We, delegates of churches from 32 European countries and participants from churches from all over the world met in Budapest from 8 – 12 November 2010 for the consultation “Poverty, Wealth and Ecology in Europe”. The consultation was part of a broad ecumenical process initiated by the General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Porto Alegre in 2006.
In visiting local communities, we have been faced with the impacts of the economic crisis in Hungary. We have learned about the exclusion of Roma and the difficulties of migrants. We have discussed widespread poverty in the rich continent of Europe, worsened by the present financial collapse. We are concerned by growing injustice, social polarization and sharpening regional disparities of Europe. We note the broad social and economic gap between old and new member states of the European Union. We recognize that great sections of Eastern Europe and many in the Western parts in the present situation are confronted with the suffering of people living under abject poverty, and that this is therefore a priority of the churches concerned. We acknowledge that we are part of societies which are obsessed by the ideology of growth and consumerism. We demand that people should be in the centre of economic policies.
We have criticized the primacy of economy over people and creation as a whole. We recognize the relational character of life in the ‘community of creation’ and the special God-given responsibility of human beings in this community. We recognize the fundamental interdependence between human societies and the rest of creation, and their ultimate dependence on God the Creator, the Redeemer and the Sustainer. Therefore, we as the people of God are called to participate in the work of God in this world, extending God’s love and care to all human and non-human members of the ‘community of creation’.
We recognize that unsustainable methods of wealth creation and the adherence to unlimited growth impoverish communities and harm creation as a whole. We have learned how challenges of injustice and climate change are interlinked. We have stressed that social and climate justice belong together.
In the light of these insights, which we identify as signs of a profound spiritual crisis, we, the delegates of European churches released the Budapest Call for Climate Justice – addressing poverty, wealth and ecology.
