Children plant trees on the feast of St. Francis in October 2019 in Indianapolis. Laudato Si Week 2021 is May 16-25. (CNS/Courtesy of Indianapolis Archdiocese s Creation Care Commission)
The Vatican s celebratory year for Pope Francis encyclical on ecology is coming to a close, but organizers hope its end will mark the beginning of a major movement within the global Catholic Church to turn its message about preserving creation into actions to create a more sustainable world for all.
In May 2020, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development declared a Special Laudato Si Anniversary Year to mark the fifth anniversary of Francis 2015 encyclical
Two women work on a garden at Sacred Heart Parish Mission in the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois. The food grown will be distributed to people in need of food assistance. (CNS photo/courtesy Diocese of Joliet)
Editor s Note: EarthBeat Weekly is your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change. Below is the May 14 edition. To receive EarthBeat Weekly in your inbox, sign up here.
The sixth anniversary of Pope Francis encyclical
Laudato Si , on Care for Our Common Home is coming up, and on Sunday the Vatican will kick off Laudato Si Week, with 10 days of events to mark the occasion.
Riding the green wave: Momentum for Laudato Si’ rises for next decade
Hikers walk past a field of wild narcissi flowers in the Eifel region close to the German-Belgian border, near Höfen, Germany, April 16, 2021. The message of Pope Francis encyclical, Laudato Si , on Care for Our Common Home, continues to be prophetic for a pandemic-hit and post-pandemic world, according to the Vatican office responsible for environmental concerns. (CNS photo/Wolfgang Rattay, Reuters)
By Carol Glatz • Catholic News Service • Posted May 14, 2021
VATICAN CITY (CNS) When the special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year closes May 24, it will celebrate progress made over the past five years, and it will launch a new wave of initiatives for the next decade in an ongoing response to Pope Francis’ call for the care of creation.
Seven School Sisters of Notre Dame met for a five-day retreat last May. (Courtesy of Judith Best)
During this pandemic in which at the time of this writing in late June more than 124,000 Americans had died of COVID-19, seven School Sisters of Notre Dame met for a five-day retreat. We reflected on the vision of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker, meditating on the relationship of religion and evolution.
Spending time on the banks of the Mississippi, we let our bioregion direct us, honoring Native Americans buried here, awed by the 325 species of birds that make the Mississippi their major flyway, and praising our Creator for the exquisite beauty of spring.