Tag: encyclical

On
Fr. Donald Lange

Earth Day and Laudato Si’

A parishioner asked his pastor, “Father, it seems that every time I read a Catholic newspaper, I read about taking care of the environment. Shouldn’t we Catholics be more concerned about taking care of the world’s bigger problems such as war, hunger, and sickness?”

The priest responded, “Haven’t you heard about Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on ecology? It is the first encyclical in Catholic Church history to focus on ecology and care for creation. In this encyclical, Pope Francis makes a connection between care for the environment and war, hunger, and sickness.”

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On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Facing pope’s challenge to protect creation

It doesn’t seem possible that almost a year has passed since Pope Francis issued Laudato Si’, his beautiful encyclical on care for our common home.

Released on June 18, 2015, the encyclical touched on many of the critical issues facing our world today, including the availability of fresh drinking water, the loss of biodiversity, decline in the quality of human life, the breakdown of society, and global inequality, to name a few.

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On
Laura Green, For the Catholic Herald

Catholic Multicultural Center puts pope’s encyclical into action

MADISON — Pope Francis’ recent encyclical Laudato Si’ makes a firm and urgent case for taking care of God’s creation in order to care for the poor and vulnerable among us.

He asserts that environmental stewardship must always be tied to social justice and vice versa. For the Catholic Multicultural Center (CMC), the encyclical is an affirmation of the work it has already been doing.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Presentation on Laudato Si’ in Madison

MADISON — Care of Creation has scheduled a presentation on Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home on Thursday, Oct. 1, 7 p.m. at the St. Dennis Parish Center, 505 Dempsey Rd.

John Huebscher, executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference will be the presenter. Fr. Randy Timmerman, pastor, and Steve Coleman, resident expert on climate change, will also attend.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Discussion series on encyclical at Sinsinawa Mound

SINSINAWA — A discussion of Pope Francis‘ encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, will be held at Sinsinawa Mound from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Oct. 6 through Nov. 10.

Over the course of six weeks, participants will read each of the six chapters of the encyclical, which calls us to re-examine our lives in light of the ecological crisis, and discuss what this means for us as a people of faith.

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On
Kevin Wondrash

Conversation planned on encyclical

MADISON — A conversation on Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care of Our Common Home and sustainable agriculture in Wisconsin will be held Sunday, Sept. 27, from 1:30 to 6 p.m. in Anderson Auditorium in Predolin Hall at Edgewood College.

Panelists will include environmentalist Calvin DeWitt , Sr. Miriam Brown, Eric Anglada of the New Hope Catholic Worker Farm, and Edgewood economics professor Kevin Biller. The speakers will lead break-out sessions after the panel concludes.

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On
Tony Magliano

Encyclical is prophetic, challenging, wonderful

It’s courageous, it’s prophetic, it’s challenging, it’’ holistic, it’s wonderful: That’s what I think of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.

Quoting his patron saint, Francis of Assisi — who is also the patron saint of ecology — Pope Francis begins his papal letter with a beautiful verse from the saint’s Canticle of the Creatures: “‘Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs.'”

Our common home

“St. Francis of Assisi reminds us,” writes the pope, “that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. . . .

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino

Encyclical: respect for human and environmental ecology

Dear Friends,

Around this time of year, things typically slow down in this space. Our Catholic Herald usually has a reduced schedule during the summer, and I always take a bit of a “summer recess” from writing these columns.

That being said, there’s been enough happening in the last two weeks to fill numerous columns, and so I feel compelled to write.

Two very major things happened this past Friday — the ordination of six men to the priesthood for the diocese, and the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision redefining marriage.

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On
Laura Green

Pope ties ecological justice to social justice

To the editor:

In reading through Pope Francis’ most recent encyclical, he reminds us that by hurting God’s creation, we are also hurting ourselves. We are causing pain to the poor and most vulnerable among us. We are damaging all life on this planet, including our own.

I was struck by the ways Pope Francis ties ecological justice to social justice, urging us “to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” These cries are inextricably linked, though some try to frame them in opposition to one another.

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On
Trudi Jenny

Will we answer pope’s call to action?

To the editor:

I would like to express my gratitude to Pope Francis for writing his encyclical, Laudato Si’. He inspires us all to act on our calling to care for the gifts of God’s creation.

In 2001, the U.S. Catholic bishops said, “global climate change is not about . . . partisan advantage or interest group pressures. It is about the future of God’s creation and the one human family. . . ”  Pope Francis’ encyclical endorses this and moves the climate change conversation beyond politics to the moral realm where it belongs.

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