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Interfaith Environmental Justice Workshop

by Sister Sue Orlowski

Discussing environmental justice issues over coffee are (from left) Sisters Ida Mae Marceau and Karen Hawkins, candidate Huong Thi Nguyen, and Sister Judy George

On October 8, seven Sisters of Providence along with 27 people of various faiths attended an interfaith environmental justice workshop at St. Aloysius Church that was sponsored by Catholic Charities of Spokane.

The workshop featured Jessie Dye from Earth Ministry of Seattle and Patty Bowman, a Catholic Climate ambassador from St. James Cathedral in Seattle.

The workshop began with a quotation by Pope Benedict XVI, who expanded on a quote from Pope Paul VI: "If you want peace, work for justice."

"If you want to cultivate peace,” Pope Benedict said, “care for creation," because nature was the first sacrament. God created the world/creation as the first gift and put humans into it as the final part of the creation story. How we treat this gift is how we treat the Giver of the gift.

Caring for Creation a Catholic value

Caring for creation always has been part of Catholic social teaching and is also part of the traditions of Jews, Muslims and other religions. One point that was made was that at one time the poor were the people who lived in your neighborhood and you could help them. With the advent of various media, the concept of the poor has expanded to include those in other countries, the polar bears, and all of God's creatures. If people don't care for the earth and its environments, everyone is affected since the earth supports the lives of humans as well as all of creation.

As people of faith, all knew that caring for creation was a matter of social justice because what one does in one place affects the entire world. There are no boundaries as we are all bonded together in the web of life. The group talked about a new concept that has been brought forward in the past several years, that of "environmental racism." We are now aware that the financially poor usually live in dirty, industrialized areas or in the path of big freeways. They live where there is increased pollution in the environment, and where poor air quality results in more illnesses.

These areas may also be "food deserts," where the only available stores to purchase food are convenience stores that sell poor-nutrition, high-calorie "junk" food, which adds to chronic illness and disease.

At the end of the workshop, participants left energized and ready to continue their focus on caring for creation, the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. Cutline: Discussing environmental justice issues over coffee are (from left) Sisters Ida Mae Marceau and Karen Hawkins, candidate Huong Thi Nguyen, and Sister Judy George.

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