, ,

Laudato Si’ Week to Mark 5th Anniversary of Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the Environment

BY ISN STAFF | May 14, 2020

Next week, Catholics around the world will celebrate the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical letter Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home  through prayer, education, and online activities. 

Through the Ignatian Carbon Challenge, the Ignatian Solidarity Network will unite with the global Catholic community in marking the anniversary during Laudato Si’ Week from May 16-24, 2020. Pope Francis has encouraged participation in Laudato Si’ Week through a video message.

Throughout the ISN’s Laudato Si’ Week, individuals are invited to join an online discussion group, subscribe to receive text messages with quotes from the document and prayerful suggestions to care for creation, participate in social media bingo, and join in a global common prayer for the earth at noon local time on May 24. 

“The theme for Laudato Si’ Week this year is that everything is connected,” said Brenna Davis, director of Education for Justice and environmental initiatives for the Ignatian Solidarity Network. “During the pandemic, that idea has been made real for us as a global community. We can clearly see that our health is connected, access to food is connected to the health of workers, and caring for the health of individuals, especially the most vulnerable, promotes the common good for all. I hope that the 5th anniversary of Laudato Si can be a time where we take this lesson and apply it to how we care for our common home and climate change. What affects even the smallest creature or a neighbor on the other side of the world, affects us all.”

Pope Francis, Laudato Si' Week

Pope Francis visits the Typhoon Yolanda victims in the Philippines in 2015. Climate change has increased the frequency and impact of dramatic weather disasters, which frequently cause harm to already vulnerable communities.

Laudato Si’ has animated an urgent conversation on how Catholics can fulfill a duty to care for creation. The document calls upon people of faith to examine the interconnectedness of that task through ecological, theological, economic, social, and political dimensions.

The lessons of the encyclical are particularly relevant in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought many parts of the world to a halt. Laudato Si’ offers a vision for building a more just and sustainable world.

Register for ISN’s Laudato Si’ Week here, and visit the global Laudato Si’ Week website to sign up for webinars throughout the week and to find more ways to deepen your commitment to care for creation. 

1 reply
  1. Dr.Cajetan Coelho
    Dr.Cajetan Coelho says:

    We are privileged. Each day is a gift offered to us to deepen our commitment to care for creation.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *