Exclusive by Rosie Dawson
Religious and civic leaders from Manchester are travelling to Rome next week for an audience with Pope Francis to pledge their commitment to tackling climate change.
The interfaith delegation is being led by the Dean of Manchester, Rogers Govender, and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford, John Arnold.
Among those making the trip are: the Anglican Bishop of Manchester, David Walker; the mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham; Afzal Khan, MP for Manchester Gorton; and the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Donna Ludford.
Bishop John Arnold said: “By leading this delegation, we look to use our influence in the wider community, to people of all faiths and none, leading by example and sharing opportunities to learn from each other as we respond to the ecological crisis.
“We thank the Holy Father for his leadership in alerting the world’s attention to the urgent damage of the climate crisis. In his words, ‘Each and every one of us has our part to play’.”
The initiative for the visit came from Dean Rogers Govender. After overseeing the installation of ground source heat pumps in Manchester Cathedral 10 years ago, he founded the interfaith group “Our Faith, Our Planet” to explore how the city’s faith communities could address issues of climate change.
“The faith sector is a major player in Manchester’s efforts to meet the challenges of climate change,” the dean told the Religion Media Centre. “In the past we have made our submissions to the COP [Conference of Parties] process, and work closely with the mayor’s office through membership of the Manchester climate change partnership.”
Sukhbir Singh, a Sikh, and Nidhi Minocha, a Hindu, are also members of the partnership, which was established in 2018.
Andy Burnham said: “It will give me great pride to be at the Vatican to witness the historic moment our faith and civic leaders make our commitment to the Holy Father. This is the first time that all the faith leaders of Greater Manchester have come together with civic leaders to agree our pledge for a greener Greater Manchester region.”
The delegation will meet the Pope on the morning of Thursday 20 April and members of the “Our Faith, Our Planet” group will make several commitments to tackle climate change. These include supporting the use of renewable technology, reducing the carbon emissions from their places of worship, using their land to help to heal nature and to increase biodiversity, and encouraging their communities to engage in transformational behavioural change.
The meeting will be followed by a lunch with the British Ambassador to the Vatican.
Rabbi Robyn Ashworth-Steen from Manchester Reform Synagogue said: “Aside from the opportunity to meet the Pope, I am excited to spend dedicated time with colleagues and leaders from across Greater Manchester. To have politicians, civic leaders and faith leaders together should give us a unique space to have honest, challenging and productive conversations for us to take home and implement.”
Sukhbir Singh told the RMC: “There is one humanity. Interfaith communities working jointly can better serve our Waheguru [Lord] and our communities to create better a better society and environmentally friendly planet.”
Dean Rogers Govender , added: “The visit will be an encouragement and inspiration for us, but beyond that, the trip provides us with the opportunity to connect with each other and renew our commitment. So, while the trip itself will be important it is what we do afterwards that really matters.”
