Nuns. Credit: Cathopic.com
The loss of biodiversity is preoccupying different sectors of society. We have seen how climate strikes are mobilizing hundreds of thousands of young people and adults in different cities around the world. But there is one sector that is also in action and is perhaps less visible: religious congregations.
Ready to experience COP15, the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity to be held in China, Laudato Si’ Movement spoke with Sister Maru Iza Santisteban, Missionary of the Divine Master, from Colombia, and Sister Maria Salud Sanchez, from the Ursulines of Jesus congregation, in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Maru Iza Santisteban
Sister Maru Iza is a Laudato Si’ Animator who actively participates in her country’s national Laudato Si’ Movement chapter. For her, “caring for the planet is something we hear a lot about in the media because of global warming; and the loss of biodiversity is so serious because of the number of species in danger of extinction.”
That motivated her to spread the prophetic Healthy Planet, Healthy People petition in her religious community, proposing various projects, such as recycling and composting.
Another aspect in which the Sister worked was the classes with young people and their families: “Education in this aspect awakens strengths for life, building awareness and love for our Mother Earth. Young people are very sensitive and easily welcome these initiatives, becoming their promoters”.
Social networks have also been platforms for the search for signatures: “Small actions that add up and make us more aware of our being custodians of creation. + COP – CO2”, concludes Sister Maru Iza.
Maria Salud Sanchez
In turn, in Bolivia, Sister Sanchez said she took advantage of the meeting of the Bolivian Conference of Religious to spread news about the ”Healthy Planet, Healthy People” petition, besides sharing the petition through social media and in conversations with family and friends.
She collaborated in the vaccination campaigns against COVID-19 in her city, and there she used the opportunity to collect signatures among the volunteers and the people who came to get vaccinated.
“For me it was a new experience, because I find it difficult to ask for signatures. But I felt the need to do it for our common home and I threw myself into it,” the sister shared.
Are you a religious sister and have you also been involved in actions for the common home and collecting signatures for the Healthy Planet, Healthy People petition? Leave us your comment! And if you liked this blog, let us know by rating the story.