The example set by Wales’ patron saint, St David, can offer us today a template for meeting the challenges of economic and climatic change that have been posed in the first decade of the twenty-first century, according to the Bishop of St Davids.

In his annual St Davids Day message, Rt. Rev. Wyn Evans says St David also lived during a time of uncertainty. His solution was to live frugally and show concern for his community, its neighbours and those with whom they came into contact.

“We stand on the threshold of an era where much of what we have hitherto taken for granted will be more problematic: easily available fuel, new sources of food, access to water,” he says. “We can no longer assume either the possibility of stable government or the existence of human rights across the planet.”

St David left a light footprint on the Earth, Bishop Wyn says, striving for a future purified, restored and recreated as the Kingdom of God in which community values of peace and justice would prevail.

“The challenge from 2010 onwards, for our political and religious leaders, is to catch that vision, live that vision and transform not only a newly-confident Wales, but the whole world.”