If you’re eager for your parish or diocese to participate in the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform, but don’t know where to start, we have some good news. We’ve collected here some excellent resources from parishes and dioceses, sharing everything from spiritual insights and practical tips to action items and accountability measures.
The Laudato Si’ Action Platform, an initiative led by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, is inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’. It equips the Church to achieve lasting solutions to the ecological crisis. Central to the platform are seven goals to accomplish during a seven-year journey toward environmental sustainability.
While the journey officially launched in late 2021, it’s not too late to join! You can always read more about the Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP, for short.)
As Pope Francis states in Laudato Si’, “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded and at the same time protecting nature.” (LS 139)
Now here are 7 more resources to help you and your parish engage with the LSAP, which can be found at www.godsplanet.us, the hub for U.S. Catholic LSAP activities and resources:
- The Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity has created a easy to use website site inviting parishes to form Creation Care Committees, laying out a path that integrates ministries, staff and parishioners to collaborate on developing Laudato Si’ initiatives, prayer, education and liturgy. The Creation Care Committees use the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP) to support parish engagement with the LSAP Goals to fulfill the parish’s mission, ministry, and operations as it relates to the care of creation. Read more.
- It’s easy to see why the Laudato Si’ Action Plan developed in the Archdiocese of Atlanta is being used as a template for other dioceses and archdioceses. The 79-page plan the archdiocese has shared online is illustrated, organized and comprehensive, with contributions from theologians, environmental justice advocates, politicians, educators, climate scientists and waste management and recycling experts. Most chapters contain recommendations to assist the vulnerable and an entire chapter is devoted to the disproportionate effects of pollution and climate change on the poor and people of color. Read more.
- St. John Neumann Parish in Reston, Virginia has created a detailed presentation demonstrating dozens of actions the parish has planned and implemented in the first year participating in the LSAP, as well as status updates and metrics of success for each of those efforts. Organized, smart and practical, this guide includes actions large and small that almost every parish could emulate on the journey to sustainability. If you are in search of ideas for your community or church, this is an excellent place to look! Read more.
- The Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, which launched its Laudato Si’ Action Plan in October, has created a webpage filled with useful information. It includes an introduction to the scriptural and theological ideas behind the LSAP and explains the seven sectors or areas of concern: response to the cry of the earth, response to the cry of the poor, ecological economics, adoption of sustainable lifestyles, ecological education, ecological spirituality and community resilience and empowerment. The diocese of Davenport’s webpage clearly organizes their actions into goals, steps taken and suggestions for future efforts to be taken by parishes, individuals, and families. Read more.
- The Creation Care Commission of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis has created excellent templates to educate and engage your community on the LSAP. The first template is an explanation of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform that can be customized and added to diocesan or parish websites and other communications. The second template is a model agenda to organize a 1–2-hour program or workshop in your parish, diocese, or community about the Laudato Si Action Platform. The template includes a detailed outline from opening to closing prayer, with suggested questions to ask and prompts for discussion, a video, and ideas for post-meeting actions to take. Read more.
- The Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, which enrolled in the LSAP in February, has posted online its Action Plan for the first year of its journey toward ecological sustainability. Year one is primarily about education and encouragement, the diocese says, ensuring that the local Catholic community knows about the LSAP and the intimate connections between the Catholic faith and duty to care for their earth. These efforts include creating a K-12 curriculum and resources for homes and parishes. Read more.
- Confused by the Different Laudato Si’ Action Platform Websites? Watch this! This brief but helpful video explains how you can participate in and learn more about the Laudato Si’ Action Platform through four key sites: Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP) website; Catholic Climate Covenant’s We’re All Part of God’s Planet website the Jesuits’ Laudato Si’ in Action; and Ignatian Solidarity Network’s Renewing the Earth campaign. Watch more.
