The priest risking jail to protest climate inaction
By Jessica Abrahams
Prospect
March 1, 2023
Eighty-year-old Reverend Sue Parfitt on how Christianity inspires her eco-activism
The Reverend Sue Parfitt is back in court again. At the age of 80, the retired priest can’t remember how many times she’s been arrested. When we speak, she’s facing three trials in the next month alone. Keeping up with it is difficult: “They’re all in a muddle in my mind,” she says.
Parfitt is a climate activist and a member of Christian Climate Action, the unofficial Christian wing of Extinction Rebellion. She travels across the country bearing a crucifix and walking stick to take part in motorway blockades and other forms of direct action.