Following the issuance of the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ of the Holy Father Pope Francis on the Care of our Homeland on May 24, 2015, the world people’s became aware of the fact that any climatic disaster taking place in one part of the world is man-made and that it directly impacts other parts of the world or rather all parts of the world.

In this encyclical, Pope Francis rang the bell and shed light on the dangers lurking in the corner, since any drastic change in climate will automatically affect all forms of life including food production, health conditions, and other ramifications of the deteriorating climatic change.

The devastating wildfires that ripped across Brazil's Amazon rainforest in August 2019 destroyed one of the Earth's most important ecosystems. This is one example from our modern time that provides cogent evidence on the validity of this view. The importance of the Amazon Forests is that everyone on the planet benefits from the health of the Amazon. As its trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen, the Amazon plays a huge role in pulling planet-warming greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. Without it, climate change speeds up. But as the world’s largest rainforest is eaten away by logging, mining, and agribusiness, it may not be able to provide the same buffer.

There have recently been several hues and cries in this regard, saying, “Protect our common home”.

A recent move in this direction is the one adopted by Catholics and other Christian communities in Bangladesh who pledged to join hands in a common effort to protect the environment in order to tackle climate change and natural disasters.

In this regard, some 80 religious and organization leaders from various Christian denominations took part in more than two hours of virtual discussions on the theme, “Interdenominational Dialogue on the Season of Creation - Preventing Climate Change and Disaster”.

The initiative was part of the current “Season of Creation”, September 1 to October 4, a campaign of prayer and concrete action by Christian Churches worldwide to safeguard and improve the created world.

WILL CATHOLIC CHURCH IN BANGLADESH PLANT 400,000 TREES?
Press reports indicate that on September 1, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh launched a campaign to plant 400,000 trees across the country in commemoration of the 5th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” - on Care for our Common Home.

With the climate change negatively affecting Bangladesh, the country is witnessing floods, river erosions, cyclones and other related natural phenomena. Climate scientists say that the melting of polar icebergs, as a result of global warming and other impacts of climate change, makes Bangladesh one of the riskiest places in the world.

It is hoped that the world leaders will effectively and immediately implement the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ of the Holy Father Pope Francis on the Care of our Homeland so that immediate remedy of the climate deterioration will take place before too late.