“Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it”

                                                                                                              (Laudato Si’, 246)

On June 18, 2015, Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si was published with an “urgent challenge to protect our common home” connecting the intersecting concerns of environmental responsibility and authentic human development. Laudato Si is also the first encyclical devoted entirely to ecological issues. To mark the 5^th anniversary of its publication, Pope Francis invites catholic communities across the globe to participate in the Laudato Si Week during May 2020 raising an important question on the kind of world do we want to leave to those who will come after us, to children who are growing up? The Pope also renews his urgent call to respond to the ecological crisis. Stating that the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor cannot continue, he invites communities to join in to “take care of creation, a gift of our good Creator God… to celebrate Laudato Si’ Week in a spirit of togetherness.”

The anniversary of Laudato Si also coincides with other important events in the race to find solutions to the environmental including the deadline for countries to announce their plans to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and also for the UN’s Conference on Biodiversity which presents humanity with an opportunity to set meaningful targets to protect the places and species that sustain all life.

In response to the papal invitation and meaningfully commemorate Laudato Si, the Climate Desk (ECOSIDE) of Caritas India in partnership with the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference (FABC) organized a webinar on 22^nd May 2020, with the theme “Laudato Si and Covid-9 Pandemic” to discuss about the relevance of Laudato Si in the backdrop of the pandemic Covid-19.

The webinar began with an invocation to God’s blessings seeking His guidance for each human being to move towards a green path thereby bringing an end to the exploitation of the earth, to save resources and being responsible stewards in protecting and respecting His creation that He has placed in our hands.

In his welcome address, Most Rev. Father Paul Moonjely, Executive Director, Caritas India likened this event as a tribute to the historical document of Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ – a great treasure of the modern era; a tribute to the environment and creation of God – Mother Earth. The webinar was an opportunity to come together to learn from one another and take inspiration so that we continue our part to make this earth a green place to live in. Fr. Paul emphasized on the five principles of sustainable development goals (SDGs) i.e. People, Planet, Prosperity, Partnership and Peace that are also woven and shine beautifully in the document of Laudato Si.

Moderating the webinar, Most Rev. Bishop Joshua Mar Ignathios, Vice President of CBCI highlighted the perspectives of a just and sustainable society as also mentioned in the encyclical. His Excellency brought into conversation an important question, which lies at the heart of Laudato Si i.e. on care of common home – What kind of world do we want to leave for those who will come after us? Talking on the dialogue with people on our common home – Mother Earth, he encouraged the participants to reflect on the values we share and create a more just and sustainable nature.

To set the context of the Webinar, Most Rev. Archbishop Sebastian Kallupura, Chairman, Caritas India in his address spoke about the deplorable conditions of migrants being forced to walk barefoot to their native villages and the Cyclone Amphan that has caused devastation in the Indian South East Coastal Belts amidst the pandemic Covid-19. He drew parallels between the ideas of Laudato Si to the need of protection of the environment and natural resources; he appealed to the world to plan a new pedagogy rooted in traditionalist system while adapting to a new way of lifestyle that is green, where we adopt welfare schemes for laborers, use public transportation and reduce our carbon footprint.

The opening message was presented by His Grace, Archbishop Felix Machado, Secretary General of CBCI. His Grace pointed out the similarities that crosscut all Christian denominations as well as other religions – Mother Earth needed to be respected and be taken care of. He stated, “To commit a crime against nature would be a sin against ourselves and against God”. He opined that as majority of people on earth professed to be believers, it should spur religions to dialogue among themselves for the sake of protecting nature, to defend the poor and build sense of respect and fraternity. He stressed on the urgent need to examine our destructive ways and bring home the ideals of Laudato Si i.e. interconnectedness and interdependence amongst all beings on this planet.

Leading the panel of eminent speakers, Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, President – Parmarth Niketan and also Founder of Global Interfaith WASH Alliance began with a chanting of the Sanskrit mantra,“Asto maa sadgamay, tamso maa jyotirgamaya, mratyorma amratam gamaya” meaning “O dear Lord, guide me from untruth to truth, darkness to light and death to immortality”. Quoting, Gandhiji he stated that there is always enough for everyone’s need but never enough for one person’s greed. He spoke about the need to learn, teach and preach the importance of consuming according to our needs and not as per our greed. He added, “Let us move from a greed culture to green culture”. Swami ji suggested four steps that one needed to take towards a brighter, safer and greener tomorrow – planting trees on every occasion, shifting to vegetarian diet, saving water and reducing carbon footprint.

