Saintly wishes falling well short of real climate change action

Colm Greaves hears echoes of Saint Augustine’s chaste intentions in Ireland’s slow path towards its renewable energy goals

A stained glass panel of St. Augustine in an Episcopal church in New York City. Ireland's climate change path arguably retraces the saint's famous plea: “Lord, make me chaste and celibate. But not just yet.” Picture: iStock

Saint Augustine of Hippo (the Algerian town, not the animal) was an important figure in the development of the early Christian church. His reputation endures in the public domain mainly through a prayer he presented in his most notable work, Confessions.

“Lord,” he pleaded, “make me chaste and celibate. But not just yet.”