Introduction: What is Laudato Sì’ and Its Action Platform
The groundbreaking encyclical, Laudato Si’, written by Pope Francis in 2015, is a beautiful and comprehensive exploration on how to care for Earth, our common home. It presents a new vision which he calls integral ecology; the understanding that everything socially, environmentally, and spiritually is connected to everything else.
Five years after the encyclical was written, the Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP) was initiated by the Vatican to provide a way for a worldwide response to the encyclical. The Dominican Sisters and Associates of Sinsinawa made a Public Commitment to the LSAP and have been working toward a deeper understanding of integral ecology and how it can be lived out in all that we do.
Pope Francis has personally issued an invitation to the platform (though spoken in Italian, the English is easily read in full screen mode).
How: Laudato Sì’
From Words to Action: 7 Goals and the Action Platform
In response to the Earth’s escalating crisis, the Vatican developed a framework for action, the LSAP which identified the following seven goals:
Cry of Earth is a call to protect our common home for the wellbeing of all; to equitably address the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and ecological sustainability.
Response to the Cry of the Poor is a call to promote eco-justice, aware that we are called to defend all forms of life on Earth.
Ecological Economics acknowledges that the economy is a subsystem of human society, which itself is embedded within our common home.
Adoption of Sustainable Lifestyles are grounded in the idea of sufficiency; promoting moderation in the use of resources and energy.
Ecological Education rethinks and redesigns curricular and institutional reform in the spirit of integral ecology to foster ecological awareness and transformative action.
Ecological Spirituality recovers a religious vision of God’s creation and encourages greater contact with the natural world in a spirit of wonder, praise, joy, and gratitude.
Community Engagement and Participatory Action encourages the development of cultures and policies that protect our common home and all who share it.
Who: The LSAP Committee
In response to Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Sì’, the Sinsinawa Congregation formed the LSAP committee composed of Sisters and Associates. The committee develops an annual plan advancing the Congregation’s understanding of Laudato Sì’ and its call for an integral ecology and how best to live it in all that we do.
Our Response to LSAP
As a Congregation, we engage in LSAP through our
Sisters and Associates Care for Our Common Home in Many Ways
How do we stand with Earth-Video
Call to Action
Our Congregation is committed to the LSAP and has engaged in a seven-year process that hopes to achieve real and lasting solutions to the ecological crisis. For the past two years, focus has been on our Congregation as a whole. We have provided a number of educational events about the LSAP and have involved congregation committees and departments in assessing what has already been done to achieve the seven goals of LSAP and to begin to look at what needs to be done in the future.
To fully achieve the purpose of Laudato Si’, we need the involvement of each of us in a more intentional way; therefore, our year three focus will be on participation by our Sisters and Associates as individuals, as a local community, or as a family. What will you do at home? In your community? In your parish? Taking small actions at home, in your family, in your neighborhoods, in your churches and parishes, in your prayer circles, and during community activities will make a difference.
