Helping us to get started – Here and Now!
by friar Vince Petersen, OFM Conv. With excerpts taken from the official Laudato Si website www.laudatosiactionplatform.org
The Laudato Si’ Action Platform is the fruit of a unique collaboration between the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and nearly 200 Catholic organizations, and individuals from around the world. Launched on St. Francis Day, October 4, 2021, it is hoped to be a tool to help the global Catholic community put into action the mandates of Pope Francis’ letter on the environment – Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home.
The spirit of partnership enriches the action platform as a whole, ensuring that it is rooted in real experiences and local wisdom. After all, “new processes taking shape cannot always fit into frameworks imported from outside; they need to be based in the local culture itself.” (LS 144) The leadership from the Dicastery seeks to gratefully learn from local leaders and humbly provide a common framework that supports the development of all.
The platform is an online global meeting place for individuals and communities where Earth-saving ideas can be shared, creating a sense of solidarity. It is hoped that putting local groups in contact with one another and the overall global effort will be a source of encouragement and inspiration. In particular, it gives voice to those communities most impacted by climate change and those on the peripheries, and it helps to build bonds of “belonging and togetherness”. (LS 149)
Along with giving a voice to local groups and institutions, the platform also offers guidance, tools, and support such as:
- Laudato Si’ Plan Guides and templates for your institution, community, or family to map out a path to action.
- Reflection Guides and templates that connect your core values to the Laudato Si’ Goals and serve as a beacon of light for others.
- A self-assessment, customized to your unique situation, to help you understand where you stand today.
- Suggested actions, tailored to your unique needs, to make the biggest impact across integral ecology.
- Resources across languages, sectors, and Laudato Si’ Goals to offer real-world guidance from partners who are experts in taking action.
- Events offered by a diverse community of partners online and in regions around the world.
The seven (7) goals of the Laudato Si Platform were developed from the overall message of Pope Francis’ encyclical letter. (Click on a goal to learn more)
Actions could include the adoption of renewable energies and energy-sufficiency measures, achieving carbon neutrality, protecting biodiversity, promoting sustainable agriculture, and guaranteeing access to clean water for all.
Actions could include projects to promote solidarity, with special attention given to vulnerable groups such as indigenous communities, refugees, migrants, and children at risk, analysis, and improvement of social systems, and social service programs.
Actions could include sustainable production and consumption, ethical investments, divestment from fossil fuels and any activity harmful to the planet and the people, supporting circular economies, prioritizing care labor, and protecting the dignity of workers.
Actions could include reducing waste and recycling, adopting sustainable dietary habits (opting for a more plant-based diet and reducing meat consumption), greater use of public transport, active mobility (walking, cycling), and avoiding single-use items (e.g. plastic, etc.)
Actions could include ensuring equitable access to education for all and promoting human rights, fostering Laudato Si’ themes within the community, encouraging ecological leadership (students, teachers), and ecological restoration activities.
Actions could include promoting creation-based liturgical celebrations, developing ecological catechesis, retreats, and formation programs, etc.
Actions could include promoting advocacy and developing people’s campaigns, encouraging rootedness and a sense of belonging in local communities and neighborhood ecosystems.
To get started – here and now – and to register your parish, family, institution, religious community, or yourself, simply go to: www.laudatosiplatform.org
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