The Hong Kong Catholic Church and the Hong Kong Christian Council, together with environmental advocates, considered the urgent need for ecological transformation.
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Catholic and Protestant leaders in Hong Kong recently held a prayer vigil calling for collaborative action among Christians to address the growing ecological crisis.
An ecumenical prayer event led by Catholic and Protestant leaders in Hong Kong emphasized the intersections between faith, environmental responsibility and social justice.
Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing reminded attendees of the root causes of environmental degradation and drew attention to Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’. He said they arise from “humanity’s selfish mentality, lack of awareness of crises, the desire to dominate nature and government policies focused on economic development.
“The encyclical, published a decade ago, already warned us that human consciousness must move towards a deeper recognition of our common roots and our collective future, so that this consciousness can give rise to new beliefs, attitudes and lifestyles” , he stated. He urged the Christian community to assume responsibility for the care of creation and to be part of policies and interreligious cooperation that prioritize the care of the environment.
Lister Cheung, former executive director of the Conservation Institute, emphasized the responsibility of reducing the carbon footprint, linking the current ecological crisis with a spiritual crisis.
“Christians must continue to do their part to reduce their carbon emissions because God wants to create a beautiful environment,” Cheung said. “God created a cycle for everything, he did not create waste, which is actually a resource for us.”
Professor Ng Mee-kam, from the Department of Geography and Resource Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, criticized unequal access to healthy environments based on social hierarchy and promoted “territorial justice” as an important factor for a just society. and sustainable.
Yvonne Lam of Christian Nature Conservation Cooperation, Hong Kong, reflected on the intricate balance in God’s creation, noting how “in creation God speaks to us through delicate things, such as the flow of air in the earth, the shape and balance of trees and “Role of animals in the food chain.”
He drew attention to the historical human tendency to manipulate nature for personal gain, especially during the Industrial Revolution, and urged obedience to God’s established order with humility and loyalty.
At the end of this meeting, Franciscan Brother William Nagy spoke about using the five senses to experience nature. Pointing out the human relationship with the air, water and earth present in the body, he appealed to the spirituality of Saint Francis of Assisi to see the earth as brothers and sisters.
