Faithful mark season for environment

The Archdiocese of Manila opens on Sept. 1 the Season of Creation, on the date set aside by Pope Francis as “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.”

In a circular, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle called on the faithful to participate in the celebration of the season, which he said is the period when “we thank God for the many ways He has gifted our land and resolve to cherish and protect what remains of this bounty for this and future generations of Filipinos” (CBCP Pastoral Letter, “What is Happening to Our Beautiful Land,” 1988).

Tagle said this year’s Season of Creation is “guided by the new encyclical of the Holy Father Pope Francis, ‘Laudato Si,’ and his declaration of World Day for the Care of Creation.”

The Archdiocese of Manila began observing the Season of Creation in 2013, which Tagle was 10 years after the CBCP under then president Cotabato Archbishop (now Cardinal) Orlando Quevedo called for its introduction to Filipino Catholics as, first, an acknowledgment of “creation, that priceless gift of the Almighty and Loving Creator who has made us into his own image and likeness.”

Lineup of activities

The archdiocese has lined up a program of activities for parishes and schools to mark the season. There will be ecology exhibits, children’s forums on Laudato Si, ecology quiz bees and story-telling on Care of Creation.

Tagle will be the main celebrant of the season’s opening Mass at 2 p.m. on Tuesday at the Manila Cathedral. This will be preceded by a Holy Hour.

Earlier, in announcing this year’s celebration of World Day for the Care of Creation, Pope Francis said that as Christians “we wish to offer our contribution towards overcoming the ecological crisis which humanity is living through…” and which calls them to a profound spiritual conversion. Christians are called to “an ecological conversion” and “living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or secondary aspect of our Christian experience.”

Tagle asked that in the Season of Creation, the faithful put “emphasis on deepening the commitment to care for our common home and to support the Global Catholic Climate Movement that aims to gather 10 million signatures and calls on world leaders to sign the commitment to limit the rise of global temperatures to under 1.5-degrees Centigrade.”