Christians are encouraged to pray and care for the world around us each year during Creation Time from September 1 to October 4 (the Feast of St Francis).

This year CaFE (Catholic Faith Exploration) has produced a new film-based resource for parishes, groups and individuals on behalf of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

Global Healing is intended to inform, challenge, encourage and equip people to engage with Pope Francis’ urgent call to care for our common home.

Parish groups are being asked to come together and begin with a shared meal followed by watching film clips, which include material from well-known experts and examples from location filming from around the UK.

There are also times for discussion and prayer to help towards new practical responses.

Resources, including posters, flyers and film clips, can be downloaded from the Global Healing Website at ourcommonhome.co.uk and an inexpensive DVD can be purchased if needed.

There are also resources for any parish or group wishing to create a short course, perhaps to use during Advent.

This is certainly an excellent initiative from the Bishops’ Conference and an ideal way for us to further implement our Diocesan Environment Policy.

As a practical action, check out Traidcraft’s Clean and Fair, the world’s first Fairtrade cleaning range. It’s made with sustainable fair trade palm oil and eco-friendly organic Fairtrade coconut oil from India. Clean and Fair is available from traidcraft.co.uk/clean-fair.

Barbara Hungin