Sunday 19th June was a great day for SAGE! Archbishop Dermot Farrell visited St. Anne’s Parish for the 10.00am Mass in order to present SAGE with their Gold Award from Eco-Congregation Ireland. SAGE had been awarded the Gold Award in 2021 but due to Covid it had not been possible to find a day for the presentation until now.
On the same day the Archbishop presented SAGE with the plaque and certificate of the Roman Juriga Award from the European Christian Environmental Network. In each case the range of activities undertaken by SAGE was recognised:
- Arranging to include climate justice in the weekly liturgy in the bidding prayers and parish notices,
- Recognising Earth Day, Celebrating the Season of Creation with events and prayers,
- Biodiversity planting in the grounds of St. Anne’s parish,
- Replacing and upgrading the heating and lighting systems in the church to produce an estimated 40% energy saving,
- Engagement with local and national politicians,
- Outreach to other environmental and energy saving communities,
- Organising of lectures to discuss climate change and climate justice.
Parishioners are very proud to receive these two awards and plan to use them to improve their outreach and community engagement.
You can read an acount of the online presentation of the Roman Juriga Award from the European Christian Environmental Network here.