Bringing the Concerns of "Laudato Si" to a Global Stage

Posted On April 20, 2016

The Xaverian Missionaries supports very directly the efforts of so many wishing to bring the concerns of the Church regarding the Care of our Common Home. Catholic Climate Movement offers wonderful opportunities for this. We included their most recent message.
Two amazing things happened yesterday. Both are about how we, people of faith, are calling our governments to take bold action for climate justice.
In New York City, Catholics and other faith communities delivered an Interfaith Climate Change Statement to the President of the UN General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft. It was a wonderful celebration and I was honored to speak on behalf of the Catholic community
The statement, signed by over 270 high-level religious leaders (including prominent Catholics such as Cardinal Tagle, President of Caritas Internationalis, and Bishop Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences; plus other faith leaders such as the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu) urges our governments to ratify and implement the Paris Agreement just days ahead of the Signing Ceremony at the UN Headquarters on Friday.
“Humanity is at a crucial turning point. We as faith communities recognize that we must begin a transition away from polluting fossil fuels and towards clean renewable energy sources”, reads our statement. “Climate change presents our global family with the opportunity to embark on a path of spiritual renewal defined by deeper awareness and greater ecological action.”

At the same time, over 2,500 miles away, an expedition is marching towards the North Pole carrying a Laudato Si’ encyclical and a Global Catholic Climate Movement banner calling on world leaders to “PROTECT OUR CLIMATE & OUR COMMON HOME”. Again, the message is addressed to world leaders meeting at the Paris Agreement Signing Ceremony this Friday at the United Nations.
While these events are thousands of miles apart, they are inextricably connected.
The Arctic is one of the most vulnerable places on Earth, with the potential to unlock runaway climate change if it melts. Just last week, scientists revealed that climate change may have caused the location of the North Pole to shift eastwards. The only chance we have at saving the Arctic and our common home is for each country to implement bold climate policies, starting by signing and ratifying the Paris Agreement.
And for each of us to play our part.
Help us to continue making the Laudato Si message heard by political authorities around the globe with creative and significant actions like these. By making a donation, we can reach more leaders, more communities, more corners of the Earth. The encyclical’s one year anniversary is right around the corner and we are planning some big actions to celebrate. With your financial support, however big or small, we can move even more people to action.