22 April is observed as World Earth Day. The first Earth Day was marked 50 years ago (1970) in the United States of America. Half a century on, the state of our Common Home continues to deteriorate mainly because of human activities. The theme for the 2020 Earth Day is “climate action.” From the Amazonia in South America to the Congo Basin in Central Africa, human beings continue to ravage the Mother Earth, often for greedy-selfish reasons. The impacts of human activities on the environment – from extreme weather events to natural disasters continues to be felt, especially by the most vulnerable populations in the more impoverished regions of the world. The world is currently facing the greatest health and economic challenge in recent history. It is not rocket science to figure out the correlation between the coronavirus pandemic and human activities on the environment. As long as humans continue to invade the natural habitat of other species, the prospect for cross-transmission of viruses like the COVID-19 from animals to humans is inevitable. The earth, like a good mother, continues to nourish us; it is, therefore, imperative that as responsible children, we care for her.
On 24 May, we commemorate the 5th anniversary of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical, Laudato Si. To celebrate the richness and challenges of Laudato Si, the Pope invited the 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide to join a week (May 16-24) of celebration and action in commemorating the fifth anniversary of “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.”
Read Pope Francis’ Post-Amazonia Synodal Exhortation, Querida Amazonia https://bit.ly/2KPynrt
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