There are still areas in which the Jesuits can work to protect the environment in India, according to a member of the order.

On February 19, Father Arturo Sosa, the superior general of the Society of Jesus, urged his men to give a pastoral priority to ecological issues, as a direct response to Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’.

Jesuit Father Luke Rodrigues said it was also a response “to the crisis we experience today in terms of environmental degradation.”

The Jesuits of the Bombay Province – based in Mumbai – took up this call, building on already existing programs to protect the environment.

“In the rural areas, there are many ecological initiatives in the field of agriculture. Farmers working in dry regions – such as Nashik district – are encouraged to take up water harvesting schemes,” the priest said.

“This works on the principle of catching the water where it falls, thereby replenishing the groundwater table. This assures farmers of at least one good crop and at times the possibility of a second one too. Fruit plantations are now coming up, thanks to the enhanced supply of water,” he said.

Nashik is located about 120 miles north of Mumbai and has a large agricultural sector, most famous for its vineyards.