forum and vigil: Climate, Jobs, and Justice: a Moral Response to the Pope’s Urgent Message

Media coverage of the event from the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia:

Original description:
This event is a coalition event planned and supported by many partners (see below).  The event begins at the Friends’ Center, Philadelphia (scroll to bottom for address and map), and ends with a procession around City Hall to LOVE Park for a vigil.  It will take place not far from the Shale Conference happening the same day.    Flier to share: Flyer B&W Climate, Jobs, Justice-FINAL

5:30 gathering and refreshments
6:00-7:15 ” A Just Transition” forum with compelling calls to action from community, faith, labor, and health leaders
7:30 Inspiring, art-filled procession from Friends Center through downtown Philadelphia, ending in a night vigil at LOVE Park.

Please join us for a forum and vigil to lift up Pope Francis’s urgent call for climate action and economic justice!  RSVP

In June, Pope Francis published an urgent letter to people across the world: “On Care for Our Common Home.”  The letter urge people everywhere to take decisive action to preserve a livable climate and to build a just economy. The Pope will bring this message to Congress and the United Nations when he visits the US this September.

As Philly prepares for his arrival, hundreds of people from all backgrounds will come together for a forum, procession, and vigil. We will reflect on what the Pope’s message means to us here in Philly. And we will call on our elected officials to commit to a rapid shift to a just and sustainable economy, with renewable energy, clean air, living wage jobs, and justice for those who are harmed most by climate change. Everyone is welcome!

What to Expect:

• Big, beautiful art
• Compelling calls to action from faith, community, and labor leaders
• Presentations about energy, health, pollution, clean jobs, and strategies for building a just and sustainable economy
• To make friends with neighbors who care about community, people, and planet

Co-sponsored by:

• 350 Philly
• Green Justice Philly
• Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light
• Physicians for Social Responsibility-Philadelphia
• Sierra Club Southeast PA Beyond Coal Campaign
• Shalom Center

Let us know if your organization would like to endorse the event! 

Spread the word through Facebook.

Quotes from the Pope’s Letter

“The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change.”
“There is an urgent need to develop policies so that, in the next few years, the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting gases can be drastically reduced, for example, substituting for fossil fuels and developing sources of renewable energy.”
“A sense of deep communion with the rest of nature cannot be real if our hearts lack tenderness, compassion and concern for our fellow human beings. It is clearly inconsistent to combat trafficking in endangered species while remaining completely indifferent to human trafficking, unconcerned about the poor, or undertaking to destroy another human being deemed unwanted.”

HELP BUILD ART FOR THE EVENT:

We are hosting multiple Art Builds for anyone who wants to help create puppets, LED Signs, and giant banners! Learn more and RSVP for the next one here.