Dear First Name,
A Big Year Coming!
On behalf of the board, staff and partners of Catholic Climate Covenant, I wish you blessings for the New Year.
I also wish to thank the over 300 supporters who generously donated to our year-end fundraising campaign. Your support means a lot to the me and the entire Covenant team.
I will take a moment though, to express disappointment with our year-end-fundraising campaign which fell short of our goal of $75,000. Nevertheless, I hope you will consider a gift now to help us close the gap. It appears that for many of the Covenant's donors, there is less incentive to give because of the new tax law and its higher standard deduction. If you have not given, I hope you will reconsider.
Most importantly, we believe 2019 will be a big, big year for the Covenant for two key reasons: 1) Our Catholic Energies program is ready to bust out with major solar and energy efficiency projects; and 2) As part of our Catholic Climate Declaration campaign and in collaboration with Creighton University, the Covenant will host about 200 Catholic leaders from 7 different ministerial areas for a three day meeting to design concrete programs that will help "weave a green thread in the tapestry of the U.S. Catholic church." This effort will help deepen the spiritual motivation of Catholics to act on climate change while providing a framework for real action.
Watch this newsletter for more announcements and updates on these efforts!
With gratitude,
Dan
Dan Misleh
Founding Executive Director
Catholic Climate Covenant
Catholics Leading the Way
2019 Earth Day Program: Pre-Register Now!
Earth Day Network, the organization that leads Earth Day worldwide, has chosen as the theme for 2018 "Protect Our Species". To complement the theme, Catholic Climate Covenant will provide you with a one-hour educational program, "All Creation Gives God Praise: Protecting Biodiversity in a Time of Climate Crisis".
You can pre-register to receive the program in early March. The program will include prayers, readings, a short video, and suggested activities.
Pre-Register to Receive Earth Day Program
Note: Earth Day 2019 falls on the Saturday before Easter (April 22nd). Therefore, we recommend celebrating Earth Day during the Easter season or another date that suits your community's schedule.
ZRegister for Webinar: Catholic Perspectives on Investment in and Divestment from Fossil Fuel Interests
How do Catholic institutions with investment portfolios face the issue of whether to invest in or divest from corporations and other interests involved in fossil fuel activities? Investors from Catholic and other faith institutions have a particularly keen interest in ensuring their investments align with the demands of their faith. In this webinar we will hear from two representatives on how their Catholic and faith institutions are addressing this complex and nuanced issue.
Date/time: Thursday, January 31st
2:00-3:00 pm.
Presenters:
- Fr. Séamus Finn, OMI, Chief of Faith Consistent Investing for the OIP Investment Trust, consultant to the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation ministry of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, United States Province, and Chair of the Board of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.
- Amy Woolam Echeverria, International Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Coordinator. Missionary Society of St. Columban.
In 2018, Catholics Spearheaded Efforts in Response to Climate Change
Interested in a nice re-cap of how the Catholic community took climate action in 2018? Dennis Sadowski's article in Crux highlights several Catholic initiatives, including the Covenant's Catholic Climate Declaration, the anti-pipeline efforts by the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, and Catholic divestment from fossil fuel companies
Faithful Action on Climate Change
Two Catholic Sisters Write Powerful Op-ed in The Hill
In light of the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed weakening of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), Sister Marie Lucey (Franciscan Action Network) and Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark (Sisters of Saint Joseph Earth Center and Catholic Climate Covenant Ambassador) joined Rev. Mitchell C. Hescox (president and CEO of The Evangelical Environmental Network) in an op-ed questioning the Trump administration's commitment to pro-life values.
Creighton Professors Question Local Power Company's Climate Efforts
Creighton University's Barbara J. Dilly (associate professor of anthropology and sustainability studies), Richard W. Miller (professor of systematic theology and sustainability studies) and Daniel R. Dileo (assistant professor and director of justice and peace studies and Covenant consultant) collaborated in a Nov. 29th Omaha World Herald op-ed questioning the Omaha Public Power District's commitment to reducing the risk of climate change. They write, "As professors at a Catholic institution, we echo the Church's teaching begun by St. John Paul II that climate change is a moral issue because its effects violate ethical commitments to protect human life and dignity, care for the poor and vulnerable, promote the global common good and steward the earth for future generations."
Laudato Si' Events at World Youth Day 2019
The Global Catholic Climate Movement will be at World Youth Day 2019 in Panama (http://worldyouthday.com/panama-2019) this month. Events include: nearly 800 recycling stations with volunteers instructing people on ways to reduce waste and recycle, a Laudato Si' village with information on care for creation for youth, aLaudato Si' conference before World Youth Day, and a presentation and testimony from youth on climate change from the main state. If anyone is attending World Youth Day and would like to connect with these events, please contact Marisa Vertrees! (marisa@catholicclimatemovement.global)
Register Now for the 2019 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering!
"Let Justice Flow (cf. Am. 5:24): A Call to Restore and Reconcile"
February 2-5, 2019 Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC
Special early bird registration rate deadline EXTENDED to November 30th!
Join us at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering! In partnership with Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services, the Covenant will be presenting a workshop on practical ways to implement Laudato Si'.
Highlights of the convocation include:
- A plenary panel conversation addressing the evil of racism in our hearts and communities, featuring Bishop Shelton J. Fabre, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, Dr. Elizabeth Hinton, Assistant Professor at Harvard University and author of From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America, Elena Segura, founder of Pastoral Migratoria in the Archdiocese of Chicago, and Fr. Henry Sands, Executive Director of the Black and Indian Mission Office.
- Sessions on immigration, restorative justice, and global and domestic poverty.
Don't miss this transformative annual gathering for leaders in Catholic social ministry and advocacy. See the full schedule and register here.
Both the Young Leaders Initiative and the Diversity Outreach Initiative are still accepting applications but time is short! Apply today!