Susan Gately
Staff at the headquarters of the Church in Ireland are taking up the Pope’s challenge to go green looking about how they can practically take on board the Pope’s ecological letter Laudado Si’ on the care of creation.
Around 20 members of the hierarchy’s secretariat attended a training day hosted by representatives from Trócaire and prominent people working in the fields of theology, ecology and climate change.
The group has been working to produce a work plan for implementing Laudado Si’ across the country.
Dr Lorna Gold from Trócaire told The Irish Catholic that the day was a mix of reflection and re-connection with nature, and practical sessions “on what each of us can do to change our behaviour”.
Sustainable
“A lot of ideas were generated which will have to be sifted through now to see how they can be implemented,” she said. One of these was to ensure that the World Meeting of Families is “as sustainable as possible” and to “work with the Global Catholic Climate Movement, who have been working to make sure Papal visits are as eco-friendly as possible”.
Other considerations included ensuring that the workings of the headquarters of the bishops’ conference, the Columba Centre in Maynooth, is more sustainable.
Last week Trócaire launched a new report on financial investments in the light of climate change and Laudato Si’.