The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency presents a challenge to people of faith on the key issues facing the US and the community of nations. The Climate Crisis has only grown more imminent as we have seen its effects in recent weather events. Faith for Earth, the official faith-based environmental organization of the UN, has called for a renewed commitment to the Paris Accords (2015) and a sound environmental policy for all its member nations, including the US. The COP 28 meeting in Egypt in January 2023 stressed the importance of restoring nature and ecosystems to meet the temperature goals of the Paris Accord. The effects of the Climate Crisis are now threatening the livability of our planet Earth for future generations. GMU and the Laudato Si Movement urge the transition from an economy wedded to fossil fuels to one based on renewal forms of energy. Faith leaders in the US must join their voices to challenge any consideration of the new US administration to opt out of the Paris Accords, as was done in the prior Trump administration. The effects of the Climate Crisis impact the most vulnerable people worldwide, who often lack the resources to sustain their lives where they presently live.
The present decline of many ecological systems has led to increasing internal and external migration patterns. This displacement of people in diverse parts of the world has been a leading factor in the growth of populous regimes that separate population segments into opposing groups. This trend runs counter to the teachings of Pope Francis in his Fratelli Tutti encyclical, which stresses the solidarity of the whole human family.
GMU supports the just treatment of immigrants, refugees, and displaced persons who are seeking refuge from oppression, climate-induced poverty, violence, warfare, and insufferable living conditions. The GMU global interfaith conference on Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Persons will be online via YouTube from February 6 to February 8, 2025. GMU and other faith-based organizations stand in solidarity with vulnerable populations facing possible infringement of their rights, including imprisonment and deportation, without adequate legal counsel.
Global faith-based leaders in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the US will be present at our global migration conference in February of 2025. Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Integral Human Development, will open the conference, and the Most Reverend Mark Seitz, DD, Bishop of El Paso, Texas, and Rev. Daniel G. Groody, author of A Theology of Migration: The Bodies of Refugees and the Body of Christ, will keynote the Hub of the Americas. More information can be found at https://fratellitutticonference.org/
Gerald Grudzen, PhD
President, Global Ministries University
