Development and Peace calls on Canadians to protect Our Common Home
MONTREAL, February 26, 2020 – This Ash Wednesday, Development and Peace — Caritas Canada is launching its annual Share Lent 2020 fundraising campaign in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the Amazon and around the world. Development and Peace’s For our Common Home campaign, which was launched in the fall of 2019 and continues over the Lenten season, responds to Pope Francis’s call in the encyclical, Laudato Si’, to care for the Earth and its peoples
“At this Lenten time, we turn our prayers and action toward supporting our sisters and brothers in the Global South who protect the forests, lands, air and water, and as such are preserving our common home for present and future generations. We invite all people of good will to give with their hearts to support Development and Peace’s programs in Canada and in the Global South, and to act in solidarity with the most vulnerable people,” said Serge Langlois, Executive Director of Development and Peace — Caritas Canada.
Through the stories of Indigenous and traditional Amazonian communities and the local organizations that help them with support from Development and Peace, we are highlighting the need to support the defenders of the Earth in their daily struggles and address social injustices that are contributing to climate change.
“On behalf of the Mura in my region, I thank Canadians for their support. It helps us in our struggle to have our rights and our land respected,” added Jeremias Oliveira, a leader of the Mura community in Brazil that Development and Peace’s partners support.
Over the Lenten period, more than 10,000 Development and Peace members across the country will organize activities inviting Canadians to act to protect our common home. The campaign will culminate with Solidarity Sunday on the 5th Sunday of Lent, March 29, 2020, where all Canadians are invited to contribute to Development and Peace’s programs. Donations will support the mission that Development and Peace, inspired by gospel values and the “preferential option for the poor,” has espoused for over 50 years—supporting the most vulnerable people in the Global South in their struggle for social justice and dignity.
In the Lenten season of sharing, as the faithful are called to express solidarity with the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, we invite Canadians to make a donation to Development and Peace by calling 1 888 234-8533 or visiting devp.org/donate.
