(RNS) Villagers in southern Switzerland will ask Pope Benedict XVI for permission to alter a centuries-old prayer, in response to the effects of climate change.
Since 1678, the residents of Fieschertal and Fiesch have prayed that God keep the Great Aletsch glacier, Europe’s longest, from encroaching on their Alpine villages. They have renewed that prayer in a procession on July 31 every year since 1862.
But the glacier is now shrinking at a rate of 100 feet per year, according to one estimate, raising the threat of flooding and eventually a loss of water supply. So the villagers have decided they want God to preserve the Great Aletsch, and have requested an audience in order to seek Benedict’s blessing.
“The residents of Fiesch and Fieschertal hope that this will happen in September or October and are optimistic that the Holy Father will decide in their favor as he has repeatedly spoken out about climate change,” they said in a statement quoted by the Reuters news agency.
“Glacier is ice, ice is water and water is life,” said the Rev. Pascal Venetz in a recent sermon at a local chapel, according to The Associated Press. “At our next procession, we might just be able to pray against climate change, global warming and the receding of the glacier.”