Dioceses on coal power plant

POPE Francis has recently published his encyclical Laudato Si which urges us all to care for our common home. Citing St. Francis of Assisi, the Holy Father calls us to treat our common home like a sister to us/ but knowing that fact of our destructive attitude and activities towards her, the Pope writes that “[T]his sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she ‘groans in travail’ (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters” (Laudato S, 2).

Since climate is a common good it is but right to be involved in the discussion of climate change especially that it is now destructive not only to properties to but also to lives. Accordingly, the world is on the brink of becoming an arid wasteland due to ‘unchecked human activities’. We are living witnesses of the destruction brought about by weather changes and the effects to health by carbon emissions. The calamities that claimed thousands of lives these past years and months are enough proof to awaken in us a commitment to safeguard creation and help mitigate their effects.

Pope Francis, seeing the urgency of action in dealing with environmental crisis, points out the use of highly polluting fossil fuels – especially coal to be progressively replaced without delay (Cf. Laudato Si, 165). We cannot simply sit idly while seeing the unfolding of horrific events resulted by so called technological progress at the expense of nature. Instead we recommend the use of renewable energy which is of course not harmful to the environment and to humans.

As Bishops of the dioceses of Dipolog, Ozamis, pagadian, Iligan, and Marawi (Dopim), which comprise the civil provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Zamboanga del Sur, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur, we completely oppose the operation of coal mining and coal power plants most especially within the aforementioned provinces.

We do this not only because of our human responsibility, but as a call intrinsic to our Christian faith.

We hereby urge all concerned – both the coal industry and the government – in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to have the same concern. We also call the faithful and all people of good will be vigilant at all times and in all places because our common home is in danger of devastation. We will not allow ourselves to arrive at the point of no return.

May God hear us and come to defend the beautiful creation He has entrusted to us. May Mary, the Queen of all creation, cover us with her mantle of maternal care.

(This statement was made at the Diocese of Iligan, Diocesan Pastoral Center, del Carmen, Iligan City, on Nov. 11, 2015 during the 40th Dopim Bishops-Clergy Convention. The signatories are Most Rev. Jesus A. Dosado, CM, DD, Metropolitan Archbishop of Ozamiz; Most Rev. Severo C. Caermare, DD, Bishop of Dipolog; Most Rev. Emmanuel T. Cabajar, CSsR, DD, Bishop of Pagadian; Most Rev. Elenito R. Galido, DD, Bishop of Iligan; Most Rev. Edwin A. dela Peña, MSP, DD, Bishop-Prelate of Marawi; 205 Priests/Clergy)