Pope Francis has invited Catholic communities around the world to take part in a global campaign to mark the fifth anniversary of the publication of his encyclical Laudato Si', Vatican News reports.

“What kind of world do we want to leave to those who will come after us, to children who are growing up?" Pope Francis asks in a video message released by Vatican News.

“Motivated by this question”, he says, “I would like to invite you to participate in Laudato Si' Week from 16-24 May 2020.

“It is a global campaign on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the encyclical letter Laudato si': On the care of our common home.”

The Pope also renews his urgent call to respond to the ecological crisis, saying: “The cry of the earth and the cry of the poor cannot continue.”

“Let's take care of creation, a gift of our good Creator God. Let's celebrate Laudato Si' Week together.”

*The Pope is inviting communities across the world to join him in celebrating Laudato Si’ Week from May 16-24 this year. (IMAGE:: Vatican News screenshot)*

Laudato Si’ Week is sponsored by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and is meant to encourage Catholic communities to take bolder actions for creation during the week-long initiative.

As part of the week communities are being invited to click on a useful toolkit to plan and implement their actions and to use the template promotional materials to share the word about activities with their members.

The fifth anniversary of Laudato si’ coincides with important events in the race to find solutions to the environmental crisis.

This year is the deadline for countries to announce their plans to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement.

The year will also see the UN’s conference on biodiversity, in which humanity will have the opportunity to set meaningful targets to protect the places and species that sustain all life.

This is an abridged version of an article which was published in Vatican News. Read the full article here.