JAKARTA (UCAN) -- Young people returning from the World Youth Day (WYD) celebration are continuing to spread environmental messages in their own localities, just as they did during the WYD program in Australia.

At a special event during the July 15-20 WYD program in Sydney, the Indonesian delegation carried a banner proclaiming "Return to Our Nature," and distributed 1,000 stickers and pamphlets with environmental messages.

More than 300 young Catholics from 19 of Indonesia's 37 dioceses took part in the WYD program. Their coordinator was Father Yohanes Dwi Harsanto, executive secretary of the Indonesian bishops' Commission for Youth. Four bishops and 29 other priests also accompanying the youths.

One youth delegate, Merry Christina from Medan archdiocese, on Sumatra Island in western Indonesia, told UCA News on Aug. 6 that young people must take the initiative to make a difference for the environment because the future of the planet is in their hands.

"We need to launch a common movement, such as peaceful action against companies whose operations may destroy the environment," asserted the 25-year-old woman. For her own part, she said, "I will ask young friends to care for the environment by collecting garbage and planting trees."

Andreas Lomena, from Makassar archdiocese, in South Sulawesi province, eastern Indonesia, told UCA News that after returning home, he and other young people began planting mango seedlings and other trees, with the intention of distributing the plants to local people for free.

Nela Kilangin, from Timika diocese in Papua province, in easternmost Indonesia, told UCA News: "I am happy Indonesia's delegates brought the environmental messages to the celebration. They opened the international community's eyes to see that our earth is prone to disasters."

She promised to encourage her peers to plant trees in their locality, which she describes as "previously so green."

Father Harsanto told UCA News on Aug. 5 that many young people who went to the WYD from around the world welcomed the environmental messages the Indonesian delegates brought. On July 16, he recalled, about 120 Indonesian delegates held a special two-hour gathering at Sydney Harbour where they delivered speeches about environmental destruction, offered prayers, and performed traditional songs and dances.

"We wore green jackets, carried the banner, and distributed stickers and pamphlets," the priest said. More than 350 delegates from other countries, he added, joined in the special event, including delegates from Brazil, which is facing serious forest destruction.

During the opening Mass, Father Harsanto also noted, Pope Benedict XVI urged all the young Catholics to care for the environment.

Besides bringing the environmental messages to WYD, the Indonesian delegates said they experienced solidarity during the celebration. In one homily, Lomena said, the pope's emphasis on the importance of togetherness impressed him very much. The young man promised to develop togetherness in his area among his peers, whom he describes as being always busy with their daily routine.

Deviana Wijaya of Bandung diocese in West Java province told UCA News on Aug. 2, "One big lesson I have taken from WYD is about giving. We should just give and give, and never think of what we'll get back." He also said WYD "really gave me a strong impression of togetherness, peace and solidarity."

According to Father Harsanto, the bishops' Commission for Youth is now preparing young Indonesians for the fifth Asian Youth Day in 2009 in the Philippines, and the National Meeting of Young Catholics of Indonesia in 2010.

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