A section of the members during the march
Rev. Father Richard Opoku Acheampong, Parish Priest of Corpus Christi Catholic Church at New Tafo, a suburb of Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, has challenged religious bodies, especially Christians to jealously promote and protect the environment.
According to Rev. Opoku Acheampong, one cannot be a Christian and be littering indiscriminately, engage in illegal mining and destroy the environment, stressing that God hates the destruction of His creation.
He disclosed that there is no second planet, stressing, “what we stand for is what we stand on”, and called for an end to plastic pollution, adding that recycling and protecting the environment must be everyone’s business.
Rev. Opoku Acheampong, an Executive Member of Consecrated Men and Women Religious made the call at the Jubilee 2025 Conference of Ghana Catholic Major Superiors Candle Light Procession in support of protecting the environment, under the theme, “Send forth your Spirit and Renew the face of the land.”
He noted that, the environment is being destroyed through unplanned buildings, illegal mining, deforestation and the destruction of water bodies, hence the need for religious bodies especially Christians to contribute and add their voices in the promotion and protection of the environment.
The consecrated men and women who marched through some principal streets of Kumasi held placards with inscriptions such as; “We received the world as an inheritance from the past generation, but also a loan from future generations to whom we will have to return it”, “The Earth, our home is beginning to look more like an immense pile of filth in many parts of the planet”, “Once beautiful landscape are now covered with rubbish, quoted Pope Francis”, and many others.
Sister Mary Dankwah Boamah, President of Consecrated Men and Women Religious, urged the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to be more responsible to stop the illegal mining in our forests and water bodies, to safeguard the environment and avoid the untimely death of the youth through illegal mining and the destruction of water bodies.
She appealed to the sector minister to always crack the whip without fear or favour and devoid of political colouration.
From David Afum, Kumasi