ISER was present at the G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20) – an organization that seeks global solutions by bringing together religious thought leaders and political representatives to help shape the overall G20 agenda. The event took place from August 19 to 23 in Brasília.
The coordinator of the Environment and Religion area Paulo Sampaio represented ISER and participated in the session on Lessons from Religious Environmental Defense: Laudato Si, Al Mizan. During his participation, Paulo presented a global overview of the environmental journey and highlighted the religious role in this journey, situating the contributions of ISER and partners in these efforts regarding climate and environmental issues.
Paulo reinforces the importance of remembering the traditions influenced by the economic and colonialist system that broke with the sacred dimension of care. “We need to talk about this topic and do this exercise of memory. Looking at Brazil, especially at Afro-indigenous-Brazilian spiritualities, and the way they relate to nature, seeing in it the sacred presence and often being the very manifestation of the divine, we have an invitation to remember.”, he highlights.
The coordinator also emphasizes that the memory exercise is an invitation to return to the heart of traditions. “This way we can see the fundamental values of care, love and defense of the Earth and of human and non-human life. We can also become aware of the serious and new challenges of this issue in our time and, in a prophetic way, we can carry out actions in our territories and communities of faith, such as Fé no Clima, an initiative of ISER.”, highlights.
In addition to Paulo, the panel was attended by Pastor Romi Márcia Bencke, General Secretary of the National Council of Christian Churches of Brazil (CONIC), Arthur Lyon Dahl, President of the International Environment Forum, Sheikh Jihad Hassan Hammade, President of the Arab Latin Center for Culture and Strategic Studies (CALCEE), Sherrie Steiner, Historian of IF20, and Dom Zanoni Demettino, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Feira de Santana.
The panel was moderated by James Taylor Christie, Ambassador of the Canadian Multi-Religious Federation and Father Marcus Barbosa, Advisor to the Commission for Ecumenism and Inter-religious Dialogue of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil.