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Growing Faith

Dear Friend,

This summer, I joined a gardening club, and for the first time, I’ve experienced the joys and challenges of working with the earth.

My 3x3ft planter only has room for a handful of things to grow, but this small bit of land is like a whole other world to me. There’s the rhythms of watering the seedlings and their growth, which has me noticing the rain (or lack of it) in ways I haven’t before. There’s the variety of critters and friends that find a home in this tiny plot, including the fungi that visited for a week and had me worried before learning that they can be an indication of nutrient-rich soil.

But most new to me was the patience required in gardening. My seedlings have been seedlings for weeks. Small leaves that shot up quickly have slowed, leaving me to wonder if they are, in fact, still growing at all. The wildflowers look worse for wear; tiny sprouts that haven’t developed and maybe received too much sun from the heatwave the week following their planting. But the rosemary, basil, and dill look consistently green, albeit tiny. I wonder if I’m just not catching their growth — my eyes are more used to screens than catching subtleties of plants.

At a loss for what might be going on after a month of no change, I visited an online gardening forum, and they suggested that likely the growth is happening beneath the soil. I love this (and hope it's the case in my little garden).

It reminds me that the work we do in justice movements also takes place in ways that aren’t immediately visible outside the movement. There’s a lot of tending to relationships, thinking through strategy, consultation, and prayer that happens before taking action.

As a person of faith, I know that in both spaces — our justice movements and the garden — the Spirit is alive, animating us just as God animates those little seeds to germinate.

Sincerely,

Diana Marin
Young Adult Mobilization Program Manager | Catholic Climate Covenant

Action of the month: Pre-register for our annual Feast of St. Francis program!

The 2025 Feast of St. Francis program will be an eco-spirituality resource with prayers, meditations, hymns, art, liturgies, and more to help celebrate the Season of Creation (Sept. 1st-Oct. 4th), the Feast of St. Francis (October 4th) and Pilgrimages of Hope for Creation.

To receive the free 2025 Feast of St. Francis resource, please fill out the form at the link below and we will send you the program by early to mid-August via email.

Pre-register now!

Catholic Climate Covenant Updates and Related News

Watch the recording of our July webinar

In our July webinar, the Covenant focused on the impacts of HR 1 (the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” that is now law) on renewable energy policy, Catholic solar projects, and environmental justice. Unfortunately, HR 1 will have enormous impacts on climate justice and care for creation issues — but we should not be discouraged. Listen to these policy and sustainability experts who updated us on the creation care impacts of HR 1, preparing us to continue advocating on these important issues.

Watch the recording

Thanks for your message!

The Covenant is thankful for everyone who took the time to share their personal message about caring for creation with the Holy Father. We are reviewing those stories and reflections from Catholics across the United States to introduce His Holiness to the faithful, ongoing work of caring for our common home. The selected messages will be collected and shared as a way of lifting up the voices of those living out the vision of Laudato Si’.

Thank you for joining us in this important moment. Let us continue to pray for Pope Leo XIV and for all who care for our common home!

Pope Leo XIV calls for ecological, social justice

Ahead of the 10th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Leo XIV delivered a compelling call to action, urging Christians and all people of goodwill to address the escalating challenges related to environmental and social justice.

His message, titled Seeds of Peace and Hope, was made public on July 2 in preparation for the observance scheduled for September 1, 2025. This comes after the decision to host a Mass for Creation at the Vatican. You can read some of the liturgical parts for that Mass here.

Additionally, Pope Leo XIV announced a “Raising Hope” Conference to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’. Dan Misleh, our executive director, will be in attendance to share the work all of you are doing in the U.S. to live out Laudato Si’. We’ll know more in the coming weeks, but for now, check out the conference website.

Thank you for helping our Summer Advocacy campaign!

This summer, Catholic Climate Covenant and Laudato Si’ Movement teamed up to host a Summer Advocacy campaign called Care for Our Common Home and the Common Good. Thanks to your help, we took several important action steps this summer to raise awareness for the vulnerable and marginalized by signing onto a number of valuable campaigns, sending messages to Congress and federal organizations, and hand-delivering a blessed copy of Laudato Si’ to each Catholic member of Congress, 45 in total.

Thank you for making a difference for our country, our Church, and our planet!

Pilgrims of Hope for Creation hits 100 pilgrimages milestone!

This is a historic year, as we celebrate the Jubilee of Hope, the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’, and the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures. Covenant and 21 other U.S. Catholic organizations have spent the last 8 months encouraging pilgrims like you in planning or joining a local creation care pilgrimage during the Season of Creation, taking place from Sept. 1-Oct. 4, 2025.

This past week, we hit our goal of 100 pilgrimages before Aug. 1 with a month to go! So far, the pilgrimages are taking place in 23 states, and we're hoping for more registrations over the next month! If you have not signed up to lead a pilgrimage, please do so! And if you are looking to join one, please click on the map to see if there is a pilgrimage near you. Read more here.

Now hiring

Our friends at Franciscan Action Network are looking for a new Communications Coordinator. This is a full-time staff position, located in Washington, D.C., and is open immediately.

