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Care for Creation

Our mission is to spread the Catholic teaching of creation care concerning our duty to be good stewards of our common home, to include the just use of our environmental resources and the protection of all life. We raise awareness to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, encourage individual and community resilience and empowerment, and advocate for the adoption of sustainable lifestyles, all with the urgency the times require.

Read Pope Francis’ New Apostolic Exhortation

Laudate Deum
Upcoming Events

From Earth Day Month to Laudato Si’ Week!

As creation wakens from winter, we turn to the joyous Easter Season and the new life of spring!

In this spirit, Creation Care Ministry is excited to announce a new initiative: Laudato Si’ Grants, offering funding for parishes, schools, and Catholic affiliated non-profits for creation care. We will distribute funds, up to a sum total of $5,000, divided amongst all projects based on support for the 7 goals of Laudato Si’, community impact of the project, and viability. Deadline for submissions is Earth Day, April 22nd at 11:59PM, and awards will be announced during Laudato Si’ Week, May 19th-26th. See more information and APPLY NOW at bit.ly/SDCatholicLSgrants.

Please take a look at our upcoming events and join us for this season of focusing on our Sister Mother Earth so that we might better hear the cry of God’s creation and the cry of our poor and vulnerable brothers and sisters, whom we are called to love.

If you are planning to host an Earth Day event, consider the Catholic Climate Covenant’s program, “Healing Our Throwaway Culture: Focus on Plastics,” which aligns with the global Earth Day theme of “Planet v. Plastics,” available here.

As always, we encourage you to answer the Laudato Si’ call to action through participation in our Creation Care Pathway!

SD Catholic Creation Care Pathway to Action

1. SEE:  Watch The Letter, a free film produced by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development and the Laudato Si’ Movement to get an overview of today’s environmental crisis and develop understanding of how the poor and vulnerable experience the greatest impact.

Families can watch at home on YouTube here, or parishes/schools/groups can register for a link here.

2. DISCERN: Participate in one of our diocesan introductory workshops to learn about the science that explains today’s environmental degradation, the spiritual nature of these dynamics, and how you can get involved with our Creation Care programs.

We hold two workshops at the Pastoral Center, just before Lent and during the Season of Creation in September, AND/OR we will gladly come to your parish—English and Spanish presentations are available!

3. ACT: Attend a Laudato Si’ Action Planning Hands-On Workshop, at which we will guide you—parishes, schools, families, businesses, and universities—through the Vatican’s online platform for taking action to lessen your impact on our sister, Mother Earth!

Diocesan Action Planning
Laudato Si’ Encyclical Explained
Laudato Si’ Goals
Click on the thumbnail to view the Laudato Si’ Goals.

A Prayer for Our Earth, from Laudato Si’

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.

Contacts

Robert Ehnow, PhD
Director
Phone: (858) 490-8375
rehnowEmail at symbolsdcatholic.org
Maria de Lourdes Valencia
Associate Director, Culture of Life
Phone: (858) 490-8323
mvalenciaEmail at symbolsdcatholic.org
Christina Slentz, PhD
Associate Director, Creation Care
Phone: (858) 490-8327
cslentzEmail at symbolsdcatholic.org
Mark Smith
Administrative Assistant
Phone: (858) 490-8324
msmithEmail at symbolsdcatholic.org
Rev. Emmet Farrell
Spiritual Advisor, Creation Care
efarrellEmail at symbolsdcatholic.org

Creation Care Monthly Articles

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Triune Lord, wondrous community of infinite love,
teach us to contemplate you
in the beauty of the universe,
for all things speak of you.
Awaken our praise and thankfulness
for every being that you have made.
Give us the grace to feel profoundly joined
to everything that is.

(Pope Francis, A Christian Prayer in Union with Creation, Laudato Si’)

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