Dar es Salaam, 15 July, 2022 / 8:10 pm (ACI Africa).
The Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis on the “care for our common home”, Laudato Si', has had a “great” impact in the Eastern Africa region, the Chairman of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) has said.
In his keynote speech at the opening of 20th Plenary Assembly of AMECEA on Monday, July 11, Bishop Charles Kasonde said that the May 2015 Encyclical Letter that calls for collective action for conserve creation amid acts of irresponsibility “has caused great excitement in the region, not only among Catholics but also among people affiliated to other churches and faiths and our respective governments."
Bishop Kasonde who was addressing AMECEA delegates meeting to reflect on the care for the environment in the Eastern Africa region under the theme, “Environmental Impact on Integral Human Development” said the Laudato Si’ excitement is because the Encyclical Letter "raises issues which even the ordinary members of the society can relate with".
"Our experiences of the effects of climate change such as extreme seasons of droughts, cyclones, raising of water levels and floods, to mention but a few, are making everyone to wonder why these things are happening," The Bishop of Zambia’s Solwezi Diocese told delegates who were gathered at Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre (JNICC) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
He said Bishops in the AMECEA region have made commendable efforts in creating awareness about the need to care for the environment, adding that the task of changing people's attitudes towards natural resources is tasking.
