The Social Directorate of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) has embarked on a dissemination exercise of the Pope’s “Laudato Si” Encyclical which was initially launched by Malawi Catholic Bishops late last year to institutions of higher learning within the Catholic Church as a way of articulating the message of Pope Francis in the Encyclical.
The Director responsible for the Directorate, Mr. Carsterns Mulume said the aim of reaching out to students including Seminarians in Catholic Schools of higher learning is to ensure that the objective of the Pope’s Encyclical which is centered on the “care for our common home” is achieved.
“As the Social Directorate of the Church, we thought of not just staying idle having launched the Pope’s Encyclical in Lilongwe last year. We in the Directorate which is made up of Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, Catholic Development Commission in Malawi, Education, Social Communications and Heath decided to reach out to you students with the message that the Holy Father wanted us to understand and put into practice,” Mulume who was addressing the participants mainly students at Inter Congregation Seminary (ICS) in the Eastern district of Balaka said.
He added that a similar dissemination exercise has already taken place at Catholic University of Malawi (CUMA) and ICS was the second school to be reached hence other schools of higher learning like St. Peters and Kachebere Major Seminaries will also be reached respectively.
“Already our meetings with students have started bearing fruits. For instance, CUMA having been reached with the Encyclical message embarked on a tree planting exercise as a way of responding to Pope’s call to care for our common home which includes care for the environment,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mulume commended the Lilongwe Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), Bunda College Campus of the University of Malawi for taking initiative to launch the Pope’s Encyclical.
Summarizing the Pope’s Encyclical, Reverend Fr. Dr. Dominick Kazingatchire of Catholic University in Malawi said the Encyclical contains six chapters whereby the first chapter reviews what is happening to our common home.
He said in the second chapter the Holy Pontiff selects biblical accounts offering a comprehensive view that comes from Judaeo-Christian tradition.
“On third Chapter which is the Human Roots of Ecological Crisis, Pope Francis gives the human roots of the ecological crisis and sees humanity to be at the centre of the crisis. The fourth one talks about the Integral Ecology whereas the fifth one is the one that calls for action. Finally, chapter six titled Ecological Education and Spirituality,” he said.
Meanwhile, ICS Dean of Students, Felix Yona of Comboni Congregation described the Encyclical message dissemination exercise as fruitful.
By Prince Henderson, ECM Communications Officer