Ghana Catholic Youths’ “Green Lent Initiative” to Foster Environmental Conservation

Credit: CYNESA Media Team

“We saw the Lent of 40 days as an opportunity to introduce these documents subtly through the daily education flyers, to create awareness, evangelize using placards on the environment and cause discussions and climate activities among the people towards a better environment and a conscious church,” Ms. Ziniel told ACI Africa.

Asked about activities planned for Green Lent, she explained, “Aside the daily education using the flyers with messages of the Holy Father, we have the environmental evangelization on  Fridays (because of stations of the cross) and Sundays (gatherings of many Catholics), clean ups across the Parishes that CYNESA is visible in the Diocese, tree planting (growing in memory of future generations ) and beach clean ups.”

Credit: CYNESA Media Team

The target audience for this initiative, she added, are “Catholics/Christians, and policy makers.”

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The Coordinator of CYNESA in Ghana added, “First knowledge is important; the reason why we are educating them, then after receiving the education we are introducing them to individual and communal activities (the clean ups and tree planting), then to influence our policies which our collaboration with the Arrupe Jesuit Institute will take care of during our March 23rd Program which will be launched soon.”

Even though the project is an initiative by young people, Ms. Ziniel said, “We need the backing and support of the church in all things.”

Credit: CYNESA Media Team

“Like the Holy Father Francis has been saying, the Earth is our common home which needs our common care. Therefore we are calling for all hands on deck and pleading with our leaders, Bishops, clergy, religious and church leaders to give us their support and not throw bureaucratic barriers in our way,” she said.

The Coordinator of CYNESA added, “We also need support (funding) to help us organize more activities as we are already doing our best with our individual contributions.”

Credit: CYNESA Media Team

Reflecting on the importance of caring for our common home, Ziniel said, “Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift which we have freely received and must share with others.”

Credit: CYNESA Media Team

“Since the world has been given to us, we can no longer view reality in a purely utilitarian way, in which efficiency and productivity are entirely geared to our individual benefit. Intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice, since the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us,” the Coordinator of CYNESA in Ghana told ACI Africa during the February 20 interview.

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.