THE cathedral spire has turned green in support of the Church of England's Climate Change campaign.

The colour change will remain in place for the duration of the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris.

A spokesman for the cathedral said: "It is to raise awareness of how climate change is affecting the very poorest countries most and to show support for our Bishop as lead bishop on the environment.

"The change of colour coincides with the arrival of the Church of England ‘Pilgrimage2Paris’ in the French capital.

"Forty five Christians from different denominations - Catholic, Church of England and Methodist - have joined together to walk from London to Paris on a climate change pilgrimage organised by the Church of England, Christian Aid, CAFOD and Tearfund."

In his capacity as the Church of England's lead on environmental issues, the Right Rev Nicholas Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury also delivered a lecture entitled 'Nature and Man in the Image of God', which explored climate change as a central issue in Christian theology.

He said: "Even people who do not have a religious faith have identified climate change as a spiritual problem but the nature of the spiritual problem seems to me to be variously understood.

"The scale of the environment challenge sometimes feels too big to face. It feels impossible for us individually to make a significant difference.

"A mixture of futility and fear causes us to bury our heads in the sand. We despair."

He added: "I sometimes wonder if what is really being asked for in this yearning for spirituality is a bit like the spirituality of Alcoholics Anonymous. We won’t even be able to begin unless we realise our circumstances are so serious that we have reached ‘rock bottom’, when we know that it can’t get any worse for us.

"Unless we acknowledge the terrible mess we are in and our need for the support and solidarity of others, we will not be able to work our way through a 12 step programme designed to help us in recovery.

"The prayer of Alcoholics Anonymous is that God will give us the courage to change the things we can change, the grace to accept the things we can’t change, and the wisdom to know the difference."

A Salisbury City Prayer Pilgrimage is being held at St Thomas’s Church in the city centre on Sunday to support those walking to the Paris Climate Change Conference. All are welcome to join in the day-long event.

Meet outside St Thomas’s Church at 7.45am for brief prayers before walking around the city. Pilgrims can leave or join the Pilgrimage at any point. The day will finish back at St Thomas’s at around 4pm for prayers, tea and crumpets.

For more details email jonplows@aol.com or call 01722 331647.