“God’s creation entrusted to us: a shared responsibility of the East and of the West” – the theme of a solidarity action of “Renovabis”

On Sunday May 22, during a Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising, an official opening took place of the 19^th solidarity action of “Renovabis”. It takes place in Germany every year before the Pentecost and concludes with collection of money to support those in need.   The theme of this year’s action is: “God’s creation entrusted to us: a shared responsibility of the East and of the West”. With this theme “Renovabis” wants to focus the public’s attention on serious ecological problems in Eastern Europe and encourage people to have solidarity with those who are suffering from a bad environment.   “Ecological problems make the Church worry” – emphasized Cardinal Reinhard Marx on the press-conference at the opening of the solidarity action. The Head of the Bishop’s Conference of Bavaria also noted that ecological challenges are not bound by any borders and thus they constitute a global problem. The solution of these global problems depends on a shared responsibility that the Christians should be conscious of, primarily on the basis of their creed and its implementation in their daily life.   According to the Chief of “Renovabis,” Rev. Stefan Dartmann, the theme of forming responsibility for the creation and preservation of the environment is very dear to the charitable activity of the organization headed by him. The solidarity action of “Renovabis” not only aims at informing the public of the problem, but it also would like to propose some possibilities for reflection and possibilities for taking action.   The opening of the solidarity action in the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising was accompanied by a number of information and educational events with ecological emphasis such as speeches, round tables, lectures, exhibitions, discussions etc. An active support of these events was given by the Ecology Office of Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishopric, especially by Dr. Volodymyr Sheremeta. Bishop Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk, Auxiliary-Bishop of Kyiv-Zhytomyr diocese and Head of the mission “Caritas-Spes”, also took part in numerous events on the occasion of the opening of the solidarity action. Information Department of the UGCC Ecology Office     Reference: “Renovabis”  - Solidarity action of German Catholics with people in Central and Eastern Europe. It was founded in March 1993 by German Bishop’s Conference. “Renovabis” provides support to its partners in pastoral, social and civil renewal of former soviet countries of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.