Brentwood: Bishop asks parishes to take action on environment

Open-Mass in Live Simply Week

In the light of Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment and human ecology, Bishop Alan Williams is encouraging all parishes in the Diocese of Brentwood to work towards global aid charity CAFOD's LiveSimply Award. The Pope's letter urged people to undertake an 'ecological conversion' in order to care for our endangered planet.

In a message to all parishes Bishop Alan said: "The LiveSimply Award is a practical way to respond to the Papal imperative at parish level."

To win the award, a parish must display nine ways in which it is putting into practice the three principles of LiveSimply: living in solidarity with people in poverty; living simply; and living sustainably with creation. Receipt of the award is national recognition to Catholic parishes that they are making a difference to their community - and the world.

The Brentwood Cathedral parish of St Mary and St Helen gained the award 18 months ago - and has just celebrated LiveSimply week with a range of activities including a walk, Mass and picnic, a Livesimply Prayer Vigil, and a Food Bank Collection. A number of other parishes in the Diocese are already involved but Bishop Alan wants many more to sign up for the award.

Brenda Underwood, co-ordinator for the Cathedral project, said: "There is something for everyone to get involved with in LiveSimply. It's all about taking time to reflect on the wonderful world we share and how on a practical level we should use the resources it provides us with. LiveSimply provides a real opportunity to pause for thought and to consider the impact of our actions and inactions."

Fr Martin Boland, Dean of the Cathedral parish, says small changes can have a long term impact and, above all, change attitudes. The Cathedral LiveSimply plan included encouraging parishioners to walk to Mass, to eat less meat, and even to make people smile. Other events were focused on specific issues such as undertaking an environmental audit of the parish buildings, highlighting areas for future action. The parish also changed all the light bulbs in the Cathedral (of which there are hundreds on the famous chandeliers) to low energy light bulbs."By making choices to live sustainably and simply, we shift attitudes, make change possible and act as responsible stewards of creation," says Fr Martin. "In this way, the smallest action releases a ripple of hope whose energy can be harnessed for the common good of man and the environment."

Parishes which are already pursuing the award or have expressed an interest are: English Martyrs and Holy Trinity, Danbury & South Woodham Ferrers; St Teresa's, Lexden; Our Lady & St George, Walthamstow; Most Holy Redeemer, Billericay; and Christ the Eternal High Priest, Gidea Park.

Find out more about LiveSimply here: http://livesimplyaward.org.uk/