On Care For Our Common Home
Laudato Si' is an appeal from Pope Francis addressed to "every person living on this planet" about how we are shaping the future of Earth. Pope Francis calls the Church, the world, and each person to acknowledge the urgency of our environmental challenges and to join him in embarking on a new path. The last three popes have all called these challenges “a moral issue.” This encyclical (Papal letter), the first to focus solely on ecology and human’s place within and relationship with God’s creation, is written with both hope and resolve, looking to our common future with candor and humility. Pope Francis, emphasizing the importance of the document, has explicitly stated that the encyclical is now added to the body of the Catholic Church’s social teaching. Learn more about the Holy Father’s statement and how you might respond in faith by exploring this website.
On Care for Our Common Home
Click here to read the complete Papal Encyclical (Laudato Si’), of the Holy Father Francis.
Tips on Caring for Our Common Home
To commemorate Earth Day (April 22), consider rereading, or reading for the first time, Pope Francis’s landmark encyclical letter about our planet’s environment. If you don’t own a copy of “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home,” you can find it at https://bit.ly/1Lh3szp.
Encourage prayer before and after meals to express gratitude to God for His generosity in meeting our daily needs, but also as a reminder of our duty to be good stewards of His creation so that it may continue to serve the needs of all His creatures.
When eating at a buffet restaurant, or even at wine & cheese or coffee and donuts after Mass, you can help conserve natural resources and reduce waste by taking just one plate, one napkin and only the utensils you need. Encourage others to do the same.
During the warmer days of spring and summer, try to use air-conditioning sparingly on particularly warm days. AC uses more energy and contributes to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and it also has been demonstrated to have negative health effects, particularly for respiratory and some chronic conditions.
Pope Francis' TED Talk
In a 2017 TED Talk, the Pope spoke on Why the only future worth building includes everyone. He is a strong advocate of global action against climate change, to which he has devoted his powerful 2015 encyclical, Laudato sì ("Praise be to you"). He invites us to practice "tenderness," putting ourselves "at the level of the other," to listen and care.
View the following short videos
Learn more about Praise Be to You the Papal Encyclical (Laudato Si’) of the Holy Father Francis On Care for Our Common Home. Use the video icons with “play” arrows.
Laudato Si’
This 6-minute, un-narrated, bilingual video is the official Vatican video about On Care for Our Common Home
Top 10 Things You Need to Know
about Pope Francis' Laudato Si’
This 4-minute video narrated by Fr. James Martin, SJ, editor-at- large of the Jesuit magazine America presents highlights of On Care for our Common Home.
Live Wisely, Think Deeply
This 4-minute animated video by the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (CAFOD) presents highlights of On Care for Our Common Home for children.
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What you can do to care for our common home and still shop … Guide to Green Shoppping https://www.jomashop.com/blog/articles/guide-to-green-shopping