The Catholic Church in Sibu, Malaysia declared 2024 as the “Year of Oil and Anointing,” marking the 8th year of the decade-long observance of ‘Creation Justice’.
During the launch on Jan. 1, Bishop Joseph Hii of Sibu said the Holy Oil “gives strength and healing” and “arouses grace and dignity.”
The prelate also noted that oil is used in four out of the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church, adding that it is used “in invoking the Holy Spirit on the candidates”.
“You and me, through baptism have been anointed Chrism oil; the same Chrism oil that is used to ordain priests and the same Chrism oil to consecrate bishops,” he said.
Bishop Hii said if the same oil has been used to baptize, ordain, and consecrate, the faithful must not only “look up” to ordained and consecrated persons but also to themselves.
“Do not just look up to priests and bishops, look up to yourself also as you are also being anointed by this same Chrism Oil, the holiest oil that was put on your head,” he said.
The prelate, however, lamented the wrong use of oil and its impact on the environment, and how it symbolizes money and power struggles among rich nations.
“We also see that the pursuits for money and power have seen rampant explorations of oil without regard to the pollution and harm caused to our natural ecosystem,” he said.
He lamented that corporations have been exploiting even the supposed to be oil reserves meant for “future generations”.
The prelate criticized the COP28 Summit on Climate Change in Dubai for showing “no urgency” in phasing out fossil fuels, which he said, “is the main cause of global warming since the industrial age”.
“We have failed as stewards in our responsibility to care for our common home and this is ‘a tragic and striking example of structural sin’. We need to realize the close relationship of human life with that of other living beings and with the natural environment,” he said.
The prelate said the climate crisis “is a human and social problem on any number of levels,” adding that it “calls for involvement on the part of all on every level of society”.
