50+ Catholic Leaders Urge Prime Minister To Stop Rosebank Oil Field

More than 50 Catholic leaders and organisations, including CAFOD, SCIAF, Laudato Si’ Movement and Caritas Social Action Network, have signed a letter calling on new Prime Minister Andy Burnham not to approve the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea.

The letter, coordinated by Operation Noah and Christian Climate Action, highlights Andy Burnham’s Catholic faith and states: “As Catholics, we know that the Church’s social teaching reminds us that care for creation cannot be separated from care for our neighbours. The climate crisis is not simply an environmental challenge but a profound social one. Its consequences are already being felt by millions of people across the world, including the UK, with the greatest burdens falling on those who have contributed least to the problem.”

It also raises concern that the Rosebank oil field is unlikely to make a meaningful contribution to the UK’s long-term energy security, as the oil produced would be refined elsewhere and sold on international markets. It urges the new Government to encourage and support green re-industrialisation in parts of the country that need it most, which will benefit workers, their communities and our shared planet.

Signatories of the letter include Lorna Gold (Executive Director of Laudato Si’ Movement), Christine Allen (Director of CAFOD), Lorraine Currie (CEO of SCIAF), Raymond Friel OBE (CEO of Caritas Social Action Network), Jonathan Heard (Director of Jesuit Missions UK), Jacintha Bowe (President of the National Board of Catholic Women), Anne Peacey (Chair of the National Justice and Peace Network), Dr Austen Ivereigh (Papal biographer and Catholic commentator) and several religious orders and Catholic diocesan agencies.

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