Care for Creation
A Prayer for our Planet
Inspired in part by Laudato Si’, chapter six
Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters,
harming no one, and helped the truly
abandoned and forgotten of this earth!
Bring healing to our lives, that we may
protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Fill us with awe and contemplation as we
journey day by day towards your Light!
And encourage us, our Loving Creator, as we struggle
in these difficult days for a better, cleaner and safer
Earth, with truly sustainable energy. Amen!
Mission Statement
The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it -Ps 24:1
We in this WORKING GROUP are deeply concerned for the future well-being of our common home, Earth. We stand with Pope Francis in proclaiming all the themes of Laudato Si (2015) and Laudato Deum (2023) and in valuing “all people, all of creation [being] connected in one ecology.” We are committed to striving for the good of all on our planet—including the poor, who often are first to suffer from serious climate change and other legacies of our human neglect or carelessness. In sum, we promise to walk gently on this earth, and urge others to adopt a similar lifestyle so that we can pass on to our children a planet worth saving and an ecological mindset that knows the need for watchful sustainability.
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We have compiled resources for Catholics and climate change, including news, spiritual guidance, and ways to take action and care for our common home. As Catholics, we must learn about the climate crisis caused by climate change and its effect on other intersectional issues we all face.
The COVID-19 pandemic was brutal proof of a truth asserted by Pope Francis: Everything is connected. Politics, the economy, health care — and our faith in a loving God — these concerns are all one. Care for the earth, our common home, is more than a political reality — although it is most certainly. Care for our common home is more than an economic reality, but again, it is that most certainly. For Catholics thinking about climate change, care for the Earth, our Common Home, is a spiritual matter. There is no simple health crisis, no single environmental problem, no problematic financial struggle, no simple political process. Everything is connected — and here on the entries and pages to follow are the hopes and dreams of the AUSCP in the spiritual realm, the political realm, the fiscally responsible realm — simply summarized in a few words: Care for our Common Home.
Page Contents:
On Care for Creation
Climate Justice is Racial Justice and Racial Justice is Climate Justice
Climate Change as an Intersectional Issue
Laudato Si’ – On Care for Our Common Home
Catholic Climate Change Resources From the AUSCP
Latinx Climate Change Resources
Ways to Take Action against Climate Change
Legislative Action on the Climate Crisis
Legislative work is one of the most effective ways to bring about change. Here are a few resources to learn more and find out how to take action.
Federal Legislation
- A groundbreaking environmental justice bill is poised to become law
- H.R. 260 – Women and Climate Change Act of 2021
- What to Expect from Federal Climate Policy in 2021