Sitting in my home in Manchester just over two years ago, I received an email from Dean Rogers Govender of Manchester Cathedral. Receiving such an email was not unusual as the Cathedral often reaches out to faith partners and is the centre of bringing our communities together. But this email was different. I opened the attachment and found an invitation to meet the Pope. To. Meet. The. Pope. Such an opportunity was not something that, as a rabbi, I thought would ever happen. But happen it did.
Along with the Dean, Bishop John Arnold, Major Andy Burnham, my colleague Rabbi Warren Elf and many other religious leaders, activists and community leaders, we travelled to Rome as a Mancunian delegation to bring awareness and action on the issue of the climate crisis.
I stayed with the Sisters of Zion, a religious order of nuns who have always been friends to Progressive Judaism – many a nun has studied at Leo Baeck College over the years. From that sanctuary I explored Rome, its food, architecture, and with the delegation, many different religious spaces – we met with Rome faith leaders and explored our relationship to the planet.
In our briefing before meeting Pope Francis we were told about the etiquette and customs so on the day I put on black clothes, as requested, and after a vegan croissant en route, made my way to meet the delegation at the Vatican. We were ushered through many ornate rooms before reaching the final room where we would meet the Pope, who, just out of hospital, had already been working from the crack of dawn.
The door opened and we walked in and the Pope, unexpectedly, was standing just inside the room, ready to shake each of our hands. I was caught off guard. We walked in, sat in a circle and listened to Bishop John Arnold as he read our opening speech. There was simultaneous translation as the Pope then shared his reply with us. He welcomed us and did not hold back from stating our responsibility: “Your united witness is particularly eloquent, since the history of your city is closely linked to the industrial revolution, with its legacy of immense technical and economic progress, together with an admittedly negative impact on the human and natural environment.”
He referred to his earlier statement on the climate reminding us of the vitality of integral ecology: “We need, in a word, to acknowledge that the environmental and social crisis of our time are not two separate crises but one (cf. Laudato Si’, 139).”
The Pope ended by asking us to remember him in our prayer. Gifts were given and on the way out we once more shook his hand, official photos were taken and blessings were given.
We walked out feeling the immensity of that moment, a man at the seat of immense power who, despite the complexities of the Catholic Church, had tried to reach across divides and lead with integrity and humility. May his memory be for a blessing.
Rabbi Robyn Ashworth-Steen is co-chair of the Assembly of Reform Rabbis and Cantors
