(Photo: Christian Climate Action)
A series of protests took place during the weekend at several Church of England cathedrals and abbeys, where members of the group, Christian Climate Action, called on the church to take a stronger stance on climate change.
Around 20 participants staged demonstrations at Bath Abbey, Durham Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Winchester Cathedral, and York Minster.
The demonstrations involved draping banners from towers and rooftops, as well as quietly holding banners inside the cathedrals and saying prayers in the cloisters.
At Bath Abbey, four individuals on a scheduled tower tour made their way up to the roof shortly after noon and unfurled a banner reading “DON’T CRUCIFY CREATION.”
They declined to leave the roof, and police and fire services were called to the scene.
Four protesters displayed a large banner in front of the altar in Westminster Abbey and before sitting down. Security staff removed two of them, while the others left when asked.
An analogous silent demonstration took place at York Minster, where authorities permitted a banner display to proceed.
At Winchester Cathedral, protesters positioned a banner on the cathedral roof, and at Durham Cathedral, they unfurled one on the lawn.
The actions follow the circulation of a document titled Stop Crucifying Creation, distributed in recent weeks to Church of England clergy.
The document calls on the Church to take a more public position on climate change, reduce its own environmental impact, and address the role of fossil fuel companies, government, and media.
Participants described their actions as an appeal for the Church to adopt a more outspoken role.
A Christian Climate Action spokesperson said: “We challenge the church (and we include ourselves) to find the courage to speak up for those impacted by climate breakdown, to stand up to the government and the fossil fuel corporations who are hastening climate and ecological collapse and to join and support civil disobedience where necessary. In short, to be as radical as Jesus was when faced with an unjust system.
“Of course we must also put our own house in order – installing solar panels, rewilding church land and so on, but that cannot be the beginning and end of our responsibility.
“We must speak and act prophetically and unapologetically, refusing to be silenced whatever the consequences, as we bear witness to the truth about the destruction of our God-given and beautiful planet.”
Climate protests held at cathedrals across England
