Catholic Climate Covenant Updates 

Action of the Month:

Attend the Laudato Si’ and the U.S. Catholic Church Conference: July 13-15^th! 

This year's virtual  "Laudato Si’ and the U.S. Catholic Church: A Conference Series on Our Common Home"  national gathering is next week! Join hundreds of Catholics nationwide who are caring for creation in the face of climate change, including lay, clergy and religious leaders. Hear inspiring keynote addresses, lively panel discussions and gain resources at interactive breakout sessions in eight different ministry areas. All concurrent sessions will be recorded. Don't miss this special opportunity to gather with other Catholics to learn, be inspired, and become equipped to care for our common home together. Leave with new networks and resources. 

The schedule includes: 

Tuesday, July 13:  

6:30-8 p.m. Central (7:30-9 p.m. Eastern.) Conference opens with a welcome address followed by the opening keynote speech by Cardinal Cupich and Dr. Maureen Day. 

Wednesday, July 14: 

10-11 a.m. Central (11-12 p.m. Eastern.) Opening Mass, followed by Feast of St. Kateri Tekakwitha remarks by Bishop Tyson 

12–1:45 p.m. Central (1-2:45 p.m. Eastern.) Environmental Justice and Preaching for Creation Breakout Sessions (concurrent) 

4–5:45 p.m. Central (5-6:45 p.m. Eastern.) Youth and Young Adults and Communications/Media Breakout Sessions (concurrent) 

6-7:30 p.m. Central (7-8:30 p.m. Eastern.) Closing Address: Update on Laudato Si’ Action Platform  

Thursday, July 15: 

10-11 a.m. Central (11-12 p.m. Eastern.) Opening Mass by Father John Grace to celebrate Catholic Climate Covenant’s 15^th anniversary 

12–1:45 p.m. Central (1-2:45 p.m. Eastern.) Creation Care Teams and Colleges & Universities Breakout Sessions (concurrent) 

4–5:45 p.m. Central (5-6:45 p.m. Eastern.) Advocacy and Parochial School Education Breakout Sessions (concurrent) 

6-7:30 p.m. Central (7-8:30 p.m. Eastern.) Conference Closing Keynote Address with Sister Ilia Delio, OSF 

Register at creighton.edu/catholicclimate The conference is free, but  registration  is required And a   donation is encouraged to offset costs that include Spanish language interpretation. See you next week! 

More Covenant Updates

Care for Our Common Home Ecumenical Dialogue 

On Thursday, July 29th, from 11 a.m.–12 p.m. Eastern join an online dialogue in celebration of the Ecumenical and Interreligious Guidebook: Care for Our Common Home hosted and facilitated by Fr. Walter F. Kedjierski, USCCB, Executive Director, Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, with: Rev Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson, Associate General Minister for Wider Church Ministries and Operations in the United Church of Christ; Dr. Jessica Moerman, climate and environmental scientist, church planter, educator, and advocate; Michael Terrien, OBL. OSB, chair of the Catholic Association of Diocesan Ecumenical and Interreligious Officers Care for Creation Committee; and Rev. Dennis Testerman, who currently serves as national moderator and member of Presbyterians for Earth Care steering committee. The guidebook is jointly published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Association of Diocesan Ecumenical and Interreligious Officers, and Catholic Climate Covenant. It offers diocesan ecumenical and interreligious officers, pastors, parish groups and the faithful at large a number of theological and practical resources to put the ecological and creation care counsels of Pope Francis and Catholic magisterial voices, along with selected interfaith voices, into practical action. Register and obtain link here for the dialogue. 

Young Adult Summer Eco-Challenge    

It’s not too late to join the Summer Eco-Challenge! This July, join young adult Catholics from across the country to play “climate bingo!” Together we’ll explore what our faith teaches about climate change, learn how climate change intersects with other social justice issues, and build a national network for young Catholics caring for our common home. Everyone who gets “bingo” is automatically entered for a chance to win exclusive prizes. This challenge is offered by the Community Engagement Action Team at Catholic Climate Covenant's Youth and Young Adult Mobilization, in collaboration with the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach. Register here! 

