CYNESA
Inspired by St. Pope John Paul II’s 1990 message for World Day of Peace, in which he called for the need to upscale ecological awareness and to find fitting expression in concrete programs and initiatives, young Catholics from Kenya, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda and South Africa, drawn from and representing university chaplaincies and parish groups, joined up to respond to this invitation, and to set up the Africa-wide Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa (CYNESA) in January 2012.
“If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation.” - Pope Benedict XVI
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"We caught up with Bishop José Luis at the conclusion of the plenary, and he was kind enough to offer us some thoughts to our questions in this e-interview:
CYNESA: Pope Francis, in Laudato Si’, invites us to ecological conversion. How can lay people in Africa live out their ecological vocation?
Bishop José Luis: I would not have the courage to talk about “lay people in Africa” as our contexts might be very different. I can just share with you what we spoke during the meeting of IMBISA.
I believe that one of the common elements we picked up is the need to create awareness. Personally I sometimes feel that our “Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation” (JPIC) are not able to dedicate time and resources to the “IC” of their name.
As bishops we also became aware of the lack of formation at this level and whole of the social doctrine among our laity… because we have not provided it. It is dimension we need to address as soon as possible."
Read the whole interview by clicking HERE
