Laudato Si' Far South

04/11/2026

31/10/2026

I stand with the Ocean/The Ocean should have a voice

Today I am proud to sign the Ocean Rights Declaration and join the Ocean Rights Movement.

Most Ocean governance frameworks are rooted in outdated, anthropocentric and colonial perspectives that view the Ocean primarily as a resource for human use, property to be owned and exploited, and a space divided into zones of control.

The Ocean Rights Movement calls for a paradigm shift: one that acknowledges the Ocean as a living and self-regulating entity. This understanding, long held by Indigenous and Oceanic communities, is now inspiring a new era of global Ocean governance.

You can sign the declaration too. Visit www.oceanrights.com.

Also check out the Antarctic Rights Festival taking place from 30 Nov to 4 Dec right here in Cape Town. https://antarcticrights.org/antarctica-week-2026/

13/10/2026

💧 Living Waters – the river keeps flowing

The Season of Creation came to a close on 4 October, but the work it inspired continues.

Across Cape Town, the different streams that emerged through Living Waters are beginning to connect: springs and groundwater, water access and social justice, marine pollution, data centres, community monitoring and the care of our shared water resources.

At St James Spring, the investigation into the disappearance of flow from the public collection point continues, with input from hydrogeologists, local residents and City officials. Follow-up is under way with the City and heritage authorities while we keep an open mind about the cause.

We will shortly meet with WaterCAN, together with SAFCEI, to discuss independent water testing, groundwater and borehole monitoring, smart water meters, affordability, disconnections and community participation in water stewardship.

We are also following the City's assessment of alternatives to the Camps Bay, Hout Bay and Green Point marine outfalls. The City has confirmed that any preferred option emerging from its internal assessment will remain provisional until input has been received from the Permit Advisory Forum, the public and other stakeholders.

Questions around data-centre development remain important too, particularly their future demands on water and electricity and the transparency of environmental decision-making.

And we continue to follow the deeper questions of Free Basic Water, indigent support, affordability and equitable access to water, particularly as Cape Town enters a drier summer with dam levels significantly lower than last year.

Springs, aquifers, wetlands, wastewater, household access, infrastructure and development are not separate issues. They are part of one living water system — ecological and social.

The Season of Creation has ended, but the river keeps flowing.

We look forward to sharing more after our forthcoming WaterCAN meeting. 💧🌍🌱

12/10/2026

All are welcome to the Living Earth Community Conference on October 17th!

The conference opens with a warm welcome from Darlene Kascak (Educational Outreach Ambassador, Schaghticoke Tribal Nation), and Gerald Torres (Yale Center for Environmental Justice). We will then hear opening remarks from Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim (Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology) and Charles Stang (Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University).

Register to attend in person at the Yale Science Building, or watch the livestream online, anywhere. Details at linktr.ee/yaleforum.

12/10/2026

Our Planetary Perspectives Panel will feature trailblazers in the field of religion, ecology, and conservation working in diverse regions around the world. Our first speaker is Dekila Chungyalpa, Founder and Director of The Loka Initiative at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and our second speaker is Chantal Elkin, Head of the Beliefs and Values Programme at the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). Mary Evelyn Tucker, Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, will chair this exciting conversation.

Register to attend in person at Yale Divinity School, or watch the livestream online, anywhere. Details at linktr.ee/yaleforum.

07/10/2026

🌍💧 What if we began to see Cape Town through its watersheds?

We usually understand our city through suburbs, wards and municipal boundaries. But water reveals another geography: mountains, streams, rivers, wetlands, catchments and coastlines—all connected.

Writer and systems thinker Jeremy Lent invites us to recognise that we are not separate individuals living on the Earth, but participants in a living web of relationships. He speaks of nurturing “islands of coherence”: communities that embody a more connected and life-giving way of living, and whose influence can spread far beyond their immediate boundaries.

What might this mean for Cape Town’s faith communities?

Could parishes and churches become local islands of coherence—caring for the streams, wetlands, aquifers and coastlines within their own catchments, while building relationships with their upstream and downstream neighbours?

We have begun exploring this possibility by overlaying Cape Town’s water catchments with Catholic parish communities.

🗺️ Explore the interactive map:

Could faith communities become places where we practise another relationship with water—praying, thanking, sharing, monitoring, restoring, protecting and advocating for it together?

https://tinyurl.com/CTCatholicWaterMap

Find your parish. Discover its catchment. Then ask:

💧 Where does the water around us come from—and where does it flow?

💧 What threatens or sustains this living system?

💧 Who are our upstream and downstream neighbours?

💧 What small act of care could our community begin?

Perhaps caring for water as a shared commons can help us rediscover that we, too, belong to one another.

This map is an exploratory tool. Parish markers indicate church locations, not formal parish boundaries.

Let us know if you would like your communities included on this map.

Explore Cape Town’s official water catchments alongside Catholic parish churches and communities.

07/10/2026

🚨🚨 On October 16 – World Food Day – National Day of Action🌱✊🏽

The Climate Justice Charter Movement, South African Food Sovereignty Campaign and our allies will march to Parliament inviting the government to put South Africa on a Climate Emergency footing.

With the climate crisis deepening and a severe El Niño looming, we're
calling for a society -driven Climate Emergency Social Contract to drive a just, accelerated transition.

📍 CAPE TOWN: Join us as we march to Parliament on October 16.

🌍 ELSEWHERE IN SOUTH AFRICA: Take part in local solidarity actions, including:
🌱 Food sovereignty workshops
🌾 Community gardens & seed exchanges
✊🏿 Climate and land justice actions
🥘 Traditional food sharing
🏛️ Engagement with ward councillors and local government

Endorse the call: https://forms.gle/x7p3BrgzEQrZ1M9B9

Log your October 16 action: https://forms.gle/JreonuCRMmLhDKBc7

Read our call to government here: https://shorturl.at/Vx6jW

30/09/2026

🌱 Water, farming and the health of children
This important UCT article examines how pesticide drift is affecting children and farming communities in the Western Cape:
https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2026-09-25-western-cape-children-caught-in-pesticide-drift
It reminds us that protecting living water also means asking what enters our soil, air, rivers and bodies—and whose health carries the greatest burden.
These connections between water, food, health, faith and ecological justice will remain important as we bring the Season of Creation to a close.

A study found that household pesticide use and pesticide spray drift were consistently associated with higher levels of pesticide-related chemicals in children’s urine.

27/09/2026

🖥️ Thank you to everyone who participated in yesterday’s public discussion on data centres in Cape Town.

The gathering raised important questions about water and electricity consumption, environmental impacts, corporate transparency, community participation—and who ultimately benefits or carries the costs.

We will share further reflections and useful resources once the presentations and key points have been gathered in the comments. Thank you to the organisers, speakers and community members who contributed.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.