July's blog highlights

An Augustinian Approach to Laudato Si’, from a close friend of Pope Leo XIV: Father Arthur “Art” Purcaro, an Augustinian of Villanova, has come to know many people through his life in a religious order. Now, he can add a pope to that list of people he knows. Read more.
Covenant’s Episcopal Moderator reflects on role in St. Kateri Tekakwitha’s canonization: Bishop Joseph J. Tyson is the Episcopal Moderator for Catholic Climate Covenant and the Bishop of the Diocese of Yakima, Washington. He was involved with the canonization process for St. Kateri Tekakwitha. In honor of St. Kateri’s feast day on July 14, Bishop Tyson wrote this reflection.
Independence and Interdependence: Many people love fireworks, but these and other outdoor celebrations have a bigger impact on the environment than you might think.

There are also several more blogs that have been published on the Pilgrims of Hope for Creation (POHFC) website, an initiative sponsored by the Covenant and 21 other Catholic organizations.

Here are just a few of the highlights:

In California, over 400 youths led a pilgrimage and advocacy day that was mentioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in their letter to young people on the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si’. See the blog and pictures.
Over 70 pilgrims in San Antonio planned a 9-mile pilgrimage journey that took place on May 24 and were featured in Volume 132, No. 11 of Today’s Catholic. See the blog and pictures.
In Washington, D.C., several Catholic and creation care organizations held a prayer ceremony and blessed 145 copies of the Laudato Si’ encyclical before hand-delivering them with personalized letters to Catholic members of Congress. See the blog and pictures here.
In East Palestine, Sisters of Mercy visited the site of the 2023 train derailment and ecological disaster, visiting with affected parishioners. See the blog and pictures.
In Kansas City, Mo., 16 pilgrims participated in a multi-stop pilgrimage across the city, taking historical tours of locations and celebrating Mass. Read the blog here.

We’ve also posted a few new blogs (with more to come) on our God’s Plan(et) website. The mission of the God’s Plan(et) national awareness and engagement campaign is to encourage U.S. Catholics to care for creation and participate in the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP).

Don’t forget to read more stories and submit stories of your own on our God’s Planet website, which is an initiative of the Covenant. Join our new Substack for notifications and alerts every time a new blog, statement, or press release comes out.

Climate and Church News and Media Hits

(Dan Misleh, founder and executive director of the Catholic Climate Covenant, spoke to a gathering of about 140 individuals during an event at The Olmsted marking the 10th anniversary of the encyclical “Laudato Si’.” (Record Photo by Ruby Thomas))

Climate change, the Catholic Church, and the Covenant were popular in the media this month.

The Record, the Catholic newspaper for Central Kentucky, recently published an editorial on creation care and Dan Misleh’s talk while touring the state.
The Record also reported on the launch of the Creation Care Team network in the Archdiocese of Louisville.
The Covenant’s new, innovative tool, CathCAP, was recently featured in a story on OSV News. “You set up an account with us, and you donate your carbon ‘penalty,’ if you will, to your school. And at the end of a year, they get that money back for a project that we would approve,” Dan Misleh, Executive Director of the Covenant, said. The story also appeared on National Catholic Reporter’s Earthbeat.
Catholic World News reshared the Covenant’s contribution to the USCCB’s 25-page report on Laudato Si’ activities.
Ignatian Voices for Justice, the podcast of Ignatian Solidarity Network, recently spoke with Jesus “Paco” Estrada, a recent LMU graduate who is integrating his Catholic faith with political advocacy. Estrada is an active leader in the Covenant’s Common Home Corps.
Crux reported last week that the Vatican successfully struck a solar farm deal to become the world’s first carbon-neutral state.
At the same time, National Catholic Reporter’s Earthbeat reports that Catholic solar projects are in peril in the U.S. following the passage of HR 1.
National Catholic Reporter’s Earthbeat also recently wrote a story about Catholic environmental justice advocates from Chicago who have worked closely with the Covenant before. Read their stories here.

You can read an updated list of Catholic Climate Covenant’s mentions in the media here.

Upcoming events

Aug. 6: Feast of the Transfiguration
Aug. 19: Pilgrims of Hope for Creation Webinar-Workshop: Working with the Media and Using Social Media. More info and register here.
Aug. 19: Franciscan International UN Climate Conference webinar: The History of Global Climate Efforts: From Stockholm to COP30. More info and register here.
Sept. 1: Beginning of the Season of Creation
Sept. 1: Labor Day
Sept. 7: International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies
Sept. 16: Franciscan International UN Climate Conference webinar: Our Prophetic Mission: Franciscans International as the Franciscan Voice at the United Nations. More info here.
Sept. 17: Feast day of St. Hildegard of Bingen
Oct. 7: Franciscan International UN Climate Conference webinar: The Document of the Episcopal Conferences of the Global South: A Franciscan Perspective. More info here.

View the list of POHFC pilgrimages across the country to find a pilgrimage close to you.

Are you planning an event themed around spirituality and creation care? If so, please share the news with others by adding it to our online calendar. It’s free and easy to use. Submit your event here, and see what other events are coming up.

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Contact Us

Catholic Climate Covenant
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Franciscan Monastery Attn: Catholic Climate Covenant
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202-987-7581
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