Lent should be a time to realize environmental justice for all beings, Catholics in Indonesia have said in support of the green agenda, UCA News reported March 13.
Drawing inspiration from Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato si (Praise You), the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference has chosen “Environmental Justice for All Creation: More Love and Care” as the theme of its Lenten pastoral message this year.
In their letter, the bishops called on local Catholics to take concrete action in response to the environmental damage caused by global climate change.
On March 11, in the parish of St. Lawrence Vasior, Diocese of Manokwari-Sorong in West Papua, Catholics, together with the local forest service, planted mangroves on the coast of the Wondama Bay area.
Parish Council secretary Sylvanus Surung said the planting of 200 mangrove seedlings was part of an effort to fulfill the mission set out by the bishops.
“This is our contribution as members of the Catholic Church to the preservation of the environment”emphasized.
“God gave us the environment does not mean that we manage it as we want, but rather that we are asked to be responsible for its conservation”he said, referring to the episcopal message.
District Forest Service official Eli Leyhitu said the agency is grateful for the Catholics’ involvement as 25 hectares of mangrove forests in the area are under threat of destruction.
“So we really hope that the religious community, the indigenous peoples and the general public will take care of this beach.”– she said.
According to Father Desideramus Ansby Baum, in West Kalimantan, where many forest areas have been converted to plantations for the production of palm oil, an environmental awareness program is being carried out among the faithful.
In Flores, a predominantly Catholic neighborhood, the local church was advising schoolchildren on the importance of caring for the environment.
Father Tobias Harman of the parish of St. Mary the Archangel Huruboko in the Archdiocese of Ende organized an information campaign in which students were asked to plant trees. The priest explained that he urged the students to realize that “in the beginning God created everything that was good, but people destroyed it.”
Students from the Ledalero Institute of Philosophy and Technology, mostly seminarians, held a road show and an artistic performance in the city of Maumere called “Cuidado de la Tierra” at the end of last month. They cleaned up the local market and planted mangroves on Magepanda beach in the Sikka area.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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