Lusaka, 17 June, 2022 / 9:05 pm (ACI Africa).
The role of faith leaders is “cardinal” in ensuring the conversion of hearts for the good of the environment, the Catholic Priest overseeing the Jesuits Justice Ecology Network Africa (JENA) has said.
In an interview with ACI Africa, Fr. Charles Chilufya said despite scientific evidence elaborating “greed” as the root cause of the climate crisis, the heart needs to be addressed by faith leaders.
“Science has shown us what needs to be changed. Other resources, indigenous knowledge shows us what needs to be changed. We have money, we have the needed resources, but we have greed. The sickness of the earth is coming in the way and here is now where faith people could speak to hearts,” Fr. Chilufya said during the Tuesday, June 14 interview.
The Zambian-born Jesuit who was speaking to ACI Africa on the sidelines of the two-day “strategy building workshop” that brought together representatives of member and partner organizations of JENA in Nairobi to discuss “climate justice and integral ecology” added that the role of faith leaders becomes “cardinal” in speaking to hearts.
“We need to work with business people, several other players and see how we can call for renewal in each one of us and privilege ethics,” the Director of JENA, a department of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM) said.