After the Moral March on Climate last week, we [ecoAmerica crew] made our way over to the rally of faith leaders for the climate, staged in front of Washington's Capital Building. Among the speakers, many of which had gathered to hear Pope Francis address Congress, was Rev. Durley, a longtime Blessed Tomorrow leader, and social justice activist who found his start during the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Durley's relentless social awareness on matters of racial injustice have brought him to realize that climate change is a social justice issue of inequality, considering its impact on low-income communities. A realization that has forced Durley to address the issue of climate inequality with a similar fervour as Rev. Otis Moss III, another Blessed Tomorrow leader who joined us from Chicago to participate in Coming Together in Faith on Climate at the National Cathedral. The event welcomed interfaith conversation on climate action, hearing from some the biggest names in faith and climate, including Brian McLaren, Jim Wallis and so many more!
Why These Reverends Rallied Around Pope Francis’ Visit
Jess Colarossi | Think Progress
Reverend Gerald L. Durley believes climate justice is one of the biggest civil rights issues of our time.
That’s part of the reason why Durley, a civil rights and social justice veteran and Pastor Emeritus of Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, was in D.C. Thursday, joining the hundreds that rallied for climate action while Pope Francis delivered his historic speech to a joint session of Congress. The rally attracted reverends, congregational leaders, church members, and pastors from Christianity and other religions.
“[Pope Francis] is a prophet of our time, breaking the barriers not only in Catholicism, but he’s talking about how we can go back to the perfectly balanced world that God gave us,” Durley told ThinkProgress. “God said to take care of it, but we’ve ruined it by our own greed, our own selfishness, we’ve destroyed the trees, the ants, the bees, the birds, and each other now. The pope is saying lets come back to a balanced world again, so that what inspires me.”
