On October 4, 2023, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology, Pope Francis published Laudate Deum, the apostolic exhortation that follows the historic 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si'. He once again raised his prophetic voice for the care of Our Common Home. The unprecedented challenge that the planet and people must face can only be addressed through the lens of an integral ecological vision supported by Pope Francis in Laudato Si'. The reconstruction of Our Common Home requires an alliance of all people of goodwill that crosses all segments of society. To respond to this prophetic call, the Pontifical Universities and Institutes of Rome have created an alliance to launch the online course in English in collaboration with many prominent groups engaged in the area of care for creation.
The joint diploma "An Initiative of the Laudato Si' Alliance for the Care of Our Common Home" took place from January to June 2024 with monthly online sessions on a) Situation of our common home b) Gospel of creation c) Human roots of the crisis d) Integral ecology e) Course of actions and f) Ecological education and spirituality. The sessions were led by some of the most renowned authors and advocates of our Common Home, such as Fr. Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam, Dr. Erin Lothes, Prof. Dominique Lambert, Dr. Celia Deane-Drummond, Amy Echeverria, and others.
The course aimed: 1) to promote and spread the message of Laudato Si' and to start a kind of cultural revolution, creating ecological awareness among people; 2) to educate and encourage people to take personal and collective initiatives to care for our common home. Each of the six modules covered all areas related to current ecological challenges: from theology to philosophy, from economics to socio-culture and politics, from scientific analysis to faith and spirituality.
More than three hundred course participants, including CADIS leaders from Thailand, Spain, Kenya, Benin, Italy, Australia, and India, responded to the invitation to enroll. Especially in recent years, CADIS International has supported Pope Francis' Encyclical Laudato Si' in response to the cry of the Earth, our common home. That is why the opportunity of this course was ideal to continue the path of awareness in our work of building resilient eCon-communities.
At the end of the course, participants were asked to share their reflections to complete the journey and automatically become Laudato Si' animators with a certificate issued by the Pontifical Gregorian University.
We collected the reflections of our CADIS leaders who participated in the course, bearing witness to the importance of raising awareness among all people of goodwill who are committed to caring for our common home.
Interreligious dialogue is an essential and crucial point of our being Church in Thailand. The significant contribution of the Church's teachings is relevant to Thai society [...] I have learned that the Church's teaching on the climate crisis could integrate Thai culture in the context of interreligious dialogue at various levels, such as doctrinal, educational, and witness of life. The call to ecological conversion as a starting point for each of us is an important role to play. Ecological conversion as Metanoia or the complete change of heart from the old lifestyle of the throwaway culture to a new culture is a key concept to save our planet.
(Paul Cherdchai LERTJITLEKHA, MI)
The African sky is still blue. The sessions brought me many lessons and experiences on climate change and biodiversity conservation. This new ecological school has opened my spirit and my heart to the environmental crisis (drought) in Africa. So, I decided to join this fight against climate change (crisis). I come from Mali, a country in sub-Saharan Africa. I think that taking up the challenge of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa is a crucial point for preserving the peace and unity of the country. Unity is the spiritual key to recognizing that the sky is blue in Africa. However, the social crisis could still help us understand that the sky remains blue despite the clouds.
(Michel Coulibaly, MI)
What do I intend to do to help the environment? I am determined to participate in efforts to protect God's creation (the environment) by first recognizing my mistakes and failures and repenting where necessary. I will commit myself to Laudato Si', knowing that the climate crisis has affected especially the most vulnerable. I will help my fellow Christians and other people of goodwill to understand the Holy Scriptures in their proper context and to reject the idea that being created in the image and likeness of God and having received dominion over the earth justifies absolute dominion over other creatures. I will support sustainable development and promote the relationship of mutual responsibility between human beings and nature, in which everyone can benefit from the earth's resources and at the same time protect them for the benefit of future generations. I will fight fake news and ignorance about climate issues. Finally, I propose a participatory and people-based approach to provide local solutions to environmental challenges.
(Chrispinus Nyongessa Wasike, MI)
Working in a humanitarian foundation, I see firsthand the human cost of environmental degradation. The program has allowed me to better integrate ecological considerations into my work. Here are some specific ways I intend to put my knowledge into practice: Grassroots advocacy: I will commit to eco-sustainable practices within the foundation, promoting resource conservation and responsible waste management. Taking our team to the peripheries of life will enhance our advocacy action and make our resilience-building projects effective. Community engagement: I will work to raise awareness among the communities we serve on ecological issues, encouraging them to become stewards of their environment. From experience, the most successful and meaningful projects are those that involve beneficiaries from the planning stage to the final evaluation of the project's impact. Creating partnerships: I will explore collaborations with environmental organizations to develop holistic solutions that address social and ecological needs.
(Aris Miranda, MI)
