Earlier this week people in countries right around the world marked Earth Day – an
annual reminder of our responsibility to take care of the planet for future generations.
According to the organizers over a billion people – politicians, celebrities, students,
faith communities – took part in activities to raise awareness, promote clean up campaigns
or simply to spark greater reflection on why and how we are called to become better
stewards of God’s creation. One Irish missionary who’s dedicated several decades
of his life to galvanizing greater environmental awareness within the Catholic Church
is Columban Fr Sean McDonagh. The author of numerous books, articles, blogs and a
regular participant at international conferences on the environment, Fr Sean was passing
through Rome this week and spoke to Philippa Hitchen about the issues at stake at
the UN summit in June to be held in Rio de Janeiro, 20 years on from the first, landmark
Rio ‘Earth Summit’….. Listen: