Letters to the Editor

Greening of Church Property

Dear Editor: My deepest thanks to Christopher White and The Tablet staff for “Implementing Laudato Si’,”(May 26), informing us about the actions of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., to green unused roads in archdiocesan cemeteries to prevent storm water pollution into local rivers and streams.

It’s hard to imagine a more appropriate acknowledgment of the third anniversary of Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical on the environment.

As a seminary professor who has given talks about “Laudato Si’” to socialist and secular groups, I am troubled by how infrequently I hear references to the encyclical, and to Pope Francis’ call for the protection of all creation, in my own parish and in other Catholic settings.

Perhaps the example of the Archdiocese of Washington will inspire the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, its bishops, priests, and lay leaders, to undertake similar actions to achieve an integral ecology and to preserve the life of all creatures now and in the future.

MARIAN RONAN

Flatbush

Editor’s Note: Dr. Ronan is a research professor of Catholic Studies at New York Theological Seminary and a parishioner at Our Lady of Refuge Church, Flatbush.