Christians celebrate Creation Day

THE ARCHBISHOP of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, said this week that the Church has been responsible for distorting the attitude Christians should have towards the environment.

At an ecumenical service on Tuesday, the archbishop admitted that “as Churches we have often neglected our responsibilities for the protection of Creation”.

Speaking at the first World Day of Prayer for All Creation at Holy Cross College, in Clonliffe, Dublin, he said a distorted view of humanity’s relationship with Creation had led some to treat the Earth’s resources as raw material for narrow economic gain.

Flanked by members of the Orthodox Churches, Church of Ireland, Quakers and Salvation Army, Archbishop Martin said the liturgy was “a cry to all to develop a totally new and different relationship with the world that surrounds us”.

Meanwhile, Christians in England marked the Day for Creation with services around the country including in parishes in London, Oxfordshire, Lancaster and Shropshire.

An interfaith “Pray and Fast for the Climate” initiative, organised by Westminster Justice and Peace, took place at the Finsbury Park Mosque.

Rita Belletty, of St John Bosco parish near Reading, the first to win Cafod’s LiveSimply award for sustainable living, asked parishioners to do one thing to indicate they were co-creators rather than consumers. She herself turned off her television and radio for the day.