by Nirmala Carvalho

The Archbishop of Ranchi, speaks to AsiaNews ahead of the World Day of Prayer for the care of creation (1 September). The nation is home to "more than one million tribal Catholic, and in our culture we respect nature and will celebrate its gifts." Today "to be true witnesses of Christ, we must respond to the ecological crisis through a deep spiritual conversion."

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - "Thanks to the richness that comes from the diversity of tribes, languages ​​and people, India can be the model for the world community. The integral development of the human person created in the image of God, must be our joint venture for the 'care of our common home”, Card. Telesphore Toppo, archbishop of Ranchi, told AsiaNews ahead of the first World Day of Prayer for the care of creation, which will be celebrated tomorrow.

The World Day was announced by Pope Francis on Aug. 6. The choice of September 1 as the date for the celebration is to include the Orthodox Church, which celebrates a similar day on the same date.

"The world - Card. Toppo tells AsiaNews - is a wonderful place to live. It is the apex of God's creation, in which there is room for everyone. However, in his reckless pursuit of profit and personal needs, man has pushed what God has created to the brink of disaster. We are witnesses of dangerous climate change around the world and the situation is getting worse. "

The Archbishop of Ranchi, the first tribal in India to be made a cardinal, explains that "there is an urgent need for a common approach by people of all religions, governments, business leaders and industry, to redefine the development and ward off a looming catastrophe. "

Supporting the "green" message launched by Pope Francis with his Laudato sì, Card. Toppo said: "More than one million tribals in India are Catholic, and in our culture [tribal] we respect nature and will celebrate its gifts. In today's world, to be true witnesses of Christ, we must respond to the ecological crisis through a deep spiritual conversion, which necessarily implies a sensitivity to the tribal and the most marginalized parts of society: migrants, landless peasants and day laborers. "

"The tribal Catholics - continues the prelate - have impressed in their hearts that they are God's people and the children of Mother Earth, a people with its own voice, its own dignity and its own security. They are insured for their own place under the sun, as 'children of light'. "

Pope Francis’ green encyclical, concludes Card. Toppo, "invites us all to 'a renewed commitment to mission'. For this, the kind of development that the Church promotes begins and ends with the integrity of the human person created in the image of God and endowed by the Lord with inalienable dignity and human rights, is even more imperative and urgent for the Church in India. "

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