NEW YORK — Holy Name Church on the Upper West Side is holding a series of educational presentations this month called “Celebrate Water, Celebrate Life,” focuses on water and steps people can take to protect it.
Yesterday, the parish hosted Marian Ronan, a religious scholar and water activist, who led a presentation and question-and-answer session about hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking. Ronan spoke about the fracking process, its dangers, and its potential effects on New York City drinking water.
The church will hold three more water-related events in October, each offering a film and discussion. They are:
• Oct. 16 — A presentation of “Blue Gold: World Water Wars,” a movie that explains the environmental and political repercussions of the world’s dwindling water supply
• Oct. 23 — “Liquid Assets” which attempts to teach the importance of maintaining the nation’s aging infrastructure systems for water, waste water and storm water, and highlights statistics such as the 240,000 water main breaks that occur in the United States annually
• Oct. 30 — A showing of “Tapped,” a film about the bottled water industry and its effect on health, climate change and pollution
A representative of Food and Water Watch — a non-profit organization that advocates for policies that result in healthy, safe food and access to safe and affordable drinking water — will lead each discussion.
Each presentation will be held in the lower chapel of Holy Name Church on West 96th Street from 7 to 9 p.m. Event organizers ask for interested attendees to RSVP by emailing Janet Curley.
Michael Tyson, OFM, who established the parish’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Ministry, encourages participation in environmental programs. Mike is well known for his JPIC work. He is a founding member of the West Siders for Peace Movement and the annual Martin Luther King Day Peace Walk in New York City.
— Maria Hayes is communications coordinator for Holy Name Province.