To our great sorrow we note the passing of one of sustainability's major visionaries and leaders, Thomas Berry. At 94 Thomas leaves us with his legacy revealing the essential ties between spirituality and sustainability.

As a Catholic priest, Berry follows in the tradation of Teilhard de Chardin and others viewing the contributions of Christianity from the more controverial perspective of "process" and ecological situation of humanity. As he put it, "The universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects". Berry challenged us all to create a new "creation story" and "functional cosmology" for a new civilization built on sustainability principles and values.

He is probably best known for his 1988 book Dream of the Earth, among others.

You can read more about Thomas Berry's life and ideas in Grist, Appalachian Voices, The Catholic Reporter, Greensboro News, Psychology Today, Matthew Fox's article in Earthlight and Mary Evelyn Tucker's article on Berry's website. There is also a documentary film "Thomas Berry: The Great Story" available from Bullfrog Films. There is also a links page for Berry at EarthCommunity.

In addition to memorial services in Greensboro, there will be services at St. John's the Divine in New York, the Passionist monastery in Jamaica, NY, and the Green Mountain monastery in Greensboro, VT.