Resources to Promote the St. Francis Pledge

New Resources:

• Lenten Carbon Fast Calendar lists 40 carbon fasting actions everyone can consider as a part of your Lenten preparation for the Easter season. Each of these actions will reduce our production of climate change pollution and help to preserve God’s great gift of Creation.   Download the Carbon Fast Calendar for your parish, school, or individual use.

• NEW: One Page Flyer on Climate Change from USCCB is an excellent handout for school, parish or other group events. Provides an overview of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ position on the issue of climate change and why action and advocacy are called for:  The Catholic Church brings a distinct perspective to the debate about climate change by lifting up the moral dimensions of this issue and the needs of the most vulnerable among us. Download and print the flyer here.

• USCCB Bulletin Resource for parishes and schools on Pope Benedict’s World Day of Peace Message, To Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation.  Includes Catholic Social Teaching on care for creation, examples of current climate change impacts on poor people, and suggested prayer.
• Prayer Cards:   (download and print on card stock)
  • St. Francis Pledge and Prayer (side 1 & side 2)
  • St. Francis Pledge
• Catholic Climate Covenant Parish Resource Packet from the Office for Catholic Social Justice Ministry of the Archdiocese of Hartford
• Stewardship of Creation Resource Packet from the Departments of Facilities and Properties, Stewardship and Pastoral Services, of the Diocese of Green Bay
• A Primer on Catholic Teaching and Climate Change on an authentically Catholic approach to this important moral issue.  It highlights the key themes and the moral measure of successful outcomes: ones that encompass both the care of God’s gift of Creation and of poor and vulnerable populations.

Celebrate the Feast of St. Francis with these Resources

The Franciscan Action Network and the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change invite you to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis by taking the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor. The following resources are available to download:

• The St. Francis Pledge Bulletin Insert (PDF)
• Suggested Prayers (PDF)
• Liturgy and Worship Suggestions (PDF)
• Homily Suggestions (PDF)
• Petitions (PDF)
• “Who’s Under Your Carbon Footprint” Poster (PDF)
• Pledge Sign Up Form for group meetings/parish gatherings (PDF)
• Bulletin Quotes from the Pope and the Church on Climate Change (PDF)
• Clip Art (PDF)

See the statement A Franciscan Approach to Climate Change on the Franciscan Action Network website.

For more information send email to: info@catholicsandclimatechange.org.   Send us your Stories about how you celebrated the Feast of St. Francis using these materials.

Catholic Climate Covenant: The St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor

Today the great gift of God’s Creation is exposed to serious dangers and lifestyles which can degrade it. Environmental pollution is making particularly unsustainable the lives of the poor of the world … we must pledge ourselves to take care of creation and to share its resources in solidarity.

— Pope Benedict XVI

A rich array of resources on climate change for individual or collective prayer, education, assessment, action and advocacy that are rooted in Catholic teaching and express care for God’s creation appear throughout this website.

• Direct Mail: resource sent to all parishes, elementary schools, and diocesan directors of religious education and youth ministry. Download it in English Direct Mail or Spanish Direct Mail (PDF).
• Covenant Print Ad: The Coalition is launching a nationwide ad campaign. It asks the question “Who’s Under Your Carbon Footprint?” and encourages widespread participation in the St. Francis Pledge. Print Ad (PDF)
• Bulletin Quotes and Clip Art: A variety of paragraph-sized quotes as well as clip art are available here for use in your parish bulletins, newsletters, or other publications.  Downloadable Bulletin Quotes and Clip Art (PDF)
• “Who’s Under Your Carbon Footprint?” Download a high resolution copy of our video in QuickTime format (826 MB). Right-click and choose “save as”.