The Diocese of Kerry is promoting the protection of the environment and the loss of biodiversity in the natural world as part of Earth Week, which is taking place in the diocese from 17 – 24 April on the theme ‘Loss of Biodiversity’. The week is organised by the Justice, Peace and Integrity Creation Committee. The theme is taken from Pope Francis’ Encyclical entitled Laudato Si and addresses our responsibility to take care of our ‘common home’.
Commenting on their plans for Earth Week and their chosen theme, Kerry Diocese said that “with an emphasis on environmental protection, all parishes and parishioners are invited to respond to this call by making their grounds and private gardens more biodiversity rich by protecting and encouraging a variety of plants, tress and habitats for wildlife including bees.
“Some parishes have really taken the message on board as they undertake audits of their grounds to see what they can do to promote biodiversity and they have subsequently received help from the Biodiversity Officer of Kerry County Council and local biodiversity tutors who have offered some specific advice on planting herbs, leaving a small area of lawn uncut, protecting a native hedgerow or starting a compost heap”.
As part of Earth Week celebrations in the diocese, eco theologian Father Sean McDonagh SSC will give a lecture in Saint Brendan’s Parish Centre in Tralee in Co Kerry on Thursday 21 April at 7.30pm. Father McDonagh will also launch his new book On Care for Our Common Home which is published by Orbis Books. This new publication takes the full text of Pope Francis encyclical letter Laudato Si and adds Father McDonagh’s reflections on its various themes including climate change, biodiversity, water scarcity and threats to the oceans, and the food crisis. Father McDonagh also provides an overview of the development of Catholic theology on creation over the past half-century, and offers ideas on how to transform Pope Francis’ vision in Laudato Si into meaningful action and a central piece of Catholic theology.
For more information on Earth Week in the Diocese of Kerry together with a full list of events, please see www.dioceseofkerry.ie/
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