The Church of South India, in association with the Universal Church, has decided to observe the 40-day Lent, beginning March 6, avoiding all kinds of disposable plastics as its contribution towards a lesser carbon footprint.
A circular, ‘Green Confessions: A Lenten call for a disposable plastic-free world’, issued to all dioceses and parishes by CSI Moderator Bishop Thomas K. Oommen, says that this year’s Lent should become a “time to repent our ecological sins that exploit life, a time to resist all forces that destroy life, and to recommit ourselves to revive life”.
“As Christians, we need to consider the plastic catastrophe as a result of our ecological sin. It is a sin - a sin of irresponsibility, a sin of insensitivity, a sin of insensibility, and a sin of incorrigibility,” the CSI moderator said. He called upon the faithful to take an uncompromising stance to practise at least 10 ‘Green Confessions’, particularly concerning excessive use of plastic that destroyed all kinds of life, on earth during the Lent period.
Part of liturgy
The moderator urged all CSI dioceses and congregations to use these 10 confessions as part of their liturgy during the 40 days.
Bishop Oommen told The Hindu that the world produced nearly 300 million tonnes of plastic every year. Though plastic was a useful product, many of these products were made for single-use. More than half of all plastic became trash in less than a year and could remain in the environment for up to 2,000 years and longer.
Health hazard
Mathew Koshy Punackadu, botanist and director of the CSI Department of Ecological Concerns, said burning of plastic in the open led to environmental pollution due to the release of poisonous chemicals.
The polluted air, when inhaled, affected the health and could cause respiratory problems or cancer. Thrown on land, plastic made the soil less fertile and polluted groundwater.
