Extinction Rebellion Spirituality

On 26 May, the American interfaith organisation Greenfaith and the 'Spiritualities' branch of Extinction Rebellion led an action of civil disobedience in Paris against Total Energies' pipeline project in Uganda.

Nine religious figures from the Muslim, Buddhist, Christian and Jewish traditions, including Master Reigen Wang-Genh and Kankyo Tannier, blocked the Léopold-Sédar-Senghor footbridge, where they chained themselves to environmental activists. Around them, believers of all faiths gathered to reflect.

For 1443 seconds (the length of the future pipeline) a psalm from the Bible was sung, accompanied by the sound of a Tibetan bowl and a ram's horn. Testimonies from Ugandans displaced by the project were also read out.

This is not the first action in which Maître Wang-Genh and Kankyo Tannier have taken part. Last November, they demonstrated in front of a Total Energies station against the pipeline project, at the call of the same organisations, along with a number of religious figures from different denominations.

"If we don't take care of life and ourselves, we are mistreating what has been given to us" Master Reigen Wang-Genh.