IT HAS been over a decade since I trekked the hinterlands and lived with the mountain poor of Salvador Benedicto, Calatrava, Bago, and La Carlota City.
As a writer, I distilled my mountain experiences into materials for national and international presentations in Southeast, South and Central Asia, North and Latin America. I miss those days of international and domestic travels. But Covid-19 has made travels next to impossible. I am just thankful that I did those travels before. In fact, I still get invitations to attend.
Recently, I received an email from FAO Rome to take part on the Living Chapel program. The Living Chapel is a global initiative involving many countries through governments, organizations and institutions such as NGOs, United Nations Organizations and the Vatican.
“We are writing to update you on the work that our team, located both in the United States and Europe, is doing on the Living Chapel program despite the slowdown due to the Covid-19 outbreak," the letter stated.
But it was put on hold due to the current Covid-19 emergency. The presentation of the Living Chapel, planned to take place on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Encyclical Laudato si’ on May 24 and the planting ceremonies of the gardens, will be delayed with respect to the initial program.
The email added that ”We will communicate the new schedule as soon as it will be redefined. In the meantime please note that it is still possible to join this initiative and set up a Laudato si' garden in your Country.”
I was advised I will receive package as soon as the post office services and couriers will be operational again. As a secular Franciscan, that is right my alley. I reflected on my life from a stroke victim and from a Catholic charismatic perspective, as a prayer guide of the Prayer and Life Workshops.
My life experiences dealt with environmental justice, which is the relationship between the environment and justice for people. It deals with peace-building and reconciliation among the marginalized in our society. That means the mountain poor who are in the fringes of decision making on the use of natural resources. And it deals with the ethical use of resources, both financial and natural. The last phrase, “integrity of creation,” basically means concern for creation.
Environmental justice includes our concern for both the environment and the people. We should not have an environmental concern that discounts our concern for people. And our concern for people should also take into account our concern for the environment.
When we address poverty, we can’t destroy nature in the process—because in the end that’s going to come back and bite us in the tail. And when we address the issues of the environment, we need, without question, to address the issues of economics. The question becomes: How can we work together to defend the poor and to defend the world that we all love?
We need an integrated approach. We also need to see how climate change impacts the poor—not only the environment—because the poor have the least resources and suffer the most when disasters occur. Thank God, the Diocese of San Carlos is active on this in opposing coal power plants.