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From the Founder: On Horror, Beauty, and Gratitude 

Dear Friend,

After describing in a steady voice and in clinical detail the wounds he was managing – wounds from several of the child victims of the Uvalde massacre – a San Antonio trauma doctor interviewed by the New York Times, “The Daily” podcast, was asked, “What will you remember most from that day.” With his voice finally cracking he said “[P]eople coming together to help another person, a child, when they need it the most. It is the most beautiful thing…That’s what I will remember. It’s the beauty, it’s the beauty.”  

Trauma specialists must be a different breed. To emerge from the other side of horror and see beauty? What does this say about them? What message does it send to us? 

Last month, I was invited by St. Michael’s College in Vermont to offer the commencement address to the Class of 2022. Having graduated from Xavier University in Cincinnati 40 years ago to the day, I reminisced about what has happened with my own life and career over that time: telling the graduates of both triumph and trial. They, too, will face twists and turns, but I urged them to find purpose and meaning by cultivating a daily practice of gratitude. Gratitude helps orient us when the ground shifts beneath our feet. In gratitude, we see that even in despair, there is goodness, hope, and life. The trauma doctor tells us this is true. 

We can also look to our faith for this truth. The Church's social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. 

Included is the truth that all life is precious – from the child in the womb, to the adult in a grocery store, to the 10-year-old in an elementary classroom, and current and future generations around the world threatened by our changing climate. With the grounding of love, action, faith and solidarity we can find our way out of darkness and death. 

There is much good to be found in working to care for our common home. And much frustration: time is short, lives are at stake. But let’s focus on gratitude for each other, for this opportunity, for the hard work ahead and the commitment to life and the creation we share. Let’s do what we must, in love, to save the children of today and tomorrow. 

Dan

Dan Misleh
Founder
Catholic Climate Covenant

 

Catholic Climate Covenant Updates

Mid-Year Fundraising Campaign: Support Youth and Young Adult Mobilization at the Covenant! 

Our mid-year fundraising campaign has kicked off! We only come to you twice a year to ask for support for our free programs, resources, mobilizing efforts, advocacy and more, and this June we have a goal of $50,000 to support our ambitious Youth and Young Adult Mobilization efforts! Please donate today

We invite you to support this important undertaking with a contribution during the month of June through the mid-year campaign. 

Last year, Pope Francis told a group of 2,000 young Catholics to "dream and live, be free and authentic, be the critical conscience of society.” Young people across the U.S. Catholic community are answering Pope Francis’s call. With our Youth and Young Adult Mobilization Program, we are organizing, inspiring, and equipping young people to raise their voices for climate justice and to be protagonists of transformation in the Catholic Church and society—but we need your help!  

Our goal is to raise at least $50,000 to: 

  • Convene young adult leaders for integral ecology retreats in at least 3 dioceses by summer 2023 

  • Launch our young adult integral ecology curriculum in diverse parishes and dioceses across the U.S 

  • Support a cohort of emerging youth leaders with intensive trainings in ecological spirituality, community organizing, and 

  •  Activate Youth and Young Adult Mobilization network at key moments (legislative sessions and organizing related to the Laudato Si' Action Platform). 

With your help we will show dioceses, parishes, and other Catholic organizations how our program can be replicated, so that young adults throughout the Catholic community can answer the call to eliminate climate injustice. Please join us. 

Bishops issue action alert asking Senate to pass climate bill  

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an action alert during Laudato Si’ Week, asking Senators to enact a proposed $555 billion in ambitious climate solutions. The bishops’ alert echoes the call from more than 800 U.S. Catholics in 47 states during the Covenant’s Encounter for Our Common Home campaign. We welcome the USCCB’s action to the crucial effort to save our planet. And thanks to all of you for your dedication to building a world in the spirit of Laudato Si’! Please sign the action alert today if you have not yet. 

Saint Michael’s graduates hear from our Founder Dan Misleh 

On May 15, nearly 480 Saint Michael’s College 2022 graduates heard from our own Dan Misleh in an inspiring commencement address.  

Vermont Biz wrote: “A spirit of deep gratitude and joy should animate each person joining the overwhelming but urgent work of tackling climate change, a leading Catholic environmentalist told graduates on a rainy Sunday morning for the College’s outdoor 115th Commencement on May 15. 

“We must all do our part to save the earth from our own selfishness and our own foolishness,” said Dan Misleh, founder of Catholic Climate Covenant and longtime activist to address global warming. 

To view a video recording of the commencement speech go here. 

NCR writes about the Covenant’s Encounter Campaign 

National Catholic Reporter wrote a story about the Encounter Campaign, noting that it was “the most coordinated effort by Catholics” to support the climate legislation in the Biden administration’s “Build Back Better” agenda. Many environmental advocates see this window of time as the best chance for Congress to pass major climate legislation since 2009. "Recognizing we may not have another opportunity come midterms for any substantive climate legislation, now it's absolutely the time for us to be speaking from a prophetic point of view," Jose Aguto, our executive director, told NCR. Thanks to NCR for the great article!  

While the first phase of the campaign is over, more actions will be announced later this Summer. Stay tuned! 

