Ahead of the first anniversary of the publication of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical letter on care for our common home, Bishop John Fleming, Bishop of Killala, held a special event on Sunday 12 June, to launch the publication in the diocese, and he invited all present to “be a link in the chain for change”.
Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’, on care for our common home, was published on 18 June 2015. In his encyclical Pope Francis posed the question:”What kind of a world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?”
The Killala diocesan launch took place in the Karen Community Gardens on the grounds of Bishop Fleming’s house in Ballina.
Speaking at the launch, Bishop Fleming said: “We are all in this world together; you and I, the people of Ireland and the people of Ethiopia, the people who believe in God and those who do not, the children, who like the young people present, have lots of blessings in life and the children in the poorest slums who have very little or nothing.”
He continued: “Conscious of the fact that, as the Pope says, ‘things can change’, this diocese … encouraged everyone, especially young people, to do something to redress the damage done; in short, to be a link in the chain for change in our time. In fact, all the young people who received the Sacrament of Confirmation this year, inscribed what they would do on a piece of paper and thus made a link in the chain for change created in their school and offered to God during the ceremony of Confirmation.”
Bishop Fleming highlighted that the setting of the launch was in the world of nature, with space for stillness and space for hospitality. He said, “In this setting, we, in this diocese, launch Laudato Si’, the Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis on care for our common home. In so doing, we promise to help bring about the change of heart which Pope Francis calls for in this letter. We begin, or renew, our efforts to end the present trend to destroy our world by the way we live. I invite each of you … to make your link in the chain for change”.
ENDS
