The network of Laudato Si’ Animators, Sisters of Mercy and Sisters of St Joseph of Peace in the UK were among those tuning in last Sunday to hear Pope Francis launch Laudato Si’ Week 22-29 May from the Vatican, underlining the importance of care for creation.
Pope Francis urged humanity “to listen ever more attentively to the needs of the earth,” as he launched Laudato Si’ Week last Sunday. The week, 22-29 May, has marked the seventh anniversary of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical on creation care. Key organisers were the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Laudato Si’ Movement, which broadcast events online.
Westminster Justice and Peace simultaneously provided a Laudato Si’ Prayer on its social media, saying: “Enable us to listen and respond to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor.” Clifton’s education and evangelisation department advertised the week’s events. Cafod’s social media drew attention to its Laudato Si’ encyclical resources.
On Monday Bishop Robert Byrne of Hexham and Newcastle held a special Mass focusing on creation care at St Mary’s Cathedral. Fr Chris Hughes, member of the Diocesan justice and peace council and chair of the diocesan environmental group, gave the homily on hearing the cry of the poor and the earth, with music provided by pupils from Sacred Heart High School, Fenham.
Birmingham, Lancaster, Liverpool and Salford dioceses were among the dioceses advertising the international programme for the week broadcast online, and environmental projects such as the Laudato Si’ Centre at Wardley Hall in Salford diocese. Caritas and Cafod Plymouth ran an online caring for creation event on Tuesday evening, looking at new initiatives “which combat poverty, restore dignity to the excluded and protect nature, in the spirit of integral ecology”. ?
Scotland Justice and Peace and Pax Christi Scotland promoted engagement with events. St Ninian’s School in Glasgow was one of many schools whose pupils composed prayers for the week. The Assumption Sisters in Newcastle tweeted that maintaining their beautiful garden “celebrates their presence in the city during Laudato Si’ Week”.
Jesuit Missions UK offered an online reflection from Jacques St Laurent SJ, who is part of the spirituality team at St Beuno’s Retreat Centre. Based on the text of Laudato Si’ he suggested that that “reconnection with creation may require us to reconsider our assumptions about what it is to live a meaningful life”.
People of faith have been urged to form eco-awareness groups in their parishes to help the Church apply the teaching of Laudato Si’ in practice.
As the Church marks Laudato Si’ Week and the seventh anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis’ prophetic encyclical letter, Bishop Martin Hayes of Kilmore appealed to the faithful to become custodians of God’s creation and stressed that caring for creation is essential to a life of virtue, and not an optional or secondary aspect of being a Christian.
“I strongly encourage all people to read Laudato Si’ and inform themselves of their faith-based ecological obligation,” said the coordinating bishop for Laudato Si’ in the Irish Church.
He said the latest intergovernmental panel on climate change report, published in April, had shown that global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.
Recalling the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow which he attended last November he added: “It is past the time to call on others to begin to limit use of fossil fuels, we now need to make rapid transformation to avoid the worst effects of climate impact.
“For the sake of our future generations we cannot afford to be slow learners on the vital issue of sustaining creation. But we can act now.”
According to Bishop Hayes, changes in lifestyle and behaviours can have a significant role on mitigating climate change, particularly by limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius through carbon removal.
He warned that if global warming is to be limited to below two degrees Celsius, then climate finance for mitigation must be provided at a level of three to six times higher by 2030.
He also encouraged the faithful to sign up to the Laudato Si’ action platform.
Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home promotes the concept of integral ecology as a paradigm to articulate the relationships of the person with God, with oneself, with other human beings, and with creation.
Separately, Trócaire, the Irish bishops’ development agency, is partnering with the Laudato Si’ Movement to bring documentary film The Invitation to Ireland. Screenings will be held in parish communities, churches, schools, community centres, universities, and retreat centres.
As part of Laudato Si’ Week, Bishop Hayes has invited people to register for a webinar where the film will be broadcast on 27 May at 1pm.
On Monday, Australia’s Catholic University Rome campus hosted an international gathering focusing on “No More Biodiversity Collapse: Rebalancing Social Systems with Nature”. Thousands of viewers internationally heard Sr Alessandra Smerilli, secretary of the dicastery, call for action in local churches “to protect God’s biodiversity” noting links to long-term food security. Fr Joshtrom Kureethadam, head of the ecology sector of the Dicastery, warned of “the death of life” and suggested “ecological conversion will mean examining our patterns of consumption, embracing a simple lifestyle, and lifting our voices for change.” From India, environmentalist Dr Vandana Shiva hailed saving traditional seeds over genetically modified organisms, saying she sees the acronym GMO as “God move over”.
In the Philippines, Manila Cathedral hosted an all-day programme on 24 May with the theme, “Empowering ECO-Community”. “Fossil Fuels, Violence, and the Climate Crisis” was scheduled for 25 May, led by author Jeffrey D Sachs. A prayer gathering in Uganda called for the restoration of creation as oil companies continue to pursue destructive construction of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline.
On Thursday, FaithInvest was to lead a conversation about ethical investing and launch the Laudato Si’ Action Platform Investor Hub. A key speaker was Lorna Gold of FaithInvest and the Laudato Si’ Movement board president
An all-day prayer event for 29 May with the theme, “Community resilience and empowerment as part of our Synodal Journey” was due to be broadcast from Brumadinho in Brazil, where Bishop Vicente de Paula Ferreira of Belo Horizonte was to lead prayers. In January 2019, a dam collapse in Brumadinho poured millions of tons of toxic waste into nearby communities and killed 270 people. The Jesuit Centre for Ecology in Malawi hosted a week-long programme.
A Laudato Si’ formation series for young people was being run in Tanzania, with a session featuring Bishop Henry Mchamungu, Auxiliary of Dar es Salaam, explaining Catholic Social Teaching.
On 28 May a Laudato Si’ Festival from Assisi was to focus on ecological spirituality.
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