Join young Catholics online for gathering on climate justice  

We are excited to invite all ages to an amazing online gathering, “Protagonists for Transformation: Young Catholic Leaders for Climate Justice” on June 9th at 12 pm ET – this Thursday! The panelists will discuss how their faith and/or spirituality informs their work for climate justice, how they imagine living in a climate-changed world, what they desire in their relationships with people from other generations and their dreams for the church. The webinar will be recorded and a link to the recording will be sent to all who register. Contact Paz Artaza-Regan (paz@catholicclimatecovenant.org) if you have any questions. 
 

Chicago Young Adult Creation Care Taizé Prayer & Happy Hour 

Are you a young adult in the Chicago area who is passionate about climate justice? Or maybe you're curious to learn more about how you can be involved in the fight to stop climate change and shield vulnerable communities from its impacts? Are you interested in finding spiritual community with other young adults interested in caring for our common home? 

Join Catholic Climate Covenant and OSP Encounter for creation-inspired Taizé prayer service followed by a happy hour. 

June 22, 2022 at Old St. Pats (718 W. Adams St., Chicago, IL) 
6:00 p.m. – Taizé Prayer 
6:30 p.m. – Social  

To Register: https://bit.ly/3mjFWcz  

More Creation Care News

New songs to inspire climate prayers and action!  

We are thrilled to let you know that Climate Vigil Songs, created by the Porter’s Gate Worship Project in partnership with Climate Vigil, was just released on Friday, June 3. The Climate Vigil Songs album is a collection of 14 songs, including a gospel-flavored rendition of St. Francis’ famous “Canticle of Creation.” You can find the album on climatevigil.org or wherever you stream or buy music. We hope the songs inspire your prayers and action to protect our planet!  

 

Don't Miss this Online Dialogue Tomorrow! "After Buffalo, After Uvalde, After Tulsa"

The Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown will host a timely conversation tomorrow, June 8, from 12:30 to 1:30 pm Eastern: “After Buffalo, After Uvalde, After Tulsa: Broken Hearts, Broken Nation, Faithful Action.” RSVP required. 

The shootings of schoolchildren in Uvalde, Texas, and Black shoppers in Buffalo, New York, and physicians and others at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, have broken our hearts and are testing our nation. What does Catholic social teaching on defending human life and living with solidarity require to change racist actions and structures, to change laws to prevent gun violence, and to change our hearts to overcome a culture of violence? 

These urgent and haunting questions with be explored by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio who has been at the heart of the care and ministry for the families and community of Uvalde; Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, the president of Catholic Health Association; Sr. Judy Byron, O.P., is an Adrian Dominican sister who has led corporate responsibility efforts on gun safety; Fr. Bryan Massingale, a theologian who is a leader in confronting racism and injustice, and Rhina Guidos, a reporter and editor at Catholic News Service covering the human and spiritual devastation in Buffalo and Uvalde. 

John Carr, co-director of the Initiative and former director of justice and peace efforts of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, will moderate the dialogue. 

Maryknoll movement to launch “discipleship for troubled times” program  

The Maryknoll mission movement, including its four organizations of Fathers and Brothers, Sisters, Lay Missioners, Office for Global Concerns, and Affiliates, are launching a collaborative effort inviting us to discern how we can live in harmony with nature by listening to the most vulnerable and learning from indigenous wisdom. "Co-creating our Common Home: Missionary Discipleship during Uncertain Times" is an Advanced Missionary Discipleship Formation Program that will meet four times this September: Sept 8, 15, 22, 29.  For more information contact Dr. Walter Hidalgo at: WHidalgo@maryknoll.org.
 

Watch a short video about Young Adults’ Integral Ecology Retreat  

If you missed the Young Adult Integral Ecology Retreat in Chicago last month, you are in luck! A volunteer filmmaker documented the action, interviewing participants who shared what they learned about building community, being careful consumers, living the mission Pope Francis set out in Laudato Si’ and loving God’s creation. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PStI3CniNU 
 

Watch how Indy Catholics’ put ‘ecological conversions’ into action 

The Archdiocese of Indianapolis’s Creation Care Ministry has created an engaging video about “Creating a Culture of Creation Care.” The short video demonstrates the steps local Catholics are taking to facilitate ecological conversion and draw Catholics closer to God, our neighbor, and the world around us. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zObLCWFpX18  
 

Nebraska Catholics write op-ed calling on senators to support climate funding 

Six Nebraska Catholics collaborated on an op-ed in Omaha World-Herald to urge the state’s U.S. Senators to support the $555 billion in climate change funding passed by the U.S. House. From the op-ed: “As Nebraska Catholics, we worry about climate change in solidarity with farmers. Nebraska Catholics are also deeply concerned about the climate crisis as parents committed to the future of our children; as pastoral ministers serving the poor, vulnerable and marginalized disproportionately harmed by environmental degradation; as health care workers caring for those injured and sickened by more frequent and severe weather events; as service members watching Russian aggression funded largely by oil and gas exports; and laborers who would benefit from local jobs manufacturing and installing clean energy technologies.” 

