Catholics launch new initiative fitting for Earth Day
It’s Earth Day and the nation’s Catholic community has launched a new initiative that asks participants to take a special St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor.
The partners and sponsors of the new Catholic Climate Covenant include the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, the Catholic Health Association of the United States, Catholic Relief services, the National Catholic Education Association, the Conference of Major Superiors of Men and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Other participating groups include the Franciscan Action Network, National Council of Catholic Women, National Catholic Rural Life Conference, National Federation of Priests Councils and the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities.
In taking the St. Francis Pledge, Catholics promise to:
– Pray and reflect on the duty to care for God’s creation and the poor and vulnerable;
– Learn about and educate others on both the reality of climate change and its moral dimensions;
– Assess their participation –as individuals and organizations — in contributing to climate change (i.e. consumption and conservation)
– Act to change their choices and behaviors contributing to climate change and;
– Advocate Catholic principles and priorities in climate change discussions and decisions, especially as they impact the poor and vulnerable.
Before Easter, the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change sent resource packets including the pledge to all of the 17,000 Catholic parishes and 6,300 Catholic elementary schools in America.
“This is not just one more environmental message or one more plea to serve those in need but an urgent call and a different message: how does our Catholic community and our nation care for those most affected by impacts and remedies of climate change and reduce harmful behaviors impacting God’s gift of creation?” Bishop William Skylstad of Spokane, honorary chairman of the covenant, said in a news release.
A Web site has been set up to offer concrete help in carrying out the pledge. Log on to www.catholicclimatecovenant.org for more information.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment