Sydney, Australia, Nov 21, 2005 / 22:00 pm
A statement issued yesterday following the weekend's national climate change conference, calls for ecological conversion, warning that global warming could create a new wave of dispossessed people.
The warning followed a Position Paper launched by the Catholic Bishops Committee for Justice Development Ecology and Peace, which urged all Australians to cooperate in open dialogue and face the radical changes required to tackle global climate change.
Catholic Earthcare Australia was set up in 2003 by the Australian Bishops' Conference and is chaired by Bishop Christopher Toohey.
In the keynote address before more than 300 delegates, Bishop Toohey said that human induced accelerated climate change "raises serious moral and spiritual questions, not just for Catholics but for all Australian citizens and leaders, and calls for change in our way of life.