Reverend Father Dr Emmanuel Abbey Quaye, Formator, St Peter’s Major Seminary, Pedu, has admonished Christians and citizens to preserve and protect the environment as they ensure peaceful coexistence with nature. He said the Church’s teachings on caring for the environment created that nationality and intelligence to understand the interconnectedness and develop a relationship with God and other creatures to protect the environment. Rev Dr Quaye was speaking at the launch of the Laudato SI Action Programme, with Goal Six of the project christened, ‘Ecological Spirituality’ aimed at protecting the environment from destruction. The goal is among the seven goals developed by the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) for its five-year (2022-2026) Laudato SI action plan in response to environmental challenges and as a contribution to the global action programme. The GCBC’s action plan was in response to Pope Francis’ seven-year encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ action programme developed in May 2021, to respond to environmental challenges in the world. The objective of GCBC’s programme was to sustain the annual tree-planting agenda by mobilizing all ecclesial communities at the diocesan and parish levels to take concrete actions. As part of its pledge to protect the environment, launched a million-tree planting exercise in April 2021 to support the government’s Green Ghana project, which aims to plant five million trees in a day across the country. Achieving Ecological Spirituality, Rev Fr Quaye stated, called for a radical change of heart and the transformation of mentalities, feelings, and actions towards the environment. ‘Developing a positive attitudinal change towards the environment requires a change of heart and mind to take good care of the environment,’ he said. He said the initiative formed part of the Catholic Church’s contribution to protect the environment from destruction and educate the citizens to refrain from activities that affected the ecosystem. Rev. Dr Quaye called on the GCBC to commence processes to document the Church’s contributions to the care of the environment and to educate the faithful and the citizenry about the need to take good care of the environment. He urged the Church’s liturgy to contribute to ecological care and the spirituality of the environment through its worship, adding, ‘ We must ensure that our worship environment is clean, healthy, and friendly.’ The Clergyman appealed to the Church to observe various ecological celebrations on the calendar year, including African Environment Day (March 3) and Earth Day (April 22), to educate the masses on earth care and citizenship. Most Rev Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast, underscored the importance of responsible stewardship in addressing environmental challenges. He charged all duty bearers to take action to recover the country’s vision on God’s gift of creation for sustainable socio-economic development. Rev. Fr Lazarus Anondee, the Secretary General of the GCBC, enjoined all to join in initiatives to preserve the environment and make the world a better place. Rev Fr Teras Edwin Agyemang, Project Lead, Laudato SI Committee, said the Church expected, among others, that students who learnt the skills of Gospel based formation of conscience in personal and social areas would play leadership roles and as role models to salvage the earth from destruction.
Source: Ghana News Agency
