Ten years ago, Pope Francis wrote the first environmental encyclical letter in the history of the Catholic Church. As he was writing it, so many of us who were, and still are, concerned about the sickening state of our wonderful earth home, waited with hopeful anticipation. And when it was finally completed and released to […]
Earth Day (April 22) is an excellent reminder for Catholics to reflect on Pope Francis’ famous environmental encyclical letter “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.” Citing Francis of Assisi – patron saint of ecology – Pope Francis writes “Our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a […]
It was a gray drizzly morning, just before Earth Day, when I visited the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity beside the Stella Niagara Preserve in Lewiston. As I entered the property, I noticed statues of St. Francis of Assisi dispersed throughout and heard continual and delightful birdsong. The clouds never lifted […]
Reflecting on the worsening climate change crisis in the eight years since he wrote his environmental encyclical letter “Laudato Si’”–concerning the urgent importance of caring for our common earth-home – Pope Francis laments, “I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be […]
Are you ready for Laudato Si’ Week? Is your parish ready? Perhaps you are wondering, “What is Laudato Si’ Week?” And for that matter, what does Laudato Si’ mean? Laudato Si’ is medieval Italian for “Praise be to you.” It is a quote from St. Francis of Assisi’s beautiful “Canticle of the Creatures,” “Praise be […]
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group’s recently released report is a “code red for humanity,” warned U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “The alarm bells are deafening,” he further warned. “And the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil-fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk. […]
