Greetings!
The environmental crisis affecting the Gulf of Mexico and communities all along the coast seems to grow more and more desperate by the day. As solutions are attempted and discarded, let us not forget the long-term ramifications of this disaster and the underlying causes which made it possible. Bishop Luc Bouchard of Canada, challenging the moral legitimacy of an oil extraction project in his diocese in Canada, spoke words that nevertheless apply to the situation in the Gulf as well:
"Our wasteful consumerist lifestyle, combined with political and industrial shortsightedness and neglect, are damaging our air, land and water..."
Bishop Bouchard stressed that his criticisms were not directed to working people employed in the oil industry but to "oil company executives in Calgary and Houston, to government leaders and to the general public whose excessive consumerist lifestyle drives the demand for oil."
We hope that this Prayer-Study-Action e-Bulletin will help you and your communities to reflect on what we can learn from this crisis and how we can go forward. Thanks to Diane Lopez Hughes, Lori Nemenz and members of the Global Restoration Committee for pulling these resources together.
In Christ's peace
Johnny Zokovitch
Program Director, Pax Christi USA
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PRAYER: A Great Urgency
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(From Chief Arvol Looking Horse)
Time has come to speak to the hearts of our Nations and their Leaders. I ask you this from the bottom of my heart, to come together from the Spirit of your Nations in prayer.
We, from the heart of Turtle Island , have a great message for the World; we are guided to speak from all the White Animals showing their sacred color, which have been signs for us to pray for the sacred life of all things. As I am sending this message to you, many Animal Nations are being threatened, those that swim, those that crawl, those that fly, and the plant Nations, eventually all will be affected from the oil disaster in the Gulf.
To read the rest of this prayer request, click here.
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| STUDY: Worry grows over effects of oil spill | |
(The following article was sent to us by the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change. It originally appeared in US Catholic. It features Fr. Vien The Nguyen, pastor of Mary Queen of Vietnam parish in New Orleans. Fr. Nguyen was the recipient of Pax Christi USA's Eileen Egan Peacemaker Award in 2008 for his work and the work of his parish community following Hurricane Katrina.)
NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- Uncertainty over how the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will affect the livelihoods of south Louisiana fishing families as well as potential damages to the environment surfaced at several outreach gatherings in the New Orleans Archdiocese.
The sessions were sponsored by Catholic Charities and Mary Queen of Vietnam Parish, which encompasses Vietnamese Catholics in the archdiocese east of the Mississippi River.
To read the rest of this article, click here.
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ACTION: Shut down BP Atlantis
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BP's long-term, reckless disregard of safety is threatening the Gulf with a spill many times larger than Horizon. Even BP admits another catastrophic accident is possible. Food & Water Watch has the evidence. Tell President Obama to shut down BP Atlantis until proven safe.
To learn more about this action, click here.
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