Imelda Soidi
Pope Francis, in his encyclical Laudato SI’, , reminds us one very important aspects of connection between person and place: “The history of our friendship with God is always linked to particular places which take on an intensely personal meaning… going back to these places is a chance to recover something of their true selves.” (LS 84)
This passages speaks of a sacredness of place that shapes our values, guides our memories and allows us to reclaim our “true selves.” It highlights human flourishing as closely linked to an enduring sense of “home.”
In today’s reality, many are forced to leave this place of belonging especially in low-lying islands. Coastal erosion and sea-level rise are turning ancestral lands into uninhabited territories. The places that once offered a pathway to “recover something of their true selves” are now symbols of irreversible loss.
Climate change forces relocation and strikes at the deepest layers of human existence, thus causing a disconnection – a disconnection of self, the other, and Creation.
Being forced to leave means losing direct contact with sacred sites, burial grounds, and the specific ecosystem that sustain their traditional rituals and knowledge. This is a severance of the link between faith, culture, and the natural world. Displacement makes it difficult for elders to pass on their culture, language, and knowledge to the next generations. The stories and songs that mostly rooted in the land now remain relics without context. Many communities stand to not only their future homes, but their entire past.
For us, the challenge is clear and that is to move beyond survival mode and re-embrace our interconnectedness, and act with urgency to protect the sacred places that give us a glimpse of the Creator.
Ms Imelda Soidi is a RAOEN COP30 delegate from the Dusun community in Sabah, Malaysia. Imelda currently coordinates a program on discipleship and mission for young adults in Asia at the Institute of Formation Fondacion Asia.