Pilgrims begin climate pilgrimage from the Vatican to Katowice
Pilgrims will walk 1,500 kilometers to call for action at UN climate talks
Pilgrims are walking 1,500 kilometers from the Vatican to the UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland to call for climate justice. My prayer goes with them. Christians want action on climate change. #TheClimatePilgrimage
Against a backdrop of regressive climate policies in the United States, Australia, Brazil, and elsewhere, pilgrims from around the world are undertaking an arduous journey to call for climate justice. Walking 1,500 kilometers, much of it in cold and snow, the pilgrims represent a global Christian community that demands urgent and ambitious action on climate change.
Pilgrims from the Philippines, the Pacific Islands, Europe, and the United States will take the journey. They are sharing stories of the suffering their communities have experienced and calling for ambition and a robust rulebook to keep warming under 1.5 degrees. The pilgrims’ statement of purpose is available here.
The pilgrimage will be led by Yeb Saño, former lead climate negotiator for the Philippines. In 2013, a superstorm named Typhoon Haiyan that was likely made more intense by climate change hit the Philippines, where it killed over 6,000 people. Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan will be among the pilgrims. More information about Saño and other leaders of the pilgrimage is here. Interviews with pilgrims are available.
We must keep global warming below 1.5 with a swift, just transition to clean energy. Christians are watching the UN climate talks in Poland. Pilgrims are walking 1,500 km to call for action now. #TheClimatePilgrimage
On 3 October, the pilgrims meet with the Hon. Sergio Costa, Italy’s Minister of the Environment and Sea Protection. Following their meeting, the minister, pilgrims, and local leaders will host a press conference for credentialed reporters. The press conference will be held at 12:00 CEST on 3 October in the Vatican Radio, Sala Marconi room, Piazza Pia, 3. Credentials must be obtained by 1 October, here.
On 4 October, the Feast of St. Francis, the pilgrims take the first steps on their journey, starting in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square. The feast day is significant. St. Francis is Catholics’ patron saint of those who promote ecology and an inspiring figure for many Christians.
Pilgrims will carry the world’s prayers on their backs. Thousands of prayers for the pilgrims and their mission will be written on prayer ribbons and tied to pilgrims’ backpacks.
Filipino, Pacific Islander, and European climate pilgrims are walking 1,500 kilometers to call for climate justice for the most vulnerable. Christians protect creation. The UN climate talks need ambition & a robust rule book. #TheClimatePilgrimage
Yeb Saño, leader of The Climate Pilgrimage, said, “The Climate Pilgrimage is a special journey from St. Peter’s Square to Katowice (Poland). We’re carrying an urgent cry for climate justice from the Vatican to the UN climate talks. The Climate Pilgrimage will again carry the encyclical Laudato Si’ on Care for Our Common Home with hope in our hearts carrying your message to Poland to urge world leaders to honor the commitments they made in Paris three years ago. COP24 in Poland this December could prove to be a crucial milestone on the path set out by the 2015 Paris Agreement. We expect no less than the leadership of the COP to focus on enhancing the climate ambition via a strong and robust rules for the Paris Agreement implementation, and fostering ramped-up NDCs towards 2020. But most importantly, we want people to see the climate crisis as a crisis of the spirit, and an issue of justice, one that will require a global spiritual awakening.”
Tomás Insua, executive director of Global Catholic Climate Movement, said, “The pilgrims are spending months on the road, walking in snow, sleeping on church floors, all in a Christian witness for climate justice. We must bend the arc of emissions downward and meet that 1.5 degree target, and we must do it now. These pilgrims are carrying their stories in their hearts and the world’s prayers on their backs. Christians are standing together, and we want climate justice now.”
Pilgrims will walk through Italy, Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. More information about the pilgrimage is at http://climatepilgrimage.com
The Climate Pilgrimage is coordinated by an international coalition of partners:
● Global Catholic Climate Movement
● eRko (Hnutie kresťanských spoločenstiev detí)
● FOCSIV (Federazione Organismi Cristiani Servizio Internazionale Volontario)
● Greenpeace
● Koo
● Wigwam/Rural Links
