LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Prince Charles and Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz entered the Cathedral of the Assumption in downtown Louisville March 20 shoulder to shoulder before a crowd of about 700 people, some hoping to catch a glimpse of the prince and others interested in what he had to say about sustainable living.
The Prince of Wales visited Louisville on the last day of his four-day trip to the United States. He and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, visited several local organizations where they met with students and spoke about “harmony and health,” the subject of a book the prince published in 2010.
At the cathedral, Archbishop Kurtz, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, presented a lifetime achievement award to the prince on behalf of the Center for Interfaith Relations. The award recognized the prince’s three decades-long dedication to promoting harmony and health in the world. The Center for Interfaith Relations, which sponsors the annual Festival of Faiths, has focused on care for creation in recent years.
The archbishop thanked the prince for promoting “the deepest levels of global interreligious understanding.”
“We believe there is, can and must be a growing spirit of harmony and health in our region, and for that reason we are eternally grateful for your coming, allowing us to be inspired by you and motivated to embark on new journeys of learning about how we are all sisters and brothers to each other and all living creatures within all of God’s creation,” he told Prince Charles.
The royal visit was organized by the relatively new Institute for Healthy Air, Water and Soil, co-founded by Christy Brown, a member of the Cathedral of the Assumption and a co-founder of the Center for Interfaith Relations.
Prince Charles spoke about striking a balance between humankind and natural resources during his 30-minute keynote address at the cathedral.
He noted that in the 1960s, a “frenzy of change” caused traditional ideas to be discarded. This “seemed to me a dangerously shortsighted approach” to the natural world, agriculture, education and health care, he said.
“If we wish to maintain our civilizations, then we must look after the earth and actively maintain its many intricate states of balance so that it achieves the necessary active state of harmony which is the prerequisite for the health of everything in creation,” said Prince Charles. “In other words, that which sustains us must also itself be sustained. But we are not keeping to our side of the bargain and, consequently, the sustainability of the entire harmonious system is collapsing. In failing the earth we are failing humanity.”
Prince Charles said that the solution lies in balance. And there’s a place not only for empiricism, he said, but also for philosophy and religion.
The prince congratulated the city of Louisville on its efforts to promote heath and harmony.
“Having spent the day here in Louisville, I can only offer my warmest congratulations not only for what you have already achieved, but also what you are striving for in the future, a model of truly integrated and holistic thinking on a city scale,” he said.
He also noted during his address that Kentucky farmer and celebrated author Wendell Berry is one of his heroes.
Berry was chosen to introduce the prince, whom he said during the introduction is “almost alone among world leaders raising warning.”
“Incomprehension still reigns among politicians,” Berry said.
Berry noted that Prince Charles is “one of the few people on earth who can be called a landlord.” He called the prince courageous for vocalizing his concerns for the earth.
Prior to Prince Charles’ keynote address, he attended roundtable discussions at the cathedral with local business leaders and faith leaders, including Archbishop Kurtz, archdiocesan chancellor Brian Reynolds and priests of the Archdiocese of Louisville.
Earlier in the day, eight students from Assumption High School were among the many students who greeted the prince at the African American Heritage Museum. The museum hosted the Harmony and Health Initiative, a symposium where local advocates discussed local health issues.
The students said the prince complimented their school uniforms and senior Lauren Monaghan shook hands with the prince.
“Everyone got a chance to talk to him,” Monaghan told The Record, Louisville’s archdiocesan newspaper. “It was so cool. He was really nice.”
The experience wasn’t just about being impressed by royalty, though, noted Maddy Blandford, an Assumption junior. She and her classmates heard statistics during the program that disturbed her, she said.
“I was surprised by the statistics about Louisville and how polluted it is,” she said. “The changes they’re trying to make are really important, I think.”
— By Marnie McAllister
