Caring for creation: Listening from Madagascar
‘Climate change is not only about statistics; it is about real lives.’ The latest guest on the Things I Wish I Knew podcast, Patricia, has firsthand experience of the environmental distress that many of us only read about in headlines. She wants to breakdown the physical and conceptual barriers that prevent us from praying about and acting on climate change.
In a time when climate change is often discussed in abstract or technical terms, it is easy to lose sight of the lived reality of those already facing its effects. Yet it is precisely these lived experiences that bring clarity and urgency to the question of how we care for our common home. In a recent conversation on Things I Wish I Knew, hosted by Julia Corcoran, Patricia Tahirindray, programme coordinator at the Centre Arrupe in Madagascar, offered such a perspective. Her reflections, rooted in daily engagement with communities on the frontlines of environmental change, invite deeper consideration of what ecological responsibility means in practice.
Patricia’s own journey is significant. She began her professional life in the financial sector and later discerned a call towards social and environmental justice. Her career pivot eventually led her to work with the Jesuit-run Centre Arrupe. This shift was not simply a career change, but a reorientation of priorities shaped by faith and a growing awareness of ecological vulnerability. Her current role places her alongside communities navigating the immediate realities of climate disruption, particularly in rural areas where livelihoods are closely tied to the rhythms of the natural world.
Madagascar is often celebrated for its extraordinary biodiversity, yet it is also highly exposed to the impacts of climate change. Patricia describes how these changes are no longer distant projections but present realities. Farmers, in particular, are experiencing increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, and more frequent and severe cyclones. These disruptions affect not only agricultural productivity but also the stability of entire communities whose food security depends on seasonal cycles. What emerges from Patricia’s account is not only a picture of environmental stress but also one of social strain, as communities adapt to conditions that are becoming harder to predict or sustain.
One of the more striking aspects of her reflection is the observation that many people do not necessarily recognise these changes as ‘climate change’, even though they experience its effects. The language of climate science does not always correspond to the vocabulary of daily life. This gap points to the importance of interpretation and accompaniment. It is here that the work of the Centre Arrupe becomes particularly significant. Through education and community engagement, the centre seeks to help people understand the broader forces shaping their environment and develop practical responses grounded in local knowledge.
Education, in this context, is not limited to a transfer of information. It is also about fostering awareness of agency. Patricia emphasises that small actions, such as planting trees, reducing waste and sharing knowledge within communities, contribute to a wider culture of care. While such actions may appear modest when viewed in isolation, they gain significance when understood as part of a collective response. This emphasis on communal responsibility reflects a broader ecological insight; environmental transformation is rarely the result of individual heroism alone but of sustained shared commitment.
Underlying Patricia’s work is a theological dimension that shapes her understanding of environmental care. As a Laudato si’ animator, she draws inspiration from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’, which calls for an integral ecology that recognises the interconnectedness of social, environmental and spiritual realities. For Patricia, caring for creation is not an optional ethical concern but a response rooted in faith. It is an expression of relationship, both with God and with the wider community of life. This framing shifts ecological responsibility from being primarily a technical or policy issue to one that is also spiritual and relational.
Her perspective invites reflection on how faith traditions can contribute to environmental awareness without reducing the complexity of the challenges involved. Rather than offering simplistic solutions, Patricia’s account suggests that faith can provide motivation, language and communal structures that sustain long-term engagement. It can also help hold together the emotional and practical dimensions of ecological crisis, acknowledging both urgency and hope.
A recurring theme in this conversation is interconnectedness. The environmental changes experienced in Madagascar are not isolated phenomena but part of a global system in which actions and consequences are distributed unevenly. This recognition raises questions of justice, particularly regarding those who have contributed the least to climate change yet are often most affected by its impacts. It also invites consideration of solidarity, not as an abstract ideal but as a practical orientation towards shared responsibility.
Patricia’s reflections ultimately point towards a way of seeing that resists fragmentation. Environmental care, social justice and spiritual life are not separate concerns but deeply intertwined. This integrated perspective challenges narrow understandings of development or progress, and encourages a more holistic approach to human flourishing.
The conversation does not end with solutions but with a sense of ongoing responsibility. It is an invitation to attentiveness, to listen more closely to those living with environmental change, and to consider how local experiences might inform broader commitments.
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