David Choquehuanca, Foreign Minister of Bolivia and "Bien Vivir"

I had the honor of introducing David Choquehuanca, Foreign Minister of Bolivia, at William Camacaro's May 12th Alberto Lovera Bolivarian Circle event about "Bien Vivir," or "Living Well."  This is an indigenous concept of humanity living in harmony with nature that is so simple it may seem radical (which actually shouldn't surprise anyone, as the word radical means "to the root"). 

David's comments about Bien Vivir, Bolivian culture, and its earth-honoring traditions echoed Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si in profound ways. He spoke of a "crisis of values, morals and world outlook," the need for us to be integral human beings, living in alignment with Mother Nature / Mother Earth, the need for a focus on equality, the concept that we all belong to one big family, and the similarities and distinctions amongst humans and between humans and other aspects of nature. He spoke of many indigenous terms and concepts that show us the deep wisdom our world has fallen away from, such as the symbolism in the Bolivian flag that we must learn to nourish ourselves and seek nutritional sovereignty, not just learn how to eat.  Bien Vivir is possible for those committed to self determination, dialogue, and resisting capitalism but transcending socialism, to a new way of pushing forward to decolonization in order to support all of life.  This concept is best captured in the Quechua-Aymara term "Jallalla," which Pope Francis greeted crowds with when he visited Bolivia in 2015. The more we compare this indigenous wisdom with the recently unearthed spirituality of the Church that Pope Francis has unearthed and shared in Laudato Si, the more I believe we will see just how similar these worldviews are.

As we know, Pope Francis took his name from St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis exuded and lived out a spirituality that displayed his kinship with all of creation - a worldview that is actually quite similar to the indigenous worldview David Choquehuanca spoke about. I find great value and importance in working to bring this spirituality back to a Church that needs our support to instill the teachings of Pope Francis in a meaningful way.

I am therefore grateful to be part of organizing a Laudato Si workshop series with the West Side Deanery, which includes Catholic Churches along the West Side of Manhattan in the Archdiocese of NY.  The next workshop, the second of a two-part focus on Chapter 5: Lines of Approach and Action, will be held on Tuesday, May 17 at 7pm at St. John the Baptist Church on West 30th St between 7th and 8th Avenues (refreshments at 6:30pm). We'll be sharing about several Catholic and religious organizations working to address climate change and other social justice issues, that people can collaborate with to bring various ecological initiatives back to their home parishes or organizations.

Another opportunity to continue the conversation is by participating in Tierra Sagrada (Sacred Earth, Sacred Trust) - a global day of worldwide, multifaith prayer and action for creation on June 12.  Organized by people of faith from Latin America, this day will mark six months after the Paris Climate Agreement, join the celebration of International Environment Day (June 5) and the first anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si (June 18). While 175 countries have already signed the Paris Climate Agreement, "we are set for temperature rises well above the critical 1.5°C limit that governments agreed to, and that scientists, activists, and vulnerable communities are fighting for with the cry of '1.5°C to Stay Alive'." It seems we still have a long way to go to realize the vision of Bien Vivir that David Choquehuanca speaks about so eloquently. 

 

What is Enough?

It’s two days after Thanksgiving and one day after what is commonly known as “Black Friday” here in the U.S.  Meanwhile, the climate justice pilgrims have just completed their journey from Rome to Paris on foot for the People’s Pilgrimage, bringing the voices of people of faith from across the world to Paris for the COP-21 climate negotiations, with the message that the United Nations must pass a strong climate treaty. 

I find myself joining other OurVoices leaders in asking the question, “What is enough?” 

How is it that we choose to be thankful for a day every year, and then we allow ourselves to continue to live in a society that turns around the next day, with people knocking one another over in the quest to get the best deal on the latest gadget? 

I have always understood that the holidays are a time to be grateful for what we have, for family, friends, nourishing food and the opportunities provided for us in our lives.  A time to sober ourselves to the reality that there are billions of people across the planet who are hungry and living in poverty, subject to the whims of an unstable climate caused in large part by our unsustainable lifestyles.  Given these realities, to me the materialistic frenzy that surrounds the holidays is too harmful to just be written off as shallow.  

I am grateful for growing up with a religious orientation that taught me the love of God for all people, and through which I eventually came to understand the spiritual and ecological interconnectedness of all people and aspects of creation to one another.   My experiences and those of many other spiritually conscious people have convicted me that faith, religion, and spirituality allow any of us to transform ourselves into more compassionate human beings, and that this transformation is exactly what our religious and spiritual traditions were created for.   When we do not pay attention to this reality and instead focus on the inflatable Christmas lawn decorations and long wish lists for Santa Claus and his elves, we are betraying the very purpose of the holi-day.  Americans spend more than $600 billion during the holiday season, causing some to believe Christmas is synonymous with materialism.