The next panelist, Most Rev. Bishop Allwyn D’Silva, President – Commission on Ecology, CCBI, in his message reiterated the fact that all living beings on this planet were interconnected and interdependent. While people are shifting to a whole different lifestyle, he talked about the plight of the migrants who are worst hit by the pandemic. He stressed that migrants be not labelled as migrants, but as citizens who are our own people needing attention and help. He further added that the realities of our health system was exposed by COVID-19 and urged the participants to rethink of their lifestyle and shift to green economy and practice green spirituality.

Eminent speaker, Sadhvi Bhagwati Saraswatiji, Secretary General – Global Interfaith WASH Alliance mentioned that the Laudato Si encyclical was not just for the Christian communities but for the entire world. She stressed that while keeping ourselves safe and healthy, we must realize that self includes our earth, the entire divine creation. The need of the hour is to come together to raise our collective consciousness rather global consciousness that there are enough resources for everyone but inequality that exists in the society has led to accumulation of resources in the hands of few people. She also spoke about shifting away from a culture of consumerism and capitalism and moving towards a green lifestyle, opting for vegetarian food and buying organic and local goods.

Ms. Raynah Braganza, Former Board Member, Caritas India, among the panelists at the webinar looked at the social and economic crises of Covid19 from the gender perspective. She highlighted some harsh realities of our society that reflected the disproportionate amount of burden that women bear which has been amplified and further exploited in the period of the lockdown, She cited research findings that show how financial stress and food shortages affect women’s health more than men. She also pointed out the escalating harassment, abuse and domestic violence behind closed doors as a consequence of isolation and lockdown affecting women across all classes and religion. She appealed that the policy response must be structured around rebuilding economies and societies in ways that ensure women’s employment and economic empowerment, enabling them to lead a safe and a productive life.

The final speaker at the event, Rev. Father Joseph Gonsalves, Executive Secretary, FABC-OHD/CCD recalled the teachings of Pope Francis and stated that we should move from an ego-centric to an eco-centric paradigm. He remarked that Laudato Si challenged the mentality of technocratic domination that leads to disruption of nature and exploitation of the most vulnerable. He expressed confidence that human beings have capacity to rebuild broken and demented world. He suggested five measures to live a sustainable life – spirituality, education, eco-friendly lifestyle, waste elimination and networking and advocacy.

Most Rev. Bishop Joshua Mar Ignathios, in the concluding remarks stated that we have come together as one people, one unit, from around the world and learnt lessons of this moment. The document Laudato Si gives us perspectives of building a sustainable and just society. Covid 19 has brought to light our vulnerabilities and fragility of our existence. It has brought modern world to a grinding halt followed by an economic recession, challenging our cultural and ecological attitudes of indifferences to the suffering of mother earth. The changes that Covid 19 has brought to the lifestyles of human beings is a signal to live life differently. In this backdrop, the Laudato Si offers many ways to examine not only the effects of human beings on environment but also the many philosophical, theological and cultural causes that threaten the relation of man with nature.

The Vote of Thanks was given by Rev. Father Jolly, Assistant Executive Director – Caritas India marking the close of the webinar. The webinar was attended by more than 130 participants from across the world. A brief Q&A session concluded the event wherein participants also suggested ways in which we could shift to sustainable ways of living by using the encyclical as a guide. The webinar was an effort by Caritas India to commemorate the encyclical during the Laudato Si’s Week, while also addressing the issues emerging out of the coronavirus pandemic.

The webinar upheld the learnings of Laudato Si particularly that ‘everything is connected’ and drove home the point that health catastrophes have much in common with ecological catastrophes. Both are global emergencies that affect people on a large scale, particularly the poor and vulnerable which are tragically the worst hit. It sharply brings into focus that emergencies of this nature and magnitude will be solved only by a united effort of global proportions and which appeals to basic human values. The webinar also reinforced the understanding that the present crisis is an opportunity to start anew and in ways that lead to a more caring and sustainable world.