By Mark Saludes
PHILIPPINEs – Leading church officials announced on Monday that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Plenary Assembly approved major resolutions aimed at strengthening campaigns for ‘integral ecology’.
In a press briefing held at Chali Conference Center in Cagayan de Oro City in the southern Philippines, CBCP President Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said the Catholic Church has “consistently raised the alarm on issues pertaining to environmental abuse in our country.”
The prelate said that the CBCP has approved becoming a co-signatory on a joint letter with other Episcopal Conferences. This letter, addressed to Pope Francis and the Dicastery for Divine Worship, proposes celebrating the Feast of Creation in unity with neighboring Christian churches.
The bishops’ Conference has resolved to uphold its commitment to divest from financial institutions engaged in environmentally destructive businesses, including extractive mining and industries that are considered anti-life by 2025.
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, vice-president of Caritas Philippines, said the bishops’ Conference has devised a “scorecard” to help the bishops identify the financial institutions, “mainly banks, that have investments or giving loans to these industries that are harming our environment.”
“For the last three years already, we have published these scorecards, and these are available , he said.
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