How did we get to this point, and what will it take for us to return to the real meaning of the holiday season….and pass strong climate legislation?

I like returning to St. Nicholas, from whom the story of Santa Claus was born.  As legend has it, when Nicholas learned of a poor man who could not afford a proper dowry for his three daughters, he decided help them. He secretly threw three purses filled with gold coins through the window of the family’s house in order to help prevent the women from remaining unmarried, becoming prostitutes or being assumed to be prostitutes.  To me this is far cry from what our society has manufactured, which somehow ties a spinoff of the legend of St. Nicholas together with a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ in a stable in Nazareth, into a “holiday” celebrated by Christians and non-Christians alike that does more harm than good for God’s creation, or to use the term popularlized by Pope Francis, “our common home.”   Not to mention completely looking past the deeper spiritual messages that Jesus preached about and stood for through his incarnation as the Christ.  

For a moment, let us pause at the wonders of the sacred world we are privileged to live in.  

For me, this is enough.

As we return to thinking about the season of gift-giving, wouldn’t we do better to celebrate the holidays by following the example of St. Nicholas, who gave of himself to protect the welfare and dignity of young women?   Given how our actions create ripple effects, our unsustainable lifestyles are directly connected to instances of human trafficking across the world:  as I have learned from Franciscans International, areas where mining of precious minerals occurs are also hot spots for human trafficking.  Instead of asking for the latest electronics or fashion items from the local mall this year, what if we replaced our selfish desires with means of combating instances which destroy the lives and self-esteems of our global brothers and sisters?  This year, for those who insist on buying me gifts for Christmas, I’ll be asking for products and services that help girls get to primary or secondary school safely through Global Girlfriend.   And no gift-wrapping, please.   In the meantime, I’ll be praying for a strong climate treaty at COP-21, with the awareness that we must put our prayers and Pope Francis’ words of Laudato Si’ into action in order to realize a better world.

Laudato Si’! Multifaith Global Climate Convergence in Rome with OurVoices

It’s been two weeks since the OurVoices Global Multifaith Emerging Leaders Convergence in Rome.  Though, I feel like it will take me years to fully process all of the amazing conversations and people I met.  Attending a global convergence with emerging leaders from across all faiths and denominations working on climate justice issues brought my abilities to work on international community public health, which I studied several years ago at NYU, to a whole new level. 

The Convergence started out with a rally in St. Peter’s Square, where we brought banners and props made in partnership with the artists from the People’s Climate March in NYC last September, where our group of multi-faith leaders came together to thank Pope Francis for his encyclical, Laudato Si’. The continuity of the movement from the People’s Climate March really made me feel like I was part of a genuine movement. Those of us who identified as Catholic took the opportunity to ask people in St. Peter’s Square if they were interested in signing a petition created by the newly created Global Catholic Climate Movement, which has already been endorsed by Pope Francis. Leaders within the Global Catholic Climate Movement are aiming to get 1 million signatures before the United Nations climate negotiations in Paris this upcoming December.

During the rest of the convergence, we heard from seasoned leaders from many faith traditions as well as emerging leaders from across the world.  I was able to see the common language about care for the Earth across all faith traditions: Hinduism, Baha’i, Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, Sikhism, and others. Learning from so many traditions which were new to me, while also being reminded of the ecologically spiritual rootedness of my Franciscan Catholic tradition, was an enlightening and spiritually liberating experience. 

From Sister Kathleen Deignan at Iona College, I identified with her feeling from living in NYC that NYC is “desertified.” I am drawn to believe that the Catholicism rooted in the Celtic spirituality of Ireland, a family heritage which we both share, played a role in the progression of our spiritual understanding of our need to green the earth again.

During the U.S./Canada breakout session, I learned of the lobby training that Emily Wirzba does with students through her work at Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington, D.C.; Daniel Blackman’s work in Atlanta to organize around a commemoration of the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina; and Austin Weisgrau’s work in Portland around fossil fuels and dialogue about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I also learned of Josh Smith’s work with Catholic youth in Canada and the Green Churches Network in Canada and Norman Levasque’s book “Greening Your Church.” I was reminded of Louis Tillman’s work to provide economic opportunity for youth through a church community garden in Chicago, as I happened to already meet him just a few short weeks ago through Wake Forest University’s Re:Generate fellowship program.

What I’ve found through my experiences is that the issues that affect disenfranchised communities are the same regardless of if the community is in the mountains of Peru, in the mountains of Appalachia, or in the streets of Harlem or the Bronx in the United States.  Environmental injustices lead to health disparities, such as how children become contaminated with poisoning from toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, or arsenic, because of pollution. People are robbed of their ability to sustainably grow food on the land and end up looking for nourishment from the fossil-fuel intensive industrialized food system, because of the interests of private development agencies and corporate monopolies. What this convergence added to the conversation was the explicit acknowledgement that when the church is silent against the companies that commit such atrocities, she is acting as an accomplice.

