I feel proud of myself after Caritas’ annual meeting

I feel proud of myself right now. Caritas is the Catholic Church’s support and aid organization, and today I attended Caritas Sweden’s annual meeting. I had submitted a motion entitled “Invite climate activists to the church.” It was received positively, I also had the opportunity to talk briefly about why climate commitment should be a natural part of the Catholic faith, and that this needs to be made more visible.

After the annual meeting, someone came up to me and questioned whether I also meant those people from “save the wetlands” that “terrorize society”¹. I was able to respond respectfully but firmly, stand up for what I thought was right, and even managed to avoid getting stuck in any longer debate. Then I met some other interesting people.

Nothing much changed there and then, but at the same time I feel that my presence was important. I was there. I made a mark. The Catholic Church I want to be part of should be based on love in action. It should be welcomed and encouraged to engage in global justice and the good of all people. Unfortunately, this is far from obvious right now, but today I made the opposite a little less obvious.