Franciscans at The Big One

in Faith and religious

Recently on 21st-24th April, members of the first and third order Franciscans joined 85,000 people at the Big One protest, with more than 200 organisations outside Parliament about various aspects of the Climate Crisis that are engulfing our planet.

SSF Brothers Hugh, Samuel and Magnus, and CSF Sisters Maureen and Sue joined the Third Order and hundreds of Christians with people from other faiths at St John’s Waterloo at the start of the weekend. Joining more than 1,000 Christians, they marched to Parliament, first stopping at the Shell building to present the oil company with a petition. Later at the much bigger protest aimed at raising awareness and demanding that the UK government take actual action, they manned a Faith Tent in the Corner of the Square.

Smaller protests across the weekend highlighted that continued burning and use of fossil fuels destroys on our earthly home. Together we campaigned to stop new UK coal mining sites and to stop supporting mega-corporations and their consumption of our natural resources. We highlighted that it will destroy God’s Creation for everyone and that time is running out to stop this.

To round off every evening, the Franciscans led a walk around Westminster to pray at Government Departments for the Holy Spirit to guide the workers. Also many people made small paper boats and presented them to the Home Office, saying that Refugees Are Welcome here. On the Monday, Brother Magnus joined a Mass Lobby at Parliament to see his MP. Finally to close the weekend, Sisters Sue and Maureen CSF presided at a Franciscan Eucharist outside the Supreme Court.

The Franciscans have traditionally sought to protect the Environment and God’s Creation, following the example set by St Francis. We realise that those most affected by the planet’s destruction are the poor and marginalised communities of the earth. Find out more by viewing our Caring for Creation pages here.