Church invites public to environmental dialogue meetings

The Church is holding a second series of public dialogue meetings on the environment on May 12, 19 and 26 at the Phoenicia Hotel, Floriana, following the first series held last year.

The meetings, organised by the Church's environment commission and its institute of pastoral formation, will be chaired by Prof. Salvino Busuttil.

The first meeting will tackle questions such as what do we understand by the term 'environment', man's role in the environment, objectives of and limits to development, sustainable development, and what role the Church should play. Prof. Victor Axiak and Alfred Baldacchino are guest speakers.

Simone Borg and Vince Caruana will address the second meeting, which will focus on environment responsibility: what it is, to whom we should be responsible, and the responsibilities of ordinary citizens and the authorities. It will also ask whether current environmental protection legislation is sufficient or effective, and who should be responsible for enforcement.

The third meeting deals with environmental education - its aims, how it can form part of lifelong learning, its implications on our educational structures and its impact on Church-run schools and institutes of spiritual formation. Grace Grima and Paul Pace are guest speakers.