Integral ecology expert Jacqui Remond from Australian Catholic University has been appointed a consultor to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development by Pope Leo XIV.

Ms Remond is the only Australian among the 12 new consultors appointed by the pontiff this week. The ACU educator and community-engaged researcher, who is based in Sydney, said she was honoured to accept the five-year appointment.

“I am looking forward to working more closely with the wonderful people at the Vatican Dicastery for promoting Integral Human Development, especially Sr Alessandra Smerilli as the first woman leader,” Ms Remond said.

“I feel inspired to continue deepening the praxis of Integral Ecology in local and global contexts and to furthering the urgent need for ecological conversion with communities and institutions to care for our common home.”

Ms Remond, co-founder of the Laudato Si’ Movement, has a long history supporting the work of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
In 2020 she was appointed by Pope Francis as joint coordinator of the Ecology Taskforce, a working group of the Vatican Covid Commission, led by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

An expert on integral ecology and ecological conversion, Ms Remond is committed to furthering Pope Francis and now Pope Leo’s commitment to instilling a profound change of heart and mind in humanity with regards to its relationship with our common home.

“My work focuses on deepening human thinking, being and doing so that our relationships and systems of economy, education, health, finance, food, transport and so forth respect the rhythms, limitations, and realities of Earth’s ecosystems, a gift from our loving Creator,” Ms Remond said.

“This necessarily includes listening to the cries of the Earth and the poor in real contexts and transforming the way we live and think about governance, addressing power inequalities, and bringing multiple and diverse disciplines, perspectives, languages and spiritualities into dialogue to reimagine integral responses in response to the meta-crises we face today.”

Pope Francis established the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in 2016 to promote the Church’s efforts to promote peace, migration, economy, health, and ecology.
As required by the Dicastery’s guidelines, consultors are chosen “from among the faithful who are distinguished by their expertise, proven ability and prudence” and in their selection, “care must be taken to respect, as much as possible, the criterion of universality”.