The Ghana Catholic Youth Council (GhanCyC) has declared June and July as Tree Planting Months to support the Government Green Ghana Initiative which started in 2021.
The Youth Council in a statement encouraged all Parish Youth Councils, Arch/ Diocesan/ Vicariate Youth Councils and Movements to in consultation with Parish Priests, Parish Pastoral Councils and authorities plant a minimum of 10 trees on parish/ rectorate compound and Catholic facilities within the Arch/ Diocese/ Vicariate.
Some facilities targeted are; Catholic Schools, Catholic Hospitals, Youth Centers, Pastoral Centers, Catechetical Centers, Spiritual Renewal Centers, Catholic Hospitals, Catholic Guest Houses, and Arch/ Diocesan/ Vicariate Secretariats.
According to a statement jointly signed by Rev. Fr. James Bour-Mensah, National Youth Chaplain, Dennis Appiah-Sasraku, General Secretary and Joseph Besigrinee, National Chairman for the Catholic Youth Council said the efforts will go a long way to help heal the Country’s planet earth and encouraged all Youth Leaders to take this initiative seriously to achieve the targets set by the Laudato Si Action Programme of Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference (GCBC) and also make a difference in the quest to heal the earth.
Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter Laudato Si marked its fifth anniversary in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and as part of the anniversary, Pope Francis announced a Special Anniversary Year for the celebration of the Encyclical from May 2020 to 10th May 2021.
To close the Lancuto Si Special Anniversary Year in May 2021, Pope Francis also announced the seven-year Luuluto Si Action Platform (I.SAP) to respond to the environmental challenges of our time.
The United Nations has also declared 2021 – 2030 as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration as a global rallying cry to heal our Plant. Actions will be guided by the theme “ Preventing, Halting and Reversing the Degradation of ecosystems Worldwide.“
The Government of Ghana April 2021 announced the “GREEN GHANA PROJECT to plant five million trees and the Phase two of the Green Ghana Project which was launched on 1st March 2022 targets to plant 20million trees and is hinged on the theme ‘ Mobilising for a greener future.”
Meanwhile, the Ghana Catholic Bishops ‘ Conference (GCBC’) at their May 2021 Plenary held at the National Catholic Secretariat at Accra, also launched a ONE: a MILLION TREES planting agenda to mark the Special Anniversary of Laudato Si and also to support the Government’s Green Ghana Project and also galvanize momentum, resources and actions by the entire Catholic Church in Ghana, through this five-year Action Programme spanning the period from 2022 to 2026.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Mensah Atakora
