KENYA: “Do Something Extra-ordinary to Care for Creation,” Says GCCM Program Manager on the Launch of Season of Creation

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

At the commencement of the Season of Creation on Tuesday, September 1, a worldwide event meant to “renew relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment” a Catholic priest has called on all people of good will to take this opportunity and carry out some unique activity to care for creation.

“As we begin the season of creation, we invite all our members, people of God and partners of Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) across Africa to be part of this season and to take concrete actions,” GCCM Program Manager for Africa Fr. Benedict Ayodi told AMECEA online in an interview after the launch of the month-long event.

“Do something extra-ordinary in terms of caring for the earth,” Fr. Ayodi a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFMCap) said, adding that Season of Creation gives opportunity to renew the face of the earth and relationship with our creator.

The season began with prayer to inspire animators and GCCM followers around the continent of Africa to dedicate their time and spirit on issues of environment during this month.

During the launch which took place at GCCM Africa offices within St. Jude Capuchin Friary in Westlands, Nairobi, Fr. Ayodi said, “we took the opportunity during the outdoor Mass to launch Laudato Si’ rooftop garden, a symbolic act which enables one to see the city of Nairobi, its environs being touched with the birds that are flying around with colors that reflect the care and restoration of creation.”

The theme of the season this year is Jubilee for the Earth: New Rhythms, New Hope which Fr. Ayodi explained it has been extracted from the book of Leviticus in the Bible “where we are requested to restore the destroyed land and to live the land to restore itself.”

He highlighted that the theme “calls us to remember that the original vocation of creation is to exist and flourish as a community of love, a community where we co-exist and a community where we consider each other’s integrity and dignity.”

Besides, the season is a “time to cherish the memory of our inter-relational existence, to consistently remember that everything is interconnected and a genuine care for our own lives and relationship with nature is inseparable from our fraternity, justice and fulfilment to others.”

Meanwhile in Zambia, Catholic bishops have said that the Season of Creation is a “grand opportunity for each of us to become beacons of hope and inspiration for a better future,” adding that “together, we have the power to ignite a broad global cry for climate justice.”

In an audio posted on the Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) Facebook page, the Prelates said in a statement read by the Secretary General Fr. Cleophas Lungu that “scientific analysis reveals that the pace of climate change and of mass extinctions continues to rise. To meet this challenge, more ambitious commitments are urgently needed.”

According to the Bishops conference, “climate catastrophe is increasing the risk of hunger, sickness and conflicts. Every minute we spend warming the planet is a tragedy in itself for the most vulnerable.”

The annual event is an ecumenical season initiated by the Orthodox Church and Pope Francis in 2015 and culminates on October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi who is the patron of ecology.