By Catholic Sabah
PAPAR — St Joseph’s Church Papar is now the sixth ecological parish in the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu.
The Creation Justice Committee of St Joseph Papar organized a two-day program on Jul 18–19 to get ready for the launch. It included talks, the launching of a pledge plaque, a pledge from the Catholic community to maintain ecological commitment at every chapel, palm tree planting, cleanup of the church area, and a Eucharistic celebration. About 80 people who represented the Creation Justice Committees in various chapels attended the launching.
Sr Calista, the Coordinator of the Archdiocesan Creation Justice Commission; Prof Dr Justin Sentian, an atmospheric scientist, Msgr Nicholas Stephen, and several other resource persons who are actively involved in environmental preservation presented talks for the two-day preparation.
As a gesture of commitment, Msgr Nicholas handed over a palm sapling to each chapel representative and instructed that the blessed sapling should be planted on their church compound.
After signing the pledge plaque establishing the parish as an ecological parish, the seminar participants then proceeded to clean the drainage system within the vicinity of the St Joseph Church. The activity went smoothly with the collaboration of the local district council.
