Palmer-Buckle launches papal documents
The Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Rev Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, has launched the second Encyclical of Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si” titled “Care for our common home” at the Holy Spirit Cathedral in Accra.
Encyclicals are papal documents that deal with the Catholic church’s reflection on issues affecting society. It was first published by Pope Leo in 1891 to drum home the need for society to respect the sanctity of life and also uphold the dignity and rights of workers and the vulnerable in society.
The current 184-page document focuses on issues such as pollution, climate change, water scarcity and biodiversity.
It also touches on the decline in the quality of human life, breakdown in society and global inequality with regard to the fact that the poorest in society mostly suffers the brunt of the negative effects of environmental degradation.
Taboos
The Metropolitan Archbishop described the book as a very important document which seeks to remind people on the need to be more responsible with issues regarding the environment and society at large
He bemoaned the carefree attitude of some Ghanaians which had led to the destruction of the environment, especially water bodies and admonished people to inculcate “the attitude of our forefathers, which were meant to safeguard the environment.
He added that “our ancestors initiated certain taboos to prevent people from exploiting natural resources to the detriment of society,” citing that it was a taboo to go farming or fishing on some particular days, or even bath in some rivers at certain times.
“The whole idea was to make sure that we did not destroy the natural resources to the detriment of the society,” he expanded.
Most Rev. Palmer-Buckle further urged Ghanaians to actively participate in the upcoming National Sanitation Day slated for September 5, 2015.
According to him, the effects of bad sanitary practices affect everybody hence people must give maximum attention to such a national exercise meant to reduce the level of filth in the country.
Historical background
Giving a historical perspective to the encyclical, the Assistant Secretary-General of the National Catholic Secretariat, Rev Fr Emmanuel Abbey-Quaye, said the document called for reflections and an invitation for all to take responsibility for the common good of mankind.
Rev. Fr Abbey-Quaye explained that what made the Laudato Si unique was that unlike the other Catholic teachings, it focused on social issues.
Climate change
The President of IMANI Ghana, Mr Franklin Cudjoe, in a statement, said even though Ghana was one of the least contributor to climate change, its effects severely impacted on the country.
He expressed concern that even though Ghana adopted the National Climate Change policy in 2014, it lacked timelines.
Mr Cudjoe was hopeful that the funds earmarked for Ghana to deal with the climate change would be channelled into that direction.