So what can ordinary Catholics do about climate change? 

EarthBeat wrote about large and small examples of what Catholics are doing when it covered Covenant’s most recent webinar on sustainable farming and Catholic sustainability champions: 

“For the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, in Indiana, a commitment to environmental justice is rooted in St. Mother Theodore Guerin's love for the forest and farmland where she started the teaching community in the 1840s. 

Nearly two centuries later, her love for the place has taken root in new ways, first with the establishment of the community's White Violet Center for Eco-Justice in 1996, and more recently with a commitment to climate justice, spurred by Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." 

"Love for the land is important," Lorrie Heber, director of the eco-justice center, said during a June 23 webinar  sponsored by the Catholic Climate Covenant, featuring three of what the group calls "sustainability champions."  

Read the full article by Barbara Fraser in EarthBeat, from National Catholic Reporter. 

More Creation Care News

Healthy Planet, Healthy People Petition 

Facilitated by the Global Catholic Climate Movement, the “Healthy Planet, Healthy People” petition comes as the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) meets in October, where world leaders can set meaningful targets to protect creation; and ahead of November, at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), where countries will announce their plans to meet the goals of the Paris agreement. Find out more about the petition here.  

Catholic wins Goldman 

The annual Goldman Environmental Prizes, the world’s most prestigious awards for environmental activists, were   presented last month in a virtual ceremony hosted by Jane Fonda. For the continent of North America, this year’s winner was Sharon Lavigne, a retired special education teacher who became the founding director of a faith-based organization known as RISE St. James. Read an interview here with Ms. Lavigne by United Church of Christ where she speaks of the impact of God and Moses on her environmental justice work.  

Heat waves bring our work to the forefront 

The last few weeks have offered no shortage of reminders of just how present climate change is, and how its effects disproportionately impact those who are already marginalized within society. The unprecedented heat wave that blanketed the Pacific Northwest remind us heat waves pose particular risk to vulnerable communities. A recent article in the New York Times detailed how climate change interfaces with the violent histories of colonization and displacement to hit Native American communities particularly hard. Another article explores how decades of racist housing policy has left neighborhoods that are poorer and inhabited by people of color susceptible to the worst impacts of rising temperatures. May these present dangers remind us of the urgency of our work. 

A Totem Pole Journey for the Protection of Sacred Spaces 

We share this sacred spaces effort in solidarity and in the spirit of Laudato Si’: This Summer, the House of Tears Carvers of the Lummi Nation will transport a 25-foot totem pole from Washington State to Washington, DC, stopping for ceremony and live-streamed events with communities leading efforts to protect sacred places under threat from resource extraction and industrial development. As the pole travels it draws lines of connection—honoring, uniting and empowering communities working to protect sacred places. The pole carries the spirit of the lands it visits and the power and prayers of communities along the way—ultimately delivering these prayers, power and demands to the Biden-Harris Administration and Congress in Washington, DC, and culminating in an  exhibit  at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. In the context of a national reckoning with American history, and the acknowledgement of past and present injustices inflicted on Native Peoples and lands without consent, the Red Road to DC invites people to take a stand with those who are struggling to protect sacred places. 

A Poem: Sanctuary 

We leave you today with a poem written by a Catholic Climate Covenant supporter, Chris, that speaks to our faith, creation, and a familiar sanctuary: church. 

Shafts of light 

Through cathedral windows. 

Dappled shade 

Upon the leaves 

Beneath my feet. 

Bird song 

In the branches above. 

In the distance 

Hind and fawn 

Cross the forest track. 

The sweet fragrance of autumn 

Fills the misty air. 

A gentle breeze 

Moving colors 

To the forest floor. 

So precious 

Such beauty, 

So hard to find 

Such peaceful sanctuary.