The Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay in northern Palawan will mark this year’s Season of Creation by planting at least 400 trees in each of its 23 parishes and eight mission stations.
Bishop Broderick Pabillo said it’s their humble contribution to the annual celebration as the local Church also currently commemorates the arrival of Christianity on the island 400 years ago.
“This is our contribution to save the environment,” Pabillo said in a pastoral letter.
While Palawan is blessed with rich natural resources, the prelate emphasized that it also comes with great responsibility.
He asked the faithful “not to get tired of caring for our common home” amid combined threats of illegal logging and fishing.
He also called on communities to oppose any mining and coal-fired power plant projects in the province.
“Let us strive to be responsible stewards of creation,” Pabillo said.
The Season of Creation began September 1, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends October 4, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron of ecology.
In the Philippines, the annual Christian celebration of prayer and action for ecology is extended until the second Sunday of October, the Indigenous Peoples’ Sunday.
This year’s worldwide theme is “Listen to the Voice of Creation,” a focus on the voices of those who suffer the impacts of the ongoing climate emergency and biodiversity crisis.