"The Catholic Church in Zambia calls for responsible and environmentally friendly large scale mining mining and agriculture".
By Maybin Augustine Katungulu
The Catholic Church in Zambia has called on for
prudence usage and exploitation of natural resources.
Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) President
Archbishop George Mpundu says there is need for wise and sustainable management
of resources in order to reduce poverty in the country.
Archbishop Mpundu also expressed concern about
environmental impact of large scale mining and agriculture.
The ZEC President was speaking in Lusaka on Tuesday
26th April 2016 during a communiqué to the media at the end of a
2-day Laudato SI Conference on care for
our common home, in the context
of large scale mining and agriculture
Meanwhile the Catholic Church has challenged the
mining sector to practice responsible mining which take care of the environment
and affected communities.
His Grace George Mpundu who is also Archbishop of
Lusaka stated that there is need for mining companies to put measures to
reclaim land used for extracting minerals.
According to information obtained by Desire Media
Concepts (DMC), mining activities have been causing environmental challenges to
communities in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia
Mrs. Bernadette Malamba, a community member in the mining
province confirmed to our staffer Maybin Augustine Katungulu that the mining
industries are polluting rivers and the environment in general.
Mrs. Malamba who is also Caritas-Zambia member in
Ndola lamented that open pit mines are greatly affecting the community adding
that they have become death traps
Pope Francis last year issued LAUDATO SI, Encyclical
on creation and environment: care for our common home.
And His Eminence Cardinal Peter Turkson, President
of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace was in Lusaka at the 2-day
Conference to explain the document.
Cardinal Turkson told the conference which was
attended by the Zambian Catholic Bishops and the lay faith across the country that Pope Francis in the Encyclical is recommending people to have a
spiritual listening to what has happen to the earth.
His Eminence Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of
the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace explained to the delegates that
the planet is an artistic creation of God that has been given to the human race
as a gift.
The high profiled LAUDATO SI, Encyclical conference was organized by Caritas-Zambia in partnership
with Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection.
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