This category tags ideas or projects or movements that will be named as categories on this site when they are “current” (possibly hot topics and other things that gain significant attention), and are also selected because they represent a “current” – something that seems to be moving, or that perhaps has a ripple effect.
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In October 2018, 132 faith communities, including seven Ohio-based faith communities, signed a letter to President Trump, EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler, and Secretary Ryan Zinke to implore them to maintain the environmental protection measures, including the clean water rule.
You can access the letter here.
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Creation at the Crossroads is a collaboration between RENEW International, GreenFaith, and Catholic Climate Covenant. They aim to share faith related resources for small-groups that respond to Pope Francis’ call to action in his encyclical Laudato Si’. To read more on Creation at the Crossroads, click here.
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Grounding for Action (Beyond Fossil Fuels) is an initiative from EcoFatih Recovery that focuses on moving beyond fossil fuels. This project hopes to engage faith communities in courageous, creative public action toward a sustainable future. They have monthly meetings to discuss coaching and upcoming projects. The current project is focused in Portland with the Portland Just Energy Transition initiative, which is a city-wide faith-based strategy. To read more on Grounding for Action and the ongoing project, click here.
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Catholic Climate Covenant has created a bulletin inserts resource. The bulletin insert collection is free to download and offers 75 weekly tips including seasonal and holiday tips. To read more or download the bulletin inserts, click here.
Picture courtesy of catholicclimatecovenant.org
Laudato Si’ in Spoken Word is a poem video of Pope Francis’s teaching on the environment. It is meant to convey the essence of the Pope’s encyclical in a multimedia representation. It also includes a discussion guide to accompany the video. To watch the video or download the discussion guide, click here.
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The Green Churches Network has created discussion question on Laudato Si’. The document highlights questions raised by Pope Francis from the encyclical and cites the page number they come from. To read the entire list of discussion questions, click here.
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The Green Churches Network has pulled out important quotes from Laudato Si’ that they feel highlight the main message of the encyclical and created a resource to share them. To read or download the entire resource, click here.
“So too is the Church. All Christian communities have an important role to play in ecological education. It is my hope that our seminaries and houses of formation will provide an education in responsible simplicity of life, in grateful contemplation of God’s world, and in concern for the needs of the poor and the protection of the environment.”
-Paragraph 214 of Laudato Si’
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The Irish Catholic Bishops Conference announced it would divest from fossil fuels hours before the arrival of Pope Francis. The bishops move means withdrawing investments in 200 oil and gas companies within five years. The bill was introduced in the Irish Parliament requiring the country’s sovereign wealth fund to divest from all fossil fuels, and if the Irish bill passes, it will make Ireland the first government to divest from fossil fuels. To read more, click here.
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GreenFaith has created a list of known religious efforts to divest from fossil fuels. The list includes religious groups that have: divested their own funds, committed to never investing in fossil fuels, passed or considered national or local resolutions, focused on reinvestment, or taken divestment or reinvestment on pension funds. There is a key that provides further detail on the action of each religious group. To read more, click here.
Book cover courtesy of Amazon.com
Care for Creation: A Call for Ecological Conversation is a collection of Pope Francis’s writings and words which give background to the direction of Laudato Si’. Grouped into ten chapters, this book offers a very accessible introduction to the Pope’s understanding of the call of the church to creation care.
He frames the current struggle as one guided by a lust for money’s idol and the globalization of indifference. He calls each reader to action, not blaming them for the global issues of poverty and climate change, but implicating them as necessary actors in the solutions. He recognizes the ecological crisis as related to the inner crisis of belief and identity experienced globally. Pope Francis argues that we all must become part of the solution, taking faith-inspired action to care for our world and those in it. Far from arguing that only the church or individuals can create lasting change, he believes that there must also be systematic change in the government and economic structures which govern our world.
For those who are intimidated by Laudato Si’ or are looking for more of Pope Francis’ reflections on creation care and ecology, this book in short sections frames the call to care for the world and those who live in it.
This book can be found on Amazon, major book retailers, and your favorite independent bookstore.