Earth Day 2020
The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development…Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home. Young people demand change. They wonder how anyone can claim to be building a better future without thinking of the environmental crisis and the sufferings of the excluded. (Laudato Si’ 13)
Earth Day at 50/Laudato Si’ at 5: An Urgent Appeal for Action
There are two versions of the program in 2020. The original, to be used with in-person groups, and a revised program that can be used by individuals, families, and online groups.
Catholic Climate Covenant’s 2020 Earth Day program is a free, one-hour educational program designed to complement the Earth Day Network’s 50th anniversary theme, “Climate Action” and help us commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Pope’s encyclical letter, Laudato Si’.
Humanity is at a critical crossroad. Most scientists, policy-makers, and religious leaders agree that climate change is an existential threat to God’s creation.
- In 2015, Pope Francis exhorted us to take urgent action against climate change and to protect our common home.
- The United Nations tells us we have a decade to take action before irreversible damage destroys critical ecosystems, and adds to the burdens of our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.
Yet, young people are taking action. THIS is the moment for all to join with them in their call for action.
2020 is the year we MUST take action. From pews to polling stations, you and your faith community can step up and take action at all levels: as individuals as communities, as states and as a nation. You can call for greater global ambition to tackle our climate crisis. You can join millions in rallies and public events, in advocacy campaigns, and in lowering your carbon footprint. This is YOUR moment.
The world has never been so ready for the U.S. Catholic community to step up and take action on climate change. Are you ready? Whether you’re taking your first step or have been a long time actor in addressing climate change, the 2020 Earth Day program will help you find a path forward.
The one-hour educational program which includes prayers, readings, reflection/discussion questions, a short video, and suggested actions.
EN ESPANOL: PROGRAMA DIA DE LA TIERRA 2020
Guía revisada del Programa para el Participante – Este programa Del Día de la Tierra 2020 fue creado originalmente para ser utilizado por una parroquia, escuela, grupo juvenil, universidad, comunidad religiosa u otro grupo que esté interesado en explorar cómo nosotros, como católicos, podemos responder al llamado a una acción urgente sobre el clima. Dados los recientes acontecimientos mundiales y la necesidad de distanciamiento social y, en algunos lugares, cuarentenas impuestas, lo hemos revisado para que pueda usarlo individualmente o con su familia.