Laudato Si’ Movement publishes new prayer book in English and Spanish   

The Laudato Si Movement has launched a Prayer Book in English and in Spanish, with 62 prayers from 25 countries around the world—including one by our founder, Dan Misleh—to help you and your loved ones experience the ecological conversion that St. Pope John Paul II first mentioned, and Pope Francis echoed in Laudato Si’. Later this year, LSM will be launching an app featuring prayers from the Prayer Book and many other prayers. Here are the links for you to download it at no cost and share it among your friends and community.  

English: https://mail.laudatosimovement.org/landing/prayerbook  

Spanish: https://laudatosimovement.org/librodeoraciones 
 

Coming soon: a lecture on integral ecology by the “Pope’s climatologist”  

Renowned climate scientist Father Eduardo Agosta Scarel, a Carmelite NGO member known as “Pope Francis’s climatologist,” will lecture on Integral Ecology on June 10, at St. Rita Catholic Church in New Orleans. The lecture will also be live streamed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheCarmeliteNGO/ at 7 pm CST. No RSVP is necessary. Fr. Scarel earned his PhD in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires. He lectures on Integral Ecology at the Pontifical University, Salamanca, Spain. 

Screen a film for your congregation this summer!  

You can continue the conversation about the faithful response to climate change this summer by screening a film for your congregation with a DVD from our friends at Interfaith Power & Light. The film, titled “Virginia’s Calling,” offers a sensitive look into the human effects of climate change on an evangelical family that never thought climate change would affect them. View a trailer and purchase a DVD of VIRGINIA’S CALLING and all available films here. 

 

Planning an event? Add it to the Covenant’s calendar!   

Don’t forget that the God’s Plan(et) website now has an Events Calendar with updates from Catholic Climate Covenant and our partners in parishes, youth groups, dioceses and creation care teams. Find information on teachings, engagement, outreach, programs, education, activities, and activism. And feel free to submit your own events to share with others. 
 

Sisters Act 

NCR has an interesting piece on Catholic sisters all over the world who are prioritizing care for creation as integral to their work. The article is written by Sister Susan Smith, a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in New Zealand. As Sister Smith writes, “Growing numbers of sisters, along with millions of others, are aware of what is happening in our world today. Sisters who are directly involved in ministries with the economically and politically disenfranchised poor can easily see how environmental degradation more severely impacts oppressed communities” Read the article here.  

Another piece on how Catholic women religious and other members of Catholic orders are acting upon the pope's messages of integral ecology and ecological conversion by investing in climate solutions was also recently published in NCR. With one example, the Cabrini Sisters, impact investing has allowed them to have a wider footprint in the world, even as their numbers decline. While their sisters are physically present in 17 countries, their investments in various projects have extended their ministry outreach to 54 countries, according to NCR. Read the whole article.  

News from parishes and dioceses…  

The Catholic Virginian wrote a story about how Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Hampton continues to implement environmental projects that will last decades. As the piece notes, ICC, inspired by Pope Francis, worked with our Catholic Energies team to install 440 solar panels to become the first Virginia parish to be 100% solar. The parish has also raised $17,000 for its Lenten project to purchase water filters for 250 families in the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona because about 40% of the Navajo living in the region don’t have access to clean water or electricity. Thanks to Father John Grace and ICC for your leadership and great work!  

The Care for Creation team in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis took part in a Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota event. A panel of national experts, including Jose Aguto, our executive director, discussed how Catholics are called to care for creation. Watch the video here https://vimeo.com/697155300.   

The Catholic Conference of Illinois recently released a statement on caring for creation, including an action alert. The Diocese of Joliet’s Laudato Si’ Ministries has been encouraging people to contact their legislators and to sign the action alert. The diocese’s Catholic Youth Climate Summit students also sent letters to their elected officials.  

The University of San Diego has named Father Emmet Farrell, Director of the Diocese of San Diego’s Creation Care Ministry, a Sustainability Fellow. Fr. Emmet received the well-deserved honor at a ceremony on March 31. Also out of San Diego, Bishop Robert W. McElroy was recently named a cardinal by Pope Francis. “He has urged his brother bishops in the U.S. to fully embrace the pope’s “Laudato Si'” encyclical on caring for the environment,” Catholic News Service wrote

In the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Bishop Joel Kozen celebrated a Green Mass at St. John Neumann Church. the first church to implement the Laudato Si Action Plan. Creation Care Team leaders participated in the Mass as lecturers, readers and carrying gifts to the altar. Gifts included lettuce grown in the food pantry garden, strawberries from a nearby farm, and sunflowers grown by a local landscape company to show solidarity to Ukraine 

Catholic Climate Covenant provides all its programs and resources free of charge. We rely on the generosity of our supporters to  inspire and equip people and institutions to care for creation and care for the poor. Through our 19 national partners, we guide the U.S. Church's response to climate change by educating, giving public witness, and offering resources. Thank you for giving to care for creation and care for the poor.

Contact Us

Catholic Climate Covenant
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Washington, District of Columbia 20017
(202) 756-5545
info@catholicclimatecovenant.org

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