Laudato Si' & More
Laudato Si’ is Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter On Care for Our Common Home written in 2015. He addressed “every person living on this planet” as we are all affected by a growing ecological and social crisis. Laudato Si’ is medieval Italian for "Praise be to you”, a quote from the Canticle of the Creatures by St. Francis of Assisi whom Pope Francis calls a model for all of us today.
Read the full text of Laudato Si' here:
On care for our common home--A dialogue guide for Laudato Si’
This colourful guide to Laudato Si’, brings to life in photos, cartoons and stories the ground-breaking and challenging encyclical from Pope Francis. Nine sessions with Canadian context. Produced by the Jesuit Forum for Social Faith and Justice. Free download or purchase available at:
https://jesuitforum.ca/dialogue_guides/on-care-for-our-common-home/
Living Out Laudato Si’: A Commentary and Practical Resource for Canadian Catholics
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ resource with Canadian context, reflection and action sections available at:
https://www.cccb.ca/wp-content/uploads/images/stories/pdf/Living_Out_Laudato_Si_En.pdf
Catholic Climate Covenant has produced a booklet with Excerpts from Laudato Si' divided into sections such as climate change, faith perspective, consumerism etc.
https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/resource/excerpts-laudato-si
Laudato Si’ Conferences, Synods and other Events:
Laudato Si' Generation: Young People Caring for Our Common Home 15 - 16 July 2019 Nairobi, Kenya. Keynote Address by Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson, Prefect, Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Laudato Si’ International Conference Saving Our Common Home and the Future of Life on Earth 5 - 6 July 2018 Vatican City. Aspiring to communicate “a sense of deep urgency and profound concern for the precarious state of our common planetary home”, this conference was organized by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development to celebrate the third anniversary of Laudato Si’. Conference resources: presentations, videos, report and Pope Francis’ speech.
https://laudato-si-conference.com/
Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region 6 - 27 October, 2019 Amazonia: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecology
http://www.sinodoamazonico.va/content/sinodoamazonico/en.html
Pope Francis’ annual messages for September 1st World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
In his 2019 message, Pope Francis promotes the Season of Creation, calling it a season for praying, adopting simpler lifestyles and undertaking prophetic actions. He emphasizes “We have caused a climate emergency that gravely threatens nature and life itself, including our own” and urges all to “choose life".
In his 2016 message Show Mercy to our Common Home, Pope Francis adds care for our common home to the works of mercy:
“…may the works of mercy also include care for our common home. As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our common home calls for a “grateful contemplation of God’s world” (Laudato Si’, 214) which “allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us” (ibid., 85). As a corporal work of mercy, care for our common home requires “simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness” and “makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world” (ibid., 230-31).”
Other themes for Pope Francis’ annual messages for September 1st :
Catholic Bishops Documents
2018 Joint Statement on Climate Justice by Bishops’ Conferences
https://cidse.org/blog/2018/10/26/church-worldwide-calls-for-ambitious-and-urgent-climate-action/
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Documents:
A Church Seeking Justice: The Challenge of Pope Francis to the Church in Canada (2015) Resource exploring Catholic Social Teaching and Pope Francis’ call to act for justice, connecting with Canadian issues including climate change.
Appeals on climate change prepare way for Paris World Conference
https://www.cccb.ca/media-release/appeals-on-climate-change-prepare-way-for-paris-world-conference/
Building a New Culture: Central Themes in Recent Church Teaching on the Environment (2013) Outlines church teaching on eight environmental themes, serving as a guide for discussion, reflection and decision-making.
https://www.cccb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Church_Teaching_on_the_Environment.pdf
Our Relationship with the Environment: The Need for Conversion (March 2008)
https://www.cccb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/enviro_eng.pdf
The Christian Ecological Imperative (Oct. 2003)
https://www.cccb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/pastoralenvironment.pdf
US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Environmental Justice Program:
http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/environment/index.cfm