ADW - Laudato Si’ (Care for Our Common Home) Sustainability Projects

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis’s groundbreaking encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home.  In it, Pope Francis made clear that ecological concern is a critical component of our Christian vocation—and not an optional or secondary aspect of our faith. Pope Leo XIV has continued the Church’s emphasis on care for our common home. He recently stated, “The challenges identified in Laudato Si’ are even more relevant today than they were ten years ago,” and he encouraged “everyone, especially young people, parents, and those who work in local and national administrations and institutions, to play their part in finding solutions.”

The Archdiocese of Washington set for itself a goal of being “a national leader in implementing Laudato Si’” when it issued its Laudato Si’ Action Plan in August 2021.  This plan recommends an array of actions to parishes, schools, and individual Catholic parishioners.

Key to the implementation of the Action Plan is the development of environmental ministries (sometimes called “Green Teams”) in parishes throughout the Archdiocese. The availability of funds to help start new activities and initiatives will help to encourage the formation and growth of Green Teams in parishes.

Your contribution to the Laudato Si’ (Care for Our Common Home) Sustainability Projects will enable the Archdiocese to fund a new round of parish-based grants to encourage innovative local responses to the message of Laudato Si’. This might include funding for energy efficiency, clean water, and the planting of pollinator-friendly plants on church properties.  These grants will help parishes become better stewards of God’s creation and better protectors of those who are most at risk from climate change and environmental degradation.