Catholic Earthcare Australia, established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in 2002, is mandated, through the activities of education, research and advocacy, to give leadership in the journey towards ecological conversion.

“I’m really excited by the Earthcare Parish Audit which is organised in terms of People, Place and Practice, with each question aligning with one or more of the Laudato Si’ goals. And once you’re part of the Earthcare Network, you will receive news, support and opportunities to exchange ideas. I feel this is important too – to be able to share ideas and encourage each other,” says Christine Turner, Pastoral Associate at St Mary’s Echuca, one of the first parishes to register for the process.

To escalate the implementation of Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical in which he implores us to protect our common home, the Laudato Si’ Action Platform with its 7 Goals for 7 sectors over 7 years was established.

The Australian Catholic Bishops followed up with this year’s Social Justice Statement for 2021-22, ‘Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor’, reinforcing the call to care for all creation. The bishops have signed up to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform and invite us all to join them in taking action and committing to the Laudato Si’ goals.

Catholic Earthcare Australia has made it easy for parishes to take up the Bishops’ invitation by developing a process to assist parishes on the journey Register at https://catholicearthcare.org.au/earthcare-parishes to receive your One-star Certificate and the Parish Audit.

On completing the audit, you send it back to Earthcare. You will be awarded a second star on your certificate and receive the Earthcare Parish Action Planner – again based on the 7 Laudato Si’ Goals.

You can plan your actions using the Earthcare Action Planner with reference to your Audit and all the suggestions under the 7 Laudator Si’ Goals in the Planner document to guide and inspire your actions.

When you send your completed Action Planner to the Earthcare Team you will be awarded a third star in celebration of your commitment to ecological practice.

From there, Earthcare will continue to support and encourage you as you put your plan into action. And you’ll earn extras stars as you tick off more actions in your future years!

Kerry Stone from the Earthcare Team at St John’s Parish Numurkah, another early signatory, says “I like the way it’s all so simply and clearly laid out to address the goals and that the ideas are localised, ‘Australianised’, with references to our Australian situation/agencies/campaigns, e.g., First Nations people, Project Compassion, Landcare, Clean Up Australia Day, etc. This makes them very relatable and user-friendly”.

In Sandhurst Diocese, Bishop Shane Mackinlay says, “Our Diocese is committed to signing up to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform and, as part of the Diocese’ working towards the goals, we are encouraging all our parishes to become Earthcare parishes”.

Catholic Earthcare sees great value in building a local network. It’s easy to do an audit independently and have great intentions but if you are part of something bigger, it’s more likely to result in ongoing action and it will have more impact. “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts” (Aristotle).

Parishioners at St John's, Numurkah enjoy a cup of fair-trade tea in re-usable mugs at their weekly after-Mass cupppa.

Fr Pompeyo Tan and Parishioners of St Mary's, Echuca look over the EarthCare Parish Audit Forms.