Laudato Si

Care for Creation by Pope Francis

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.

“Pope Tells Oil Executives to Act on Climate: ‘There Is No Time to Lose’”

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.

Wonderful Wilderness: A Meditation on Laudato Si’

Picture courtesy of
justfaith.org

Wonderful Wilderness: A Meditation on Laudato Si’ is a guided mediation from JustFaith Ministries. It is a short meditation read by Joe Grant that is meant to bring Laudato Si’ into the lives of those looking to live Pope Francis’ invitation. To view or participate in this mediation, click here.

Global Catholic Climate Movement: Climate Change Facts

Picture courtesy of catholicclimatemovement.global

The Global Catholic Movement created a page of climate change facts that include videos, statement from faith and science leaders, and resources. To view this page of facts, click here.

Live Laudato Si’

Picture courtesy of catholicclimatemovement.global

Live Laudato Si’ is a resource created by the Global Catholic Climate Movement. Its’ purpose is to raise awareness of the encyclical’s message and to encourage the Catholic community to take action with the urgency required by the climate crisis. The website offers resources to assist Catholics in living out the message in their congregations and day to day life. To view the website, click here.

Reverend John Chryssavgis Reflects on World Day of Prayer for Creation

Picture courtesy of cruxnow.com

Pope and Patriarch: A Common Declaration for a Shared World is a commentary from Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis. This article discusses the cooperation between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church on caring for creation. Rev. Dr. Chryssavgis stated, “The way we treat the earth is reflected in the way that we pray to God. Walking on this planet and kneeling in church are tantamount to the same thing.” To read the entire article, click here.

Catholic Diocese of Columbus: Creation Care Guide

Picture taken from colsdioc.org

The Creation Care Team of the Catholic Diocese of Columbus has created a Creation Care Guide based on the teachings of Laudato Si’. This guide contains information on energy conservation and efficiency, purchasing and recycling, transportation, and water conservation. Additionally, they have a section on making Laudato Si’ relatable for young people. The inspiration for this guide came from the Archdiocese of Atlanta who wrote a document titled, An Action Plan for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta. To read the Creation Care Guide from the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, click here. To read the Action Plan for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta and see where the inspiration for this guide came from, click here.

Earth Day 2017: Know the Creator through Creation

Picture courtesy of catholicclimatecovenant.org

The Catholic Climate Covenant has produced Know the Creator through Creation, an educational program to help celebrate Earth Day. This is the second year they have offered this resource that includes prayers, scripture readings, videos, discussion questions, and suggested activities to help teach about climate change. Their goal is to increase climate literacy and assist Catholics in embracing their call to care for creation. There are three different age specific programs between 30 minutes to an hour long. To learn more or download these programs, click here.

Cal DeWitt on Laudato Si’

Picture courtesy of faculty.nelson.wisc.edu

Earth Stewardship and Laudato Si is an article written by Cal DeWitt, a professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. His article was first presented at a session on religion and ecology at a meeting of the Ecological Society of America. It was then published in the Quarterly Review of Biology and has been one of the top five most read articles in the past five months. Dewitt discusses his response on the Pope’s encyclical Laudato Si pulling from his scientific background in environmental studies and scriptures from the Bible. To read the full article click here.

Trees for the Earth

The Catholic community is joining with the Earth Day Network to help reach the goal of planting 7.8 billion trees by 2020. This would be one tree per person on earth. The recent encyclical, Laudato Si, discussed the importance of trees and their benefits to the environment as well as human kind. To read the full article about this goal, click here. 

Photo Credit: http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/catholics-join-earth-day-effort-plant-78-billion-trees