by Paul Kelly, Climate Action Group member
Members of the Northern Dioceses Environment Group gathered for the annual in-person meeting held on Friday 19th June at the Laudato Si’ centre, Wardley Hall, Salford.
The meeting reflected the purpose of the centre, ‘A statement of hope – rooted in the belief we can make a difference’ and opened with prayers and quiet reflection led by Emily Cahill, the Environment and Learning Officer who led us for much of the day.
The vision and operating model is rooted in the belief that we can all make a difference through the actions we take in response to the cry of the earth and cry of the people, so powerfully expressed by Pope Francis in his letter ‘Laudato Si’ – Care for Our Common Home’.
In response to the call of Pope Francis, the Centre began life in 2019 and has welcomed over 9,000 visitors to this impressive place of education offering a model for parishes, schools and the wider community to follow and emulate.
Emily took us on a tour of the Laudato Si’ Centre – its poly-tunnels, flower and vegetable beds, fruit trees, woodlands and outdoor classroom – explaining the centre’s ambitious mission to put into practice our Faith and look after the environment and the poor of our world.
In the afternoon, we spent time sharing our ‘hopes’ and ‘fears’ and looking towards the need for collective action if we are to be agents for change. We looked at a set of resources on Salvation and Creation Care for a short parish course developed by Dr Finlay Malcolm, a theologian at Manchester University, as part of his work with Salford Diocese the last 3 years. He has developed 3 sessions each 90mins long on themes of Communion, Reconciliation, and Redemption. Full materials – leaders’ notes, participant notes, short videos, etc can be downloaded and freely used from Formation and Training Resources – Salvation and Creation Care – Research Explorer The University of Manchester
There are also some excellent resources for parishes from the Laudati Si Centre’s own website: https://laudatosicentre.org.uk/parish/parish-resources/
We concluded this part of the day with an input on engaging school children on the issues of plastic waste and the forthcoming Cop 31.
Before Mass we were invited to take our time in quiet reflection through a Woodland Walk moving slowly, noticing the woodland, using our senses and hearing the sound of the forest. We were invited to look and feel the beauty of God’s creation in the design of what God has created.
We ended the visit with Mgr. Paul Smith who celebrated Mass with the group in the woodland area under the canopy of a donated parachute strung between the trees in case it rained. A perfect way to conclude a wonderful day appreciating nature!
One member summed up the day,
‘It was great we could meet together in Salford on Friday. Thank you for coming. I found it a brilliant day, informative and reflective; and came away with lots of ideas to share more widely. And very many thanks to Emily and Mgr Paul for all their time, and enthusiasm’.
A couple of future meetings for the diary:
Monday 14th September 6:30pm a reflective evening for the Season of Creation – joint meeting with the Southern Dioceses Environment Network.
Tuesday 10th November 6:30pm NDEG meeting – Environmental Developments at Ladyewell Shrine (near Preston) with Dr Stephen Garsed
