Laudato Si' Action Platform

Inspired by Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si', Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha hosted a diverse group of leaders from government, business, education, nonprofit, agriculture and religious organizations from across northeast Nebraska for a day of reflection on how to care for our common home. 

The Lexington Diocese's commitment to net-zero carbon emissions is one of the boldest responses to climate change to date from the U.S. Catholic Church — and it comes from coal country.

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart build bricks from discarded plastic bottles. It's one way people and communities across the world are addressing the gargantuan problem of plastic waste and plastic pollution.

The largest grant ever awarded to Fordham University in its 183-year history is set to funnel millions of federal dollars to community organizations undertaking environmental justice projects across the Bronx and beyond.

The cry of the Earth is both a call for help and a call to action. The scientific evidence of climate change impacts leaves no room for complacency; God entrusts us with the responsibility to be stewards of creation.

People of faith have to build upon the person-by-person, institution-by-institution engagement with environmental issues by further entering the fray of politics. 

Connect contemporary ecological convictions to ancient Catholic heritage and ancestry for a functional cosmology inspired by Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si'.

Pope Francis' encyclical on care for the environment has been an opportunity to explore the intersection of two important elements of my life: my Catholic faith and my experience as a Mohawk woman.

We need to recognize that to talk about the vulnerability of our climate is also to talk about our own vulnerability and the vulnerability of the goods and services that make up our economy.

The invitation of Laudato Si' is not only to identify the closeness of the relationship between the cries of the Earth and the poor, but also to discern how persons and communities of faith can and are giving of their lives in response to the cries.

Five months after enrollment opened, the Laudato Si' Action Platform and its organizers remain focused on building bottom-up momentum to deliver a Catholic contribution to efforts to combat climate change.

All sectors of the church are invited to participate in the Laudato Si' Action Platform, the Vatican-backed initiative to encourage concrete action on sustainability and climate change. Based on Pope Francis' landmark encyclical on care for creation, it aims to spark a cultural shift away from exploitation of the planet and its resources.

Originally set for Oct. 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, the Laudato Si' Action Platform is now scheduled to begin its enrollment period on Nov. 14, with materials for the program available on its website.

Hundreds of people and Catholic organizations are part of a broad, worldwide consultation with the Vatican to offer feedback and fine-tune the Laudato Si' Action Platform before its full launch in October.

The Vatican's long-awaited program for putting Pope Francis' ecological encyclical into action throughout the church debuted May 25, with the pope inviting all Catholics on a journey "to create the future we want."

With its 'Laudato Si' Action Platform,' the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is proposing that Catholic communities across the world work toward "total sustainability" in the coming decade.