Msgr. Allwyn D'Silva to head Commission on Ecology
by Nirmala Carvalho

The new Commission was born at the end of the Latin rite Indian bishops Plenary Assembly. Mons. Allwyn D'Silva is auxiliary bishop of Mumbai. The diocese among the first to realize the need to counteract the negative effects of climate change.


Chennai (AsiaNews) - The world "urgently needs awareness and the Church in India must also be aware of the gravity of the environmental crisis," says Msgr. Allwyn D'Silva, auxiliary bishop of Mumbai, elected first president of the new Ecological Commission of the Conference of Latin Bishops (Ccbi) of the Indian Bishops' Conference (CBCI). His appointment was made official yesterday, at the end of the Ccbi Plenary which was held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, from January 7 to 14.

Msgr. D'Silva has twenty years of experience in the environmental field. His archdiocese was among the first to accept Pope Francis's invitation to take care of the "common home", contained in the encyclical Laudato si '. On September 1st, the day in which the Day for the care of creation was celebrated, the "Green Diocese" project was launched in Mumbai. Now the new president is expected to apply the same spirit to all the other Indian dioceses to protect the environment.

For the bishop, "right choices must be made every day [to counteract the damaging effects of climate change]". Furthermore, "we see that people are afflicted by floods and other disasters. We must initiate initiatives to ensure that people reflect on the real causes of the damage of the environmental crisis. The same applies to climate changes ".

In addition to the department for ecology, the bishops of the Latin rite decided to give life to another commission for small Christian communities (SCC). The change in leadership also took place at the Synod. Card. Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, will hand over leadership after three terms from 2013 to 2019. He has been replaced by Msgr. Filipe Neri Ferrao, Archbishop of Goa and Daman. On the other hand, the vice-president and the general secretary, respectively Msgr. George Antonysamy, Archbishop of Chennai-Mylapore and Msgr. Anil Joseph Thomas Couto, Archbishop of Delhi.