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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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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’
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.
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Environmental leaders, activists and advocates gathered with Pope Francis for a two-day Vatican-organized conference with hopes to emerge with a shared vision for protecting our planet. The conference was inspired by the third anniversary of the Pope’s encyclical and was attended by political and religious leaders, scientists, economists and heads of civil society organizations. Inspired by the call for unity and action in the encyclical, UN Environment also introduced their Interfaith Rain-forest Initiative at the conference. To read more about the conference, click here.
Image courtesy of NYT and CreditMaurizio Brambatti/EPA, via Shutterstock
Pope Francis continued his efforts to uplift climate change as a focus of global Catholic action with a conference of oil company executives at the Vatican in early June 2018. The pope, who has called for a swift energy transition away from fossil fuels and to more renewable energy sources, praised progress made by big oil companies while pushing for even further change.
In his statements on climate change, Pope Francis argues for our present duty to care for the gift of the earth for ourselves as well as future generations. He also recognizes that the poor will be disproportionately affected by global warming.
The Global Catholic Climate Movement has followed the pope’s directive and removed funding from organizations which support fossil fuel. Catholic universities, like Notre Dame, are working on plans to remove fossil fuels from their own energy production.
For more on Global Catholic Climate Movement click here. To be directed to the article originally published on the New York Times click here.
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This reflection on Laudato Si’ is a resource from Ecospirituality. It highlights important quotes and offers additional resources related to creation care. To read more or download this reflection, click here.
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The Carmelite NGO has created new curriculum on Laudato Si’: Laudato Si’ Can Change the World. It is meant for grades 9-12 and also includes an adult study guide meant for study groups or college classes. To read more or download the curriculum, click here.