Earth Week 2013

Parishes throughout the Diocese of Kerry are preparing to celebrate Earth Week 2013 from 4th to 13th October.

We in the Diocese of Kerry are committed to making the care of creation an integral part of our diocesan and parish life. We recognize that ‘every action taken in favour of a just and more sustainable environment, no matter how small, has an intrinsic value’. (The Cry of the Earth)

In celebrating Earth Week 2013 we invite you to reflect on the importance of Water. Access to water for life is a basic human need and a fundamental human right. Yet in our increasingly prosperous world, nearly a billion people are denied the right to clean water. “It is therefore necessary to cultivate a public conscience that considers food and access to water as universal rights of human beings, without distinction or discrimination”. (Caritas in Veritate. Benedict XVI.)
Water gives life. From the first drops of water that pool together, then tumble through the many waterways that link the globe, it sustains the planet like the blood that keeps us alive. We depend on this constantly renewing source to sustain the ecosystems that provide the food and the substance we need.

Pope Francis recently spoke of the ‘culture of waste’ where we tolerate the waste of precious resources. He asked us “to reflect on this grave ethical problem in a spirit of solidarity grounded in our common responsibility for the earth and for all our brothers and sisters in the human family”. (Pope Francis)

We invite you as a parish, school, or family to see how you use this precious gift. Let Earth Week 2013 remind us that every drop counts!

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