Australian Religious are preparing to sign on to Pope Francis’ ‘bottom-up’, global networking initiative, inspired by his encyclical Laudato Si’, to engage Catholics around the world in taking practical steps towards a lifestyle of ecological integrity for a sustainable future.
This venture of the universal church, called the Laudato Si Action Platform (LSAP), is led by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in collaboration with an international coalition of Catholic organisations.
It will run for seven years, commencing 14 November 2021. The first year is a year of preparation, followed by five years of action, followed by a final sabbatical year of praise and thanksgiving to God.
Catholic Religious Australia is supporting the LSAP by providing information and support on its dedicated LSAP web-pages.
There are seven community sectors invited into this task: families, parishes and dioceses, educational institutions, health care institutions, the economic sector, organisations and groups, and religious life.
There are seven goals (areas of focus): Response to the cry of the earth; Response to the cry of the poor; Ecological economics; Adoption of sustainable lifestyles; Ecological education; Ecological spirituality; Community resilience and empowerment.
The LSAP officially launched its enrolment phase on 14 November 2021 (World Day of the Poor).
This means that between 14 November 2021 and 22 April 2022 (Earth day), local communities can enrol in the LSAP, thereby ‘signing up’ to the LSAP goals and pledging to create their own Laudato Si’ action plan tailored for their local setting, with the help of guidelines and resources provided by the Dicastery LSAP organisers.
Once enrolled in the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, in order to remain enrolled only three things are requested:
1. Complete an annual self-assessment to discern where you are on the road to integral ecology;
2. Upload a reflection on how your values are connected to the Laudato Si’ Goals; and,
3. Upload an annual Laudato Si’ Plan that includes your target outcomes and the actions you will take in the coming year.
In this way, like-minded Catholics across the globe can ‘walk with’ one another and be inspired and supported by each other’s efforts to actualise the vision of Laudato Si’.
“We know that a number of Religious communities in Australia are seriously considering or moving towards enrolling in the LSAP. And some have already taken the step,” said Catholic Religious Australia National Executive Director Anne Walker.
“We are grateful for their leading the way in this positive, ambitious program with aspirations for world-wide impact.”
Further information about ‘what’s happening’ already on the global LSAP front can be found here.