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Month: May 2021

Pope launches seven-year journey to total sustainability

Posted by | May 25, 2021 | , , , , , , |

The Laudato Sí Action Platform “is a journey to realise the integral ecological vision of Laudato Sí… a journey towards total sustainability in the spirit of the integral ecology,” says Salesian Father Josh Kureethadam of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

The post Pope launches seven-year journey to total sustainability appeared first on Catholic Herald.

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It’s Not All the Bitter Boomers’ Fault

Posted by | May 25, 2021 | , , , , |

Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images   I’ve just finished reading Boomers, Helen Andrews’ send-up of her parents’ generation. My parents are Boomers too, but I’m laughing a little, because her assessment is almost exactly the opposite of mine. She blames the Boomers for, well, pretty much everything that’s wrong with modern life, but especially neoliberalism,

The post It’s Not <i>All</i> the Bitter Boomers’ Fault appeared first on Catholic Herald.

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Letter to the Editor

Posted by | May 25, 2021 | , |

I have spent the past 20 years as General Manager of the Living Bread Radio Network, an EWTN affiliate.  It has been a great joy to help others come to know the truths of the Catholic Faith. Through the years we have heard countless stories of listeners who have come back to the practice of[…]

The post Letter to the Editor appeared first on Catholic Insight.

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Pope Francis launches 7-year Laudato si’ action plan

Posted by | May 25, 2021 | , |

Pope Francis delivers Laudato si’ video message May 24, 2021 / Screenshot

Vatican City, May 25, 2021 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis launched Tuesday the Vatican’s seven-year Laudato si’ action plan to implement environmental sustainability in different sectors of the Church from religious orders to Catholic schools and hospitals.

“We need a new ecological approach that can transform our way of dwelling in the world, our styles of life, our relationship with the resources of the Earth and, in general, our way of looking at humanity and of living life,” Pope Francis said in a video message May 24.

The pope marked the end of the year celebrating the fifth anniversary of his environmental encyclical Laudato si’ with the message announcing the initiative.

He said that the year would be followed immediately by a seven-year plan known as the Laudato si’ Action Platform.

The Laudato si’ Action Platform will focus on seven sectors: families, parishes, schools, hospitals, businesses, organizations, and religious orders.

The pope explained that the action plan also has seven goals: the response to the cry of the earth, the response to the cry of the poor, ecological economics, adoption of simple lifestyles, ecological education, ecological spirituality, and community involvement.

“Our selfishness, our indifference and our irresponsible ways are threatening the future of our children,” Pope Francis said.

“I therefore renew my appeal: let us take care of our mother Earth … let us overcome the temptation of selfishness that makes us predators of resources, let us cultivate respect for the gifts of the Earth and creation, let us inaugurate a lifestyle and a society that is finally eco-sustainable.”

“We have the opportunity to prepare a better tomorrow for all. From God’s hands we have received a garden, we cannot leave a desert to our children,” he added.

Vatican press conference on Laudato Si' Action Platform / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Vatican press conference on Laudato Si’ Action Platform / Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Cardinal Peter Turkson, the prefect for the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, said at a press conference May 24 that the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many of the Vatican’s planned events, conferences, and celebrations for the Laudato Si’ year, but expressed gratitude to the parishes and associations that organized local events.

In particular, the cardinal commended Catholics in Bangladesh for planting 700,000 trees over the course of the past year.

Fr. Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam, who leads the Ecology and Creation section of the Vatican dicastery, stressed that the Laudato Si’ Action Platform can only be accomplished in partnership with “the synodal path that Pope Francis is proposing to the entire Church.”

“Integral ecology demands that we journey together on this mission,” he said.

Kureethadam explained that the first year of the initiative will be dedicated to “drawing up concrete action plans” following by “five years of concrete action” with the final year dedicated to “praise and thank God.”

Fr. Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam speaks at Vatican press conference May 24, 2021 / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Fr. Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam speaks at Vatican press conference May 24, 2021 / Daniel Ibanez/CNA

In addition to the Vatican dicastery, Eco-Jesuit, the Pan-Amazonian Church Network (REPAM), the Global Catholic Climate Movement, the Union of Religious Superiors in Rome, and other Catholic groups are involved with the organization of the seven years of programming.

“On a journey that will last for seven years, we will let ourselves be guided by the seven aims of Laudato si’, which will show us the direction while we pursue the vision of integral ecology,” Pope Francis said.

“There is hope. We can all collaborate, each one with his own culture and experience, each one with her own initiatives and capacities, so that our mother Earth may be restored to her original beauty and creation may once again shine according to God’s plan.”

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