England and Wales: Bishops’ plenary assembly, environment and the Synod on the agenda. Mgr. Arnold to SIR, “stalemate at Cop27, no decisions taken”

The plenary assembly of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales is starting today in the pastoral centre of Hinsley Hall in Leeds and will finish next Thursday, November 17th. The items on the agenda include environmental issues, the protection of children and vulnerable adults, and the continental stage of the Synodal Path of the Church. The Bishops will also speak of the tour of the relics of St Bernadette of Lourdes in the twenty-two dioceses, which has attracted dozens of thousands of pilgrims. “In my speech at the plenary assembly, I will say that Cop27, which is taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, is not yet taking essential decisions to stop the environmental crisis”, Bishop John Arnold, lead bishop on the environment, says to SIR. “Even if hopefully more measures will be taken in the next few days to protect the populations of the poorest countries from global warming as they are those that pay the highest price for the rise in global temperature. Then, I notice the inconsistency of the British Government, that says it is leader in the protection of the environment yet has granted hundreds of licences to companies that work in fossil fuels”. The assembly will end with a virtual press conference on Zoom at midday, which, in addition to Bishop John Arnold and the secretary general of the Bishops’ Conference Christopher Thomas, will also be attended by the Bishop of the British Armed Forces, Paul Mason, and by the auxiliary Bishop for the diocese of Westminster, Nicholas Hudson.
Valentina Bombelli