Care for God’s Creation

How can we respond to the ecological challenges of our time? When we hear about the fires, floods, rising sea levels and food insecurity, it can be hard to know how we can help.

Laudato Si’

In 2015 Pope Francis wrote an encyclical called Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. In it he urged people of the world to hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. The letter discussed the scope of current problems related to the environment, including pollution, climate change, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, and global inequality. Pope Francis wrote from a spiritual point of view, citing Scripture and Catholic social teaching. He urged people to develop an ecological spirituality, which calls for a spiritual conversion - countercultural to many societal values.

Laudato Si’ Action Platform

Six years after Laudato Si’s publication, in May 2021, the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development established the Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP) inspired by Laudato Si’. It is a virtual platform and worldwide community taking action to care for the earth and the poor.

As a religious order, the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine made their public commitment to the seven-year Laudato Si’ Action Plan in Dec. 2021. Each year a plan is written with goals related to one or more of the seven LSAP goals and shared on the LSAP website. Even before making that commitment, the Congregation had applied for and had designated the Motherhouse campus gardens as a St. Kateri Habitat for people, plants, and wildlife in April 2021.

In keeping with the mission and charism of the Sisters of St. Joseph of unifying love of God and neighbor, the LSAP challenges us to see how all of God’s creation is one in Jesus Christ, is interconnected in a web of relationships, and how care for the earth will help promote the common good of all, including future generations.

For more information on the LSAP, see https://laudatosiactionplatform.org/