Last Friday, the Oriental Negros Children’s Advocacy Network held a candlelight ceremony at the Freedom Park to create awareness of the need to support the peace-keeping initiatives of the government. The occasion was well attended with representatives from academe, NGOs, the military, and the local government. Dr. Mira Sinco, Foundation University president, was one of those who delivered a massage of peace:
“For us who are here now to celebrate the quest for peace is faced with the question: ‘Where shall we start in our quest for peace?’ The answer to this question we found…in the following exhortations of men of peace. First is from the message of Pope John Paul II, the beloved ‘People’s Pope’ he delivered in the International Youth Day, 2000, wherein he said, and I quote: ‘I am thinking particularly of you, dear young people, who experience in a special way the blessing of life and have a duty not to waste it. In your schools and universities, in the work place, in leisure and sports, in all that you do, let yourself be guided by this constant thought: peace within you and peace around you, peace always, peace with everyone, peace for everyone.’
“The other aspect of the peace-seeking process which must be emphasized is from the message of another leader of the Church. Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that: ‘If we want to cultivate peace, protect creation.’ In his message delivered during the World Day of Peace last Jan.1, 2010, the Holy Father said, and I quote: ‘The quest for peace by all people of goodwill surely would become easier if all acknowledge the indivisible relationship between God, human beings and the whole of creation. Protecting the natural environment in order to build a world of peace is the duty incumbent upon each and all. It is an urgent challenge, one to be faced with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a Providential opportunity to hand down to the coming generations the prospect of a better future for all. May this be clear to world leaders and to those at every level who are concerned for the future of humanity: the protection of creation and peacemaking are profoundly linked! For this reason, I invite all believers to raise a fervent prayer to God, the All-Powerful Creator and the Father of Mercies, so that all men and women may take to heart the urgent appeal: If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation.”
“We commend the Bayanihan para sa Kabataan for organizing and providing this opportunity for us to be reminded of this day’s message: ‘If you want to have lasting peace, then we must start with the children,’ Mohandas Gandhi advises us. If we want peace now and in the years to come, then we must protect the children and God’s creation.”
Listening to the message of Dr. Sinco, I cannot help but ask: “What have the churches in Negros Oriental done or are doing to promote among their faithful the ‘protection of God’s creation’?”
I have been in Dumaguete City for some five years now and I have not heard nor seen any Church-initiated environmental activity that goes beyond homilies and sermons. Here is an excerpt from Pope Benedict’s message:
“…the Church is nonetheless concerned, as an ‘expert in humanity’, to call attention to the relationship between the Creator, human beings and the created order. In 1990 John Paul II had spoken of an “ecological crisis” and, in highlighting its primarily ethical character, pointed to the ‘urgent moral need for a new solidarity.’ His appeal is all the more pressing today, in the face of signs of a growing crisis which it would be irresponsible not to take seriously. Can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change, desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions? Can we disregard the growing phenomenon of ‘environmental refugees’, people who are forced by the degradation of their natural habitat to forsake it — and often their possessions as well — in order to face the dangers and uncertainties of forced displacement? Can we remain impassive in the face of actual and potential conflicts involving access to natural resources? All these are issues with a profound impact on the exercise of human rights, such as the right to life, food, health and development.
“The Church has a responsibility towards creation, and she considers it her duty to exercise that responsibility in public life, in order to protect earth, water and air as gifts of God the Creator meant for everyone, and above all to save mankind from the danger of self-destruction. Nor must we forget the very significant fact that many people experience peace and tranquility, renewal and reinvigoration, when they come into close contact with the beauty and harmony of nature. There exists a certain reciprocity: as we care for creation, we realize that God, through creation, cares for us.“
Are the churches in Negros Oriental and Dumaguete City engaged, beyond homilies, in environmental advocacy?
