https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/bishop-in-ireland-urges-communities-of-faith-to-nurture-biodiversity-and-plant-seeds-of-hope-for-the-future/
The tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’ offers faith communities the opportunity to celebrate the invitation that Laudato Si’ places before us
Communities of faith who will bring about change and resolve to care for the earth are needed to help secure the future, Bishop of Kilmore Martin Hayes told 140 people who attended “Seeds of Hope – Returning Biodiversity to our Parishes”, a conference in Co Cork last weekend.
Bishop Hayes, who is Laudato Sí Coordinator for the Irish bishops, acknowledged to the conference’s delegates, which included five bishops, that listening to the facts about the global devastation of biodiversity can be “overwhelming”.
“We must act as communities of faith and make care of creation a key element of our activities as parishes,” he said.
The tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’ offers faith communities the opportunity to celebrate the invitation that Laudato Si’ places before us, he said.
“It is calling for an ecological conversion. A conversion to really embrace our Christian spirituality.” He noted that this was a strong theme that emerged in the recent Synod on Synodality in Rome last October.
Referring to Pope Francis’ writings on the spirituality of St Francis of Assisi and its inspiration for the encyclical, he said the pontiff underlines the need to acknowledge the harm we have caused to our environment and that acting individually is not enough. “We need a community conversion”.
Addressing the conference theme on “Returning Biodiversity to our Parishes”, Bishop Hayes highlighted how 13 Irish dioceses and many Irish religious orders have divested from the fossil fuel industry in recent years.
The bishops’ initiative on returning 30 per cent of parish grounds to nature by 2030, which was inspired by Columban Fr Sean McDonagh, has secured the support of the Irish Heritage Council via their biodiversity officers, one of whom, Barry O’Loughlin of Clare County Council, presented a workshop at the conference in Mallow.
The conference was organised by Trócaire and the Laudato Si’ Movement in collaboration with the Laudato Si’ Working Group of the Irish Bishops Conference. The theme “Seeds of Hope” was chosen as part of the Jubilee year of hope.
It offered a practical day of information to parishes in the dioceses of Kerry, Killaloe, Cashel and Emly and Limerick to help those interested in responding to the bishops’ biodiversity initiative in the run up to 2030.