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Review of Benigno P. Beltran, Faith and Struggle on Smokey Mountain: Hope for a Planet in Peril (Orbis, 2012). If all the books on the Michael Ramsey Prize shortlist are as good as this, then I’m in for a treat!   It is good to have an author on the shortlist who is not from the UK or the US.   Beltran is from the Philippines.   A Roman Catholic priest, and a teacher of theology, Beltran has also been the chaplain to the most notorious rubbish dump in the world – Smokey Mountain in Manilla.   Here around 25 000 people lived as scavengers, and became a symbol of both poverty and the ecological degradation of the world. This is a deceptively short book.   It is both moving and challenging.   It also covers several different genres.   Most obviously, it is autobiographical.   Benigno Beltran was a Pilipino priest who was sent to study in Rome.   He returned to the Philippines to train seminarians.   On h...

The Paris Summit has reached an agreement.  Praise be.  It is a moment of hope, there are continuing concerns, and there is work still to be done. It is a moment for hope: Nearly 200 countries have reached an agreement.  This is not an insignificant feat of diplomacy. The agreement aims for a lower temperature than the 2 degrees that was seen as the absolute maximum before the summit began. There is broad agreement between rich and poor, developed and developing. There are continuing concerns: The pre-Paris pledges take the temperature rise to 2.7 degrees.  Still too high. This agreement has to go back to places where climate change denial is still mainstream politics like the United States.  Shameful, but true. There is work to be done: This agreement should mark the beginning of campaigns to meet the goals and even to better them.  Ed Miliband is going to work for zero emissions from the UK. We need to keep the pressure on. Investment in...

--> A Prayer for World AIDS Day God of wisdom, who in creation ordered this world and brought forth life; we praise you for medical advances that enable many to live with HIV, and protect others from infection; continue to bless those whose research brings life to others. God of justice, whose prophets proclaimed your concern for the poor; remove the barriers of wealth and privilege that keep many from the treatment they need; give strength to those who speak out for those without voice this day. God of healing, whose Son, Jesus Christ, touched the leper and made him whole; bring comfort and healing to those who suffer with AIDS; give us the courage to bring your touch to those in need. We make this prayer in the name of the same Jesus Christ.   Amen. A Prayer for those deciding on whether to take military action O God of the nations, give wisdom to all those who will decide the fate of others; help them to learn from ...