Celebrating World Food Day, the Indonesian Church Urges Ecological Conversion

The Indonesian Socio-Economic Development Commission of the Palembang Archdiocese held a conference on October 16 in Palembang, South Sumatra province, to promote ecological repentance. 

The head of the commission, Father Bonifasius Djuana, said "besides boosting economic growth," ecological repentance is needed “to fix our ecology, which is in danger because greedy people cut down trees and pollute the air.”

The priest said that changing to a more environmentally friendly way of living could help the economy grow, get better, heal the planet, and feed the people.

The practice of ecological conversation, the priest said, ‘could better manage food and land to improve people's lives.’

As many as 100 Catholics from different groups in the Archdiocese went to the seminar on October 16 to discuss becoming more environmentally friendly. The conference was in line with this year's World Food Day, which aims to promote food security and nutrition by embracing safe and healthy local food.

Father Djuana said the theme of World Food Day 2022, which calls for a change in agriculture so everyone can benefit from economic growth, inspired this event.

Through the event, the priest hoped to boost people’s awareness that many are more aware of inequality and are helping make the world more sustainable.

"People are more aware of inequality and help develop sustainably," said the priest.

He warned, "Millions worldwide cannot afford healthy food because the current economic crisis has put them at a high risk of hunger and not getting enough nutrition."

The priest said the agricultural sector needs help because it grows food and turns raw materials into other things.

Meanwhile, Yulia, one of the speakers, said, "There are three ecological sins of man. First, humans tend to be lazy, littering, consumptive, just being connoisseurs."

"Second, humans are greedy by cutting down forests, causing air pollution, not cultivating idle land, and killing by using synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, using excessive detergent, and using food and beverage packaging," Yulia said.

According to her, these three sins endanger the environment. So, there are several ways that ecological conversion is needed, such as processing organic and inorganic waste.

Organic waste, said Yulia, can be used as an eco-enzyme, while inorganic waste can be processed to make eco-bricks, a kind of environmentally friendly brick.

The island of Sumatra, where the Archdiocese of Palembang is located, has two smaller dioceses that work with it. These are the Tanjung Karang Diocese and the Pangkal Pinang Diocese.

The Palembang Archdiocese comprises three provinces: South Sumatra, Bengkulu, and Jambi. It has 27 parishes, two pastoral units, and one quasi-parish.

In 2019, there were 80,070 Catholics in the Palembang archdiocese, which covers 157,000 km2 and has less than 1% of the total population. Kasmir Nema