CHARLOTTE — Ten years after Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si: Care for Our Common Home” placed the topic of the environment squarely within Church teachings, we are still called to positive change. Thus, Catholic Charities and the Sisters of Mercy are sponsoring a one-day conference on Saturday, Feb. 8, responding to the cry of the poor and the Earth. “Walking With the Spirit in the World” will explore ways to connect the call of Laudato Si to your life through listening, reflecting and sharing.
Pope Francis was not the first pope to stress the importance of care for our Earth. In the 2007 World Day of Peace, Pope Benedict XVI said: “Experience shows that disregard for the environment always harms human coexistence, and vice versa. It becomes more and more evident that there is an inseparable link between peace with creation and peace among men.”
Laudato Si uses the term “integral ecology,” which includes human ecology. This comprehensive approach includes moving our political and economic systems to policies and practices which protect the Earth, our common home. The call to an ecological conversion is “not an optional or secondary aspect of our Christian experience” (“Laudato Si,” 217).
Furthermore, Laudato Si recognizes that those most harmed by environmental degradation are the poor and marginalized. As the encyclical states, “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature” (LS 139).
To that end, keynote conference speakers Bishop Michael Martin and eco-theologian Dr. Catherine Wright will bookend three workshops designed to inspire you to make meaningful impacts in your home, parish and community to address poverty, climate change and environmental justice.
The conference is from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Belmont and includes lunch. Simultaneous Spanish interpretation is included. For details or to register, visit https://bit.ly/3VxgNx7.
— Sister Rose Marie Tresp and Catholic News Herald