In early 2020, members of the newly formed creation care committee at St. Anthony Parish, in Sacramento, were exploring ways to raise ecological issues within the parish. They had begun education efforts around Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home for themselves and the rest of the parish, including through the weekly bulletin. Now they were looking for an anchor project to put Catholic teaching about the environment into action.
They decided to install solar panels on the roof of the parish’s Memorial Center, and by May 2022, the full 82-kilowatt, 181-panel system was ready to power up, producing enough energy to cover the parish’s electricity needs. But the solar project also served as a first step toward flipping the switch on a wider effort to electrify the entire Sacramento Diocese in living out the message of Laudato Si’….
“We noticed that we were operating in silos. Each parish was doing good stuff, but we weren’t integrated at all,” said Betsy Reifsnider, a member of the social justice committee at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in midtown Sacramento.
They became interested in getting the Sacramento Diocese more involved, primarily by elevating Laudato Si’ in its own ministries and in providing an outlet for parishes to meet and share resources, said Reifsnider, who before retiring worked with the Sierra Club and as the first environmental justice coordinator for the Diocese of Stockton, California…
Another major ask was for the Sacramento Diocese to sign up for the Laudato Si’ Action Platform. The program, unveiled by Francis in May 2021 and officially launched later that year, outlines seven thematic action-oriented goals for all types of Catholic institutions — from dioceses and parishes, to religious congregations, schools, hospitals, businesses and families — to achieve over the course of seven years in the spirit of the encyclical’s teachings on integral ecology and ecological conversion.
In September, during the Season of Creation, the Sacramento Diocese officially kicked off its entry into the Laudato Si’ Action Platform with an event at St. Anthony Catholic Church, in rural Winters….
To aid those efforts, the diocese has produced a care for creation parish toolkit, in both English and Spanish, that gives background on the seven goals of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, information about environmental justice and resources from Catholic Climate Covenant on creating creation care teams….
The Sacramento Diocese has organized regional meetings on creation care for the northern part of the diocese, the Sacramento area and the Yolo-Solano counties in its southern boundaries. In addition, it has added to the liturgical calendar Rogