Report on “Caring for our Common Home,” a day of reflection on the environmental crisis held at New Skete Monastery, January 20, 2012 during the Octave of Christian Unity

By Brother Christopher

On January 20, 2020, during the annual observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, New Skete hosted an ecumenical day of reflection on the environment with the theme “Caring for Our Common Home.” Approximately 35 participants from Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant backgrounds spent the day listening to several formal presentations and then engaged in small group sessions that followed each presentation. A final wrap-up session synthesized the insights that came up throughout the day, which then led into Vespers in Holy Wisdom Temple to conclude the day.

The impulse for this day came out of Jesus’ prayer in John 17—that his followers may all be one—coupled with a subject we know to be more vital and pressing with each day: our response to the current environmental crisis. This issue presents major challenges for all of us—Christians of every denomination, people of other faith traditions, as well as those who do not profess any religious faith. We are all in this together, sharing this planet Earth as our common home. Inspired by the calls specifically made by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew throughout his episcopacy and Pope Francis in his encyclical “Laudato Si,’” we looked to host a humble grassroots day of reflection expressing our common concern and to consider why and how we must care for our earthly home.

To help us with this task, we were privileged to have with us three main presenters from three Christian traditions: Fr Masud Syedullah of the Episcopal Church, Dr Teva Regule, a theologian and teacher from the Orthodox Church, and Deacon Walter Ayres from the Roman Catholic Church, who is the director of Catholic Charities Commission on Peace and Justice of the Diocese of Albany, New York. Fr Masud offered the first presentation, looking at the current global situation and how humans are contributing to the crisis. With this foundation he introduced the concept of “intersectionality,” showing how the environmental crisis intersects with and affects any number of social justice issues. It is not just about our treatment of the non-human world: everything is interconnected. The second presentation, by Dr Regule, addressed specifically the relationship of Christian spirituality to environmental concerns. She explored how this response flows organically from our experience of the liturgy as well as our practice of prayer, and she emphasized that even the slightest changes in our behavior are important witnesses to life. As human beings we are priests of creation, called to care for the earth as God’s gift to us and not to give in to cynicism. The final presentation was by Deacon Walter, who specifically used “Laudato Si’” to illustrate how Roman Catholic social justice principles necessarily include strong attention to the environmental crisis. Pointing out that 99% of current scientific studies and the overwhelming consensus of the scientific community agree that climate change is real and that it is caused by people, at the same time 87% of the American public believes that climate change is not proven, that the evidence isn’t fully in. This demands a call to conversion for all us, recognizing that an integral ecology sees one complex crisis that affects us all, which is inseparable from the common good. Education is paramount. Emphasizing that there is a vast difference between being political and being partisan, Deacon Walter voiced the urgency of raising our collective awareness of the interconnectedness of politics, technology, and human solidarity. Changing both personal social habits and harmful institutional behavior has to proceed from recognizing this interconnectedness. 

As the day came to an end, our final wrap-up session allowed ideas that had sprung up in the small group discussions after each presentation to be voiced to the entire group. This provided a rich blend of “philosophy” as well as practical strategies to take away from our discussions. Vespers in Holy Wisdom Church followed this final session and provided a natural terminus for a very full and meaningful day. Our hope for the future is that New Skete can continue to be a positive meeting place for ecumenical dialogue and discussion that takes place on the grassroots level.

Fr. Masud Syedullah, Brother Christopher Savage, Dr. Teva Regule, and Deacon Walter Ayres