Since December 1, 2021 at the suggestion of the Coptic Patriarchate, an extraordinary tree planting program has been launched in the areas surrounding the churches and places of worship of the Coptic Orthodox community.

Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II described the concrete initiatives and spiritual connotations of the program during the weekly catechesis on Wednesday, December 22.

The temporal context in which the initiative took shape is marked by the upcoming UN World Conference on Climate Change to be held in Egypt, in Sharm el-Sheikh, in November 2022. To encourage local ecclesial communities to join the program in a healthy spirit of competition, the rules of a real competition will also be presented in the coming days to publicize and reward the best planting projects both from an aesthetic point of view and from an ecological impact, that will be carried out by the different parish groups.

Sensitivity to environmental problems was outlined by the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch not as a passing cultural "fashion" but as a response to the serious ecological emergency that puts the very survival of the planet at risk.

Pope Tawadros made explicit reference to the Biblical teachings that outline the care of Creation as a concrete expression of gratitude for the gifts received from God. In his catechesis, the Head of the Coptic Orthodox Church quoted among other things the words of the prophet Jeremiah, who blesses the man who trusts in the Lord by comparing him to a tree planted near the water that spreads its roots along the river.

"It does not realize when the heat arrives and its foliage remains green and when the dry season arrives it has no problems and does not stop bearing fruit".