Reverend Thomas Breidenthal, Bishop of The Diocese of Southern Ohio gave an Earth Day message from a butterfly garden by St. Johns Town street in Columbus. He reminds the audience of the privilege and responsibility that comes with caring for the earth, noting also that Earth Day is the only secular holiday that is observed around the world.
The Earth Day Network is an organization with a mission to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental movement. As they continue forward with their mission of building the world’s largest environmental movement, they recognize that faith leaders have been a driving force behind some of the most important social movements. They provide a plethora of resources to guide faith leaders and faith communities in their efforts of stewardship of the planet.
This year, the Anamchara Faith Community will be providing an Earth Day celebration in the woods at Bernheim Forest in Bullitt County, Kentucky. The service will include biblical passages that give honor to the importance of trees, with the plan to plant at least one during this time. This service will draw from different faiths and cultures, ranging from the Catholic faith to Native American customs and traditions.
The Catholic community is joining with the Earth Day Network to help reach the goal of planting 7.8 billion trees by 2020. This would equate to one tree per person on earth. Pope Francis's recent encyclical, Laudato Si, focuses on the importance of trees and their benefits to the environment as well as human kind.
