Columban Missionaries celebrate Laudato Si’ Week because it aligns closely with our mission and values, particularly in the areas of social justice, care for creation, and the promotion of peace.
We are committed to environmental stewardship, seeing the protection of the planet as a fundamental aspect of our mission. Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, calls for an urgent ecological conversion, urging everyone to care for our common home.
Laudato Si’ also highlights the disproportionate impact of environmental destruction on the poor and vulnerable. Columbans, who often work in marginalized communities, see the Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si’ as a powerful endorsement of our efforts to advocate for those who suffer the most from environmental and social injustices.
During the Season of Creation, Catholics are encouraged to organise prayer and practical initiatives to combat the environmental crisis facing our common home. This ‘time for creation’ offers, in the words of Pope Francis, “individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation.”
The Season of Creation website has a wide variety of resources for individuals, groups and parishes which can be accessed for free. The materials available include a Celebration Guide that contains numerous ideas for activities such as prayer services, ecumenical pilgrimages and walks, or organising educational and sustainability activities. Other materials include liturgical resources for various denominations, for example, prayers and hymns.
This 2024 season, Christian voices are urged to support a joint advocacy initiative on 21st September promoting the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty which calls for a halt to new fossil fuel projects.
Resources:
A Season of Creation Celebration Guide can be downloaded from www.seasonofcreation.org
A live prayer service will be available on the website on 1st September.
‘Peace, Love and Climate Justice’ – Green Christian
A new pack for churches from Green Christian. It is offered to help explore Christian responses to the global climate and environmental crisis. Focusing on the Great Commandments in Mark 12:30-31, it asks questions that connect peace, love and justice. The resource and a training session video can be downloaded from the Green Christian website
https://greenchristian.org.uk/special-zoom-workshop-peace-love-and-climate-justice/
Cloud and Fire – rediscovering ministry for an age of climate breakdown- Green Christian
The next course begins in January 2025
https://greenchristian.org.uk/cloud-and-fire-rediscovering-ministry-for-an-age-of-climate-breakdown/
DVD – Stations of the Forests, a resource from Columban JPIC
An audio-visual lamenting devastation of rainforests and tribal people. A Resource Booklet provides agendas and reflections for meetings.
£7.00 inclusive of p&p from vocforjus@aol.com
‘On Care for our Common Home’ – 6th Form Syllabus from the Ecological Conversion Group.
This can also be used as a study guide for Laudato Si’ for parishes.
https://theecg.org/resources/6-form-syllabus/
‘Conflict and Climate Change’
18-minute DVD:
https://www.kevinmayhew.com/products/conflict-and-climate-change-1501412
More Resources can be found at Westminster Justice and Peace or the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.