As shared by Rabbi Lawrence Troster from Rabbis and Cantors for the Earth, the climate crisis is not a political issue but a spiritual issue, so we need to approach it as such.  Yet hearing of the struggles to activate religious leaders in Asia and move “environmental” issues away from just being “secular” issues reminded me of the challenges we face.  How can we move people who will fast for a cause for a brief period of time, to adopt long-term lifestyle changes such as recycling?  Listening to Betty ask her global sisters and brothers to donate soil and sand to the island of Fiji because of the realities of sea level rise strengthened my conviction to continue working on climate justice issues.  I even got a chance to journey alongside Yeb Sano, the former U.N. climate negotiator for the Philippines, who has left his role with the U.N. to lead the People’s Pilgrimage – a powerful worldwide spiritual movement that reinforces the need to address the climate crisis principally from a spiritual perspective, because as demonstrated by previous U.N. climate negotiations and political decisions made by various nation-states across the world (especially the most powerful), status quo political rhetoric and decisions are not getting us to where we need to be fast enough.

I was inspired by interfaith efforts to promote public health, such as the Global Interfaith WASH (WAter, Sanitation, Hygiene) Alliance and the leadership in sustainable development happening in Africa and Asia. I was impressed to learn of the leadership of the Archdioceses in Australia and Kenya and their support of young adults in promoting Catholic ecology.  The Catholics in Australia are even working on organizing around World Youth Day 2016 which will be held in Poland and include a focus on ecology.

 I was not surprised to learn that the Garifuna people in Honduras already have a climate mitigation plan. Many countries in the Global South have shown leadership in addressing climate change issues because these are the countries impacted the most.

Most importantly, the convergence participants were given a bit of encyclical education by a Vatican representative.  “Encyclical” means circular letter. It is meant to be passed on, read, and listened to. To a room of emerging multi-faith leaders, the Vatican representative told us to “take it, make it your own, be true to it and pass it on with love, sympathy, compassion.”  “Take the time to read it.” “Don’t give up on religious leaders.”  “It’s not about ecology, it’s about life.”  And if we have other ideas for the leadership that the Church should take?  What do seminaries have to teach the Church?  Take it to the Vatican: “The Vatican is not a control tower.”

Pope Francis’ encyclical sends a powerful message. It tells us that the Church acknowledges the eco-spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi, the realities of how our careless human lifestyles are disrupting the climate and affecting the most vulnerable, and how a spiritual grounding and integral ecology can help us to reverse much of the damage we’ve done.  I am very interested to see how discussion and dialogue about the encyclical (there are already a number of discussion guides out there) can lead us to healing and a deepened appreciation of faith and community.

Before we left the convergence, we were given the task of drafting an eco-theological project to carry out in our home countries. The three stages of the task include an eco-autobiography, exploring spiritual resources, and finding a forum for public expression. I found this task to be a particularly useful exercise in helping me define my own spiritual journey.  The first stage of the task helped me unearth the experiences I had while growing up that led to the development of my spiritual convictions, and had me ponder my relationships with land, animals, and other non-human forms of life. It also had me reflect on my personal experiences with environmental justice issues, something I’ve had to intentionally immerse myself in because of the protection that the privilege that my cultural and socioeconomic background afford me.

Regarding the texts which have informed my eco-theology, I thought about the creation mandate found from a spiritual reading of Genesis in the Bible, as well as a few books by Franciscans I’ve learned of through the Franciscan Earth Corps, including “Care for Creation: A Franciscan Spirituality of the Earth” and “Repair My House: Becoming a Kindom Catholic.”  These texts have helped inform my understanding of Catholic Franciscan eco-theology, such as the “thisness” of each unique creation of God and the Trinitarian worldview which underpins Christianity.  Drawing from these reflections to identify the basis of my own spiritual beliefs about the environment, I found that contemplation and the practice of being present can lead us to experience a feeling of oneness and interconnectedness, and a sense of divine presence in everything and everyone in the world. This translates into the responsibility we share to steward the Earth and treat everyone and everything as our brothers and sisters because of the kinship we share with creation; as well as the need to work for justice and reconciliation, especially when we have privilege, because of the Gospel’s call to prioritize the poor.

The last part of the task, finding a forum for public expression, is still a work in progress for me. Perhaps my reflections here are a form of this public expression, though as I continue to process all that I learned during the convergence and continue to learn at home, I’m sure my ideas will continue to evolve. I welcome thoughts on meaningful methods I could use for public expression, but most importantly, I encourage everyone reading this to create their own version of the eco-theological project.  As the convergence participants learned from the Vatican representative, it is up to us to take what we find in the encyclical as well as in our own faith traditions, and use it in our own contexts.  As St. Francis said, “I have done what is mine to do; may Christ teach you what is yours to do.”