The Prayer Day for the Protection of the Creation of the Whole World was held on Saturday, September 14 at the San Pacifico Church of Buyukada. On the day of prayer organized by the Laudato Si Group of the Istanbul Latin Catholic Church, first the representative of the Foundation of Solidarity with Migrant Women gave a speech.
Afterwards, Etienne Gonin from Sisli office of the United Nations Development Program spoke about how we can slow down the depletion of the ozone layer and he gave information about the ozone layer. He also reminded the 32nd anniversary of the World Day of Ozone Conservation Day, which became official with the Montreal Protocol signed on 16 September 1987.
Later, Pope Francis’ Laudato Si book was read for his thoughts on the protection of the world. Participants cleaned the green areas at the beach of the island and the seaside at different points with the permission of the municipality. Plastic bottles, papers, cigarette butts were collected for 2.5 hours.
In the San Pacifico Church, Monsignor Ruben Tierrablanca, the bishop of the Latin Catholic Church presided the prayer. In his sermon he said “We do not always use the goodness of creation in a reasonable way; water, light, air, plants, nature often suffer and the world deserves the best. The last serious problem is the deforestation of the Amazon, destroying the lungs of the Earth. This evening, inspired by the word of God we hear, we want to renew this testament with creation and with our one and only Creator Lord, our unique and true God. After the universal flood, the rainbow became a symbol of agreement between God and his people: purification, testament and promise. These are the three elements we want to establish to renew our commitment not only to a clean environment, but to the work that God has done and that He has given us with love.”
After the Prayer of Creation, Bishop Monsignor Ruben Tierrablanca took the two olive trees with and went to the garden with the faithful. He and the Greek Orthodox Church representative from the Ecumenical Patriarchate planted the young trees in the garden. (SAT-7 TÜRK / Nathalie Ritzmann)
