Redemptorists have asked local Catholics not to cut down trees, use plastic bags and to save energy in a bid to protect the environment. “Environment pollution is causing a growing sense of alarm. We should do something useful to save Mother Earth,” Redemptorist Father Vincent Pham Trung Thanh, the provincial superior, told 50 people who attended a discussion on May 28. The discussion with the theme Save Mother Earth, held by the Committee for the Family of Ho Chi Minh City archdiocese at the Pastoral Center, to mark World Environment Day, June 5. Father Thanh said the destruction of forests, dust and water from factories, industrial waste and mineral exploitation cause damage to the environment and badly affect people’s lives. The country’s 600 hydroelectric plants damage the ecology, he said. The priest also urged local Catholics to raise awareness of environmental protection among people by giving up smoking, refusing to burn fake paper money in funerals, to use plastic bags, collect and classify garbage into categories and save power and water. They should plant trees, grow vegetables and flowers on their roof terrace and store up rain water for their daily use as a way to prevent streets from flooding, he said. Father Thanh also said local parishes should build toilets in the compound of churches for Massgoers, as many of them urinate on trees or walls. Maria Le Ngoc Nga, a participant, said she supports Father Thanh’s solutions. “We will store away rainwater for our use,” she said. At the end of the discussion, two Redemptorists and participants with candles in hand prayed for environmental problems in the country. Related report Vietnam Catholics unite against mining VT14354