Bishop Alfred Chaima of the Catholic Diocese of Zomba, has urged Malawians to take the responsibility in restoring the environment.

Bishop Chaima made the plea on Saturday during the 9th anniversary celebration of Laudato Si in Zomba.

He said it is a responsibility of each and every citizen to take part in caring for the environment.

“As we are celebrating today, we reminded one another on restoring the environment and also share with others who do not know about the later,” Bishop Chaima said.

He further said there is a lot that people can do and not just celebrate the anniversary but put it into practice.

District council representative, Eluby Masauli, hailed Zomba Diocese for the initiative.

“Malawi is not an exceptional as far as environmental crisis is concerned saying some of the challenges that the country is facing is because of climate change for example El nino weather,” Masauli said.

“If the community starts to practice what is in the Laudato Si letter some of the climate change challenges can be prevented.”

National Pastoral Coordinator Fr. Joseph Sikwese said the cerebration is important as it reminds Christians of their role in taking care of the environment.

“We look at the importance of the letter as it encourages us Christians to take a responsibility in conserving the creation as God gave us the authority,” he said.

Among other activities, Christians from Zomba diocese participated in what they called Laudato Si green walk from St Charles Lwangwa to Zomba Cathedral carrying environment messages and others picking up litter.

Pope Francis published the Laudato Si letter on June 18, 2015, talking about the crisis that the world is in as a result of destruction of the environment and the solutions that individuals can do to come out of the environmental crisis.