By Kerry Stone 

In Rome last Sunday, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development launched the much-awaited enrolment phase of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform and Sandhurst Diocese is committed to signing up to the Platform.

The Laudato Si’ Action Platform is a Vatican-led initiative to empower the universal Church to achieve total sustainability in the spirit of integral ecology.

Pope Francis wrote his environmental encyclical, Laudato Si’, in 2015. He has let us absorb this message over five years before calling time and announcing a plan for coordinated action. In May 2020, he announced his idea for a plan for Catholics to make a commitment to implement Laudato Si’.

The Pope’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development was charged with developing a framework to support this action. That Framework is known as the Laudato Si’ Action Platform.

It’s a 7-year plan for action, encompassing 7 sectors in the community: families, dioceses and parishes, religious orders, schools, universities, hospitals, businesses with 7 goals.

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

“Discerning a response to the ecological crisis is a profound act of care. At this Kairos moment, action is needed. The Laudato Si’ Goals guide our actions. Their holistic approach supports a spiritual and cultural revolution as we strive for total sustainability in the spirit of integral ecology.”                                     
                                                                                       Laudato Si’ Action Platform

The enrolment in the LSAP began on the World Day of Prayer for the Poor, a deeply meaningful symbol of the Platform’s commitment to serving those who are most vulnerable to the consequences of our socio-ecological crisis. It is also a powerful Gospel message, especially in the wake of the recently concluded COP26, that the transformation of the world and of our societies will begin from below and will be led by ordinary people.

This new phase of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform sees the launch of a suite of practical resources to help Catholic institutions and communities along their journey towards integral ecology. It is time to act and act together!

Sandhurst Diocese is committed to signing up to the Platform and from there will begin creating their own Laudato Si’ Plan.