We see just one side of America in the news at the moment. I am reading a biography of Thomas Berry. Born in the early years of the 20th century into a very segregated North Carolina, he came from a Catholic family, unusual for the South at that time. He left for seminary and became a Passionist religious brother. During his studies he developed a love for the scriptures of all the great faiths, especially those of the Far East. He managed to get sent to China in 1948 but had to return soon because of the Communist victory. Sensing common themes in all the great faiths this moved him to an understanding of the oneness of the Universe. Wonderful, mystical, and never totally knowable, and yet he was fully into scientific research to discover more about this wonder in which we live. Our shared evolution, this is our story. Long before Pope Francis he was speaking about our interconnectedness, our being a living part of this living Universe. He spoke often of the dangers for us of losing contact with our environment. An American at the fore of the ecological movement.
Kendal Catholic Priest 