. Martin de Porres, friend to all living creatures, shows us how to live in right relationship with one another and the whole of life.
Veritas. By our very charism as Dominicans, we are called to speak Truth to a world that often lives in denial of reality. Our emphasis on study to separate fact from false hype, on prayer and contemplative reflection that open us to our own personal transformation, on the importance of living for the common good lend us credibility to speak this, Truth.
Since few of us can travel to Egypt for a physical presence, we offer the following as a way to be connected to the work and the outcome of the Conference.
There is a Series of reflections on the readings for each of the days during the Conference
Short videos that highlight some of the work we Dominicans are doing to address climate and a webinar at the beginning of this calendar presented by Sr Sharon Zayac and Father Neil Mitchell OP of South Africa. The webinar is 49 minutes in length on Integral Ecology and the Dominican Charism.
I’d like to thank Jill Buffetta who is my intern this semester who worked on the Calendar of events. She did an outstanding job and I really need her help and creativity as we found the correct platform for the reflections.
Most especially I liked to thank the Committee who worked with me to create a Dominican response to COP 27.
- Jane Belanger, OP Dominican of Peace
- Linda Gibler, OP Dominican of Houston
- Neil Mitchell, OP Dominican of South Africa
- Sarudzai Muetero, OP Dominican of the Sacred Heart Zimbabwe
- Corinne Sanders, OP Dominican of Adrian
- Sharon Zayac, OP Dominican of Springfield
