CYNESA Ghana lauds Religious for nationwide environmental stewardship campaign

The Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability Africa (CYNESA) in Ghana has described efforts by Religious Men and Women in driving home the need for environmental stewardship nationwide as impressive.

According to the group, the move will go a long way to help the agenda of care for creation worldwide.

Francisca Dommetieru Ziniel, the Country Director for CYNESA Ghana, emphasized the transformative impact of religious leaders in galvanizing communities towards environmental responsibility.

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“The faithful holds in high esteem the Priests and Religious and wherever they show up, things change,” said said.

She continued that, “Having the Priests and Religious marching in prayer in solidarity to protect the environment, culminating in meaningful discussions, sends a positive message to everyone, especially within the Church community. It calls for responsibility and actionable steps like waste-separation, eliminating single-use plastics, tree-planting, and halting littering.”

Her comment comes after Religious Men and Women across Ghana took a proactive stance on environmental stewardship with a dedicated Environmental Care Day on June 15, 2024.

This initiative is part of a response to Pope Francis’s declaration of the upcoming year as a Jubilee Year focused on the care of creation, under the theme “Send forth your Spirit and Renew the face of the earth” (Psalm 104:30).

The campaign, heavily supported by the Youth Group in environmental sustainability in Ghana saw Religious priests, brothers and sisters take to the streets to draw attention to the need to care for the environment.

They held notices that read, ” Stop Galemsey”, “Please recycle”, “protect the environment for our children” and “There is no planet B” among others.

In 2015, Pope Francis released “Laudato Si,” an encyclical urging “care for our common home.” Though hailed as an eloquent plea to protect the environment, climate change was just one part of the pope’s message, from encouraging solidarity with the poor to criticizing “blind confidence” in technology.

On Oct. 4, 2023, the Holy Father again released an addendum to “Laudato Si,” addressed to “all people of good will on the climate crisis.” The document, “Laudate Deum” – “Praise God” – is no less sweeping in the way it links environmental problems with economic, social and technological issues.

Like “Laudato Si,” the document strongly reproaches wealthy nations that contribute the most to climate change, accusing them of ignoring the plight of the poor.

It offers a similar rebuke of rampant individualism, lamenting that responses to global crises of climate change and the pandemic have led to “greater individualism” and hoarding of wealth, rather than increased solidarity.

In Ghana and other parts of the world, the intensity of environmental crisis continues to rise. Be that as it may, groups like CYNESA Africa and others continue to push for the world to hear the “cry of the earth” as Pope Francis puts it.