Church must show it cares for environment

LIKE Dennis Gallagher I am an ordinary person who attends St Francis Church in Railway Estate but differ from his views in that I strongly support Bishop Tim Harris in his views on our duty to care for our common home.

After all he is only repeating the call of his boss, Pope Francis, who gave us some radical new teaching in his encyclical letter Laudato Si (On the care for Our Common Home) in October 2015 Pope Francis, following Pope (St) John Paul II and Pope Benedict, draws attention to the ethical and spiritual roots of our world environmental problems (L.S.#9).

He names this faith-based step as a specific Catholic insight on ecological, human, economic, political and spiritual realities. He names faith insights as a definable and worthy contribution to help dialogue and action on environmental issues (L.S.#63). Faith offers a distinct way to knowledge contributing an added dimension in seeking truth. As for our Pacific neighbours’ plight, visit Kirribati, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands or listen to Archbishop Loy Chong of Suva to know of their worsening plight with sea rises. Or maybe visit the Cataret Isladers who had to flee to New Zealand and Bougainville as the sea cut their island in half.

Well done Bishop Tim as you live out the new church teachings of Laudato Si and its call to enter into dialogue with the world about its large environmental issues. PAUL LUCAS,

Hyde Park.