Thursday, April 2, 2009

Christians unite to ‘Put People First’


TWO THOUSAND Christians marched on the capital last weekend to highlight the plight of the poor.

Ahead of London’s G20 Summit, a number of Christian organisations including Tearfund, CAFOD, World Vision, Micah Challenge, Progressio and The Salvation Army marched under the banner “Put People First” in a parade of 35,000 people. Speaking to a congregation of 1200 at the ecumenical service in Central Hall before the rally, the Bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, said those in the developed world must not forget those in the poorest parts.

“It is imperative we stand with people in this global emergency,” he said. “The G20 Rally is our opportunity to make the case for a global society that is committed to tackling poverty, injustice and climate change with the aim of creating a brighter future for the many and not just the few.”

Dr Chartres urged people to put pressure on world leaders ahead of their key December meeting in Copenhagen. He said: “If we take more than our fair share of the Earth’s resources and if we contribute to climate change then it is going to be the most vulnerable and poorest people in the world who suffer first. “We’ve mortgaged some of our children’s tomorrow to fund our today.”

The secretary general of the Zambia Episcopal Conference, Father Joe Komakoma, said: “Whereas rich countries can afford to come up with stimulus packages, worth billions of pounds, the poor countries, like Zambia have limited opportunities to cope with the current global downturn.”

The Rev Joel Edwards, International Director of Micah Challenge, said: “For the first time in human history we have reached the place where we are potentially irreversibly damaging our environment.

More here-

http://www.religiousintelligence.com/news/?NewsID=4171

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