Church to launch green program

• Source:http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2016/06/19/church-launch-green-program-480445
• Sunday, June 19, 2016

(Sun.Star Cebu)

THE Archdiocese of Cebu will hold a mass for the environment at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral at 10 a.m. today, June 20, as it marks the launching of its program to protect the environment.

The public is invited to hear the mass.

The mass will commemorate the anniversary of the release of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si (“Praise Be With You”).

Laudato Si, subtitled “On Care for our Common Home,” was launched on June 18 last year, and criticized how unsustainable human development activities have gravely contributed to environmental degradation and climate change.

The mass will be celebrated by Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma and concelebrated by Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Dennis C. Villarojo and other priests.

It is organized by the 51st International Eucharistic Congress committee on environmental concern (IEC-CEC), which will be launched, together with its flagship program, the “Parish Community-based Pocket Forest Program,” in a separate event after the mass.

Part of the ceremony of the mass will be the partners’ pledge to care for the environment and protect the poor and vulnerable.

The IEC-CEC was organized as an act of penance for the cutting of 260 trees to make way for the construction of the IEC Pavilion in Mabolo, Cebu City.

The committee is seen as the archdiocese’s response to the call of the Holy Father to be true stewards of His creation.

The committee partnered with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Metro Cebu Water District, Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water and the University of San Jose-Recoletos for the project. A signing of a memorandum of agreement between the partners and the Archdiocese of Cebu will also be held during the launching.

The CEC aims to plant a minimum of 13,500 in pocket forests established and maintained by different parishes all over the seven districts in Cebu that belong to the archdiocese.

An important feature of the CEC’s pocket forest program is the provision of not just technical training in planting native trees, but also environmental-ecological spirituality formation of CEC counterparts in the parishes.

For more info on the IEC-CEC, visit www.facebook.com/IECCEConline.