MOUNTAIN climbing enthusiast, Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane scaled the Sydney Harbour Bridge on June 28 to help promote the Church’s new push to save Australia from environmental destruction.
Archbishop Bathersby, who is chairman of the new Church agency, Catholic Earthcare Australia (CEA), was joined on the climb by Bishop William Morris of Toowoomba and Bishop Christopher Saunders of Broome.
Archbishop Bathersby said CEA was a response from the Australian bishops to uphold Pope John II’s pleas for people everywhere to take greater responsibility in caring for the increasingly threatened natural environment.
‘The Pope has been speaking passionately about the environment for the past 10 years,’ he said.
‘This is a national initiative which plans to mobilise Australia’s 5 million Catholics to take decisive action to protect the natural world before it’s too late.’
The archbishop said the environment was not a marginal issue for a few ‘greenies’, but a mainstream social issue.
