A Call for the Protection of All Species
In this powerful message, Fr. Sean McDonagh SSC discusses one of the most urgent environmental challenges facing humanity: the global biodiversity crisis. While climate change remains a critical concern, he explains why the rapid loss of species—often described as Earth’s sixth mass extinction—is an equally pressing ethical, ecological, and spiritual issue.
What Does God Have To Do With Elephants, Whales, and Polar Bears?
What does faith have to do with the survival of elephants, whales, and polar bears? In this talk delivered at the United Nations Environment Assembly, Rabbi Yonatan Neril explores the deep connections between religious teachings and the urgent challenges facing the world’s wildlife. He examines how sacred texts and faith traditions frame humanity’s responsibility toward animals and the natural world, and argues that spiritual values — not just policy and science — have a critical role to play in conservation efforts. From vanishing habitats to species under threat from climate change and human activity, Rabbi Neril makes the case that protecting God’s creation is as much a moral and spiritual obligation as it is an environmental one. For those curious to explore this theme further, a companion video looks at giraffes and their own unique relationship to faith-based conservation.
What Does God Have To Do With Giraffes?
Giraffes, with their towering height and gentle, graceful presence, stand as one of nature’s most striking testaments to the wonder of creation. In this reflection, Rabbi Yonatan Neril explores what these remarkable animals reveal about God’s design and the deeper spiritual meaning behind biodiversity. Rather than viewing wildlife simply through a scientific or conservationist lens, Rabbi Neril invites viewers to see giraffes — and the natural world more broadly — as expressions of divine creativity and beauty worth protecting. This piece connects faith, wonder, and environmental responsibility, encouraging a spiritual appreciation for the animal kingdom. Viewers interested in exploring this theme further can also check out a related video on elephants, whales, and polar bears, which examines what faith has to do with sustainability and protecting the natural world.
Coronavirus vs. Humans: Is Nature Out of Balance?
The emergence of the coronavirus raises a pressing question: has humanity’s expansion into wild spaces pushed nature dangerously out of balance? This piece examines the deeper roots of the pandemic, exploring how deforestation, wildlife trade, and encroachment on natural habitats have blurred the boundaries between human society and the animal kingdom — creating conditions ripe for zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 to jump from animals to humans. Rather than treating the virus as an isolated event, this perspective frames it as a symptom of a larger ecological imbalance caused by unchecked human growth and disregard for natural ecosystems. A companion video extends this exploration to Nairobi, Kenya, examining how rapid urban expansion is reshaping the relationship between people and animals in real time, and what that means for the future of both public health and environmental sustainability.
Coronavirus and Climate Change
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed governments, businesses, and individuals worldwide into rapid, decisive action — lockdowns, mask mandates, vaccine development at record speed. Yet climate change, a slower-moving but arguably more far-reaching crisis, has struggled to inspire the same level of urgency and sacrifice. This piece explores that puzzling gap: why humanity can mobilize so swiftly against an immediate, visible threat like a virus, but drags its feet on a long-term, diffuse threat like a warming planet. It also examines an often-overlooked lever for climate action: religion and faith-based leadership. Rabbi Yonatan Neril, founding director of The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, speaks from the historic Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City about how spiritual traditions can motivate environmental stewardship — tapping into values like moral responsibility, stewardship of creation, and community accountability that secular messaging often fails to reach. A companion video dives into a related angle: how the coronavirus…
Coronavirus and Megacities
Why did the coronavirus spread so ferociously through dense urban centers like New York City, Wuhan, and Tehran? This piece explores the unique connection between megacities and pandemic spread, examining how high population density, crowded public transit, close living quarters, and constant global travel create ideal conditions for a virus to move rapidly through a population. Rabbi Yonatan Neril, founding director of The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, shares his reflections from Jerusalem, considering not just the public health dimensions of this pattern but its deeper implications for how humanity organizes itself and interacts with the natural world. As urbanization accelerates globally, this reflection raises important questions about sustainable city planning and resilience in the face of future outbreaks. A related video expands on this theme, exploring the broader connection between the coronavirus pandemic and climate change.
Coronavirus: What We Can Learn
The coronavirus pandemic, beyond its immediate health and economic toll, carries deeper spiritual and ecological lessons worth reflecting on. Speaking from Jerusalem, Rabbi Yonatan Neril outlines four key takeaways that the crisis has revealed about how we live and relate to the world around us. First, the pandemic has made vividly clear that we are all connected and interdependent — not just with one another across the globe, but with the animal world as well, including species like bats and pangolins, believed to be linked to the virus’s origin. Our individual choices ripple outward, affecting people and ecosystems far beyond our immediate surroundings. Second, the crisis proved that constant travel isn’t as necessary as we once assumed. Video conferencing has shown that meaningful work and connection can happen without extensive physical travel, opening the door to more sustainable ways of conducting business and relationships. Third, coronavirus has encouraged a slower,…
Catholic vs. Consumerism
Consumerism promotes endless acquisition and consumption, but Catholic teaching offers a counter-vision rooted in restraint, community, and care for creation. In this talk, Brother Steve DeMaio of Studium Theologicum Salesianum outlines five key Catholic principles — the “Five S’s” — that offer a framework for living a more sustainable, less consumption-driven life: Simplicity (embracing a modest, uncluttered way of life), Synodality (walking together in shared discernment and community decision-making), Solidarity (standing with the poor and vulnerable, including future generations affected by environmental harm), Subsidiarity (empowering local communities to make decisions close to where their impact is felt), and Sacrifice (willingly giving up comfort or convenience for the greater good of others and the planet). Together, these principles challenge the consumerist mindset by grounding sustainability in spiritual discipline and communal responsibility rather than individual accumulation. This talk was recorded at the 2019 Interfaith Seminary Symposium on Ecological Behavior in Jerusalem, a…
What Does God Have To Do With Disposables?
Disposable plates, cups, and cutlery have become symbols of modern convenience — but at what cost to the planet, and what does faith have to say about it? This piece explores the often-overlooked connection between disposable culture and spiritual values, questioning why single-use consumption has become so normalized despite its environmental toll. Drawing on faith-based perspectives, it examines how a mindset of throwaway convenience runs counter to religious teachings on stewardship, mindfulness, and respect for creation. Rather than treating sustainability as purely a secular or scientific concern, this reflection frames the choice to reduce disposables as a spiritual practice — one rooted in gratitude, intentionality, and care for the world God created. For those looking to explore related themes, Sonja Ohlsson offers a complementary perspective on sustainability, spirituality, and simple living, further connecting everyday choices to a deeper sense of purpose. Disposables and sustainability: a rocky relationship. What’s the connection…