On the 1st of September, the Ecumenical Committee for the Protection of the Whole World Creation organized a prayer day in Büyükada San Pacifico Church for the 3rd time by the Latin Catholic Church.
Following the blessing of Father Eleuthère Makuta, three linguistic groups were set up in French, English and Turkish for the participants. The issues related the environment were discussed, such as choosing nature-friendly transportation, reducing energy use, plant-weighted eating and what can be done to protect the environment.
After the lunch, the attendants cleared the green areas with the permission of the municipality. Approximately 700 liters of plastic bottles, papers, diapers, and garbage were collected within 1.5 hours.
The Latin Catholic Church Bishop Ruben Tierrablanca and the Greek Orthodox Church Representative attended the ceremony for the preservation of World Creation. The parish priest of Armenian Catholic Church Father Vartan Kazanciyan, Father Dionisos from the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Dimitrios of Büyükada and Fr. Mihayel from the Syriac Orthodox Church were present.
Monsignor Ruben Tierrablanca blessed the fruit trees and two olive trees after his sermon. Then the clergy read together the prayers of Holy Father Pope Francis about the creation.
A letter written by the Pope Francis was read during the ceremony: “I would like to draw attention to the water problem in the Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Creation of All World which the Catholic Church has celebrated for several years and we celebrate it with the participation of Orthodox brothers and sisters, as well as the other churches and Christian communities. Today, to keep this great treasure constantly requires an indispensable duty and a real fight today.”
Throughout the prayer, the Syriac Catholic Church choir performed songs. (SAT-7 TÜRK / Nathalie Ritzmann)
