From Call to Action: Ecological Discipleship for a Green Future

doi:10.1558/rsth.42166

Religious Studies and Theology, Vol 39, No 2 (2020)

From Call to Action: Ecological Discipleship for a Green Future

Abigail Lofte

Issued Date: 18 Dec 2020

Abstract

This paper critiques the four calls to action found in the 2018 joint declaration by the Roman Catholic and United Church of Canada, The Hope Within Us, and challenges notions of the Church as locus of ecological awareness and action, as the sacredness of the Church has been divorced for so long from the sacredness of Earth. Using insights on ecological conversion provided by Pope Francis in Laudato Si’, a new sense of discipleship and community is fostered to create the kind of Church needed to move from call to action. In dialogue with the communities it serves, the Church emerges as a leader in the conversation for critically engaging diverse voices and perspectives, devising a way forward that advocates for the rights of peoples and of natural resources.

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DOI: 10.1558/rsth.42166

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