Studies of Religion/Environmental Ethics Sustainable Catholic Schools Project
The Catholic Sustainable Schools Network is a collaboration between the Columban Mission Institute’s Centre for Peace Ecology and Justice and Sue Martin from St Ignatius College Riverview. It has been identified through the Network that support is needed in developing and delivering the Environmental Ethics unit taught within the Studies of Religion HSC subject. A survey has been distributed to NSW Catholic schools. A small group of teachers will meet on June 7th to develop a unit of work that will be of benefit to any school that teaches Studies of Religion no matter what religious background. Other collaborators are the Australian Association of Environmental Educators as well as the Association for Studies of Religion.
FEN now has a new look webpage and is on Twitter
Hannah Cifuentes has updated the FEN page with a new look and is currently contacting FEN members to update the content. She has also set up the Twitter account. FEN is running a campaign to get Facebook followers to post a caption for a wonderful photo we have posted. Please support FEN on
“Peace on Earth, Peace with Earth”
This was the topic for a panel held as part of a weeklong Festival of Peace run by the Chorus of Women www.chorusofwomen.org to commemorate the Centenary of the International Peace Congress of Women held at The Hague in 1915. Anne Lanyon was one of the speakers on the panel led by Professor Kate Rigby, Chair of Environmental Humanities, Monash University. Kate spoke about the impact of war on animals and the environment. Professor Will Steffen, Councillor on the Climate Council spoke on planetary boundaries, asking “Is modern civilisation at war with the earth?” Nicky Griggs from the CSIRO spoke from her perspective as a scientist. Anglican Bishop Stephen Pickard, Assistant Bishop Canberra - Goulburn spoke about notions of gift and responsibility for a peaceable earth. Anne Lanyon spoke about how the PEJ Centre addresses these responsibilities by connecting peace, ecology and justice as well as our interfaith work with FEN.
Mission: One Heart, Many Voices Conference
Hannah Cifuentes, Vijai Singhal and Anastasia Pavlovic supported Anne Lanyon who led a workshop at this Catholic Religious Australia and Catholic Mission run conference. The workshop entitled “God’s Creation and Faith - Common Ground” demonstrated to participants how FEN is working at increasing dialogue between faith and ecology.
Vatican Meeting
Columbans, Sean McDonagh, John Leydon and Amy Woolham-Echeverria, were part of a strategic planning meeting of international Catholic leaders held in early May at the Vatican to plan for the June release of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment.
John Leydon expressed the hopes of many, "There is a great sense of expectation around Pope Francis Encyclical on the environment. Some are hoping it will be a beacon for the church to be involved in creation and ecology just as Popularum Progressio was on the church's approach to development and social action"
Sean McDonagh who has been leading the way for forty years in calling the church to an ecological awareness and conversion said: “We need humility as a Church and we, the Church, can't keep our science in the 1700s. This is a good opportunity to think together about how the environment encyclical can deepen our need for better understanding of ecology and how we communicate it to the world. As Fr. Czerny said yesterday, we are all called to pass it on. We all have a role to play"
Amy Echeverria reflected that, “Pope Francisco reminds us in “Joy of the Gospel” that, time is greater than space. We can anticipate that Francis will once again in the environment encyclical invite us to move beyond sound bites and short term attention to a deeper ongoing ecological conversion that is grounded in both humility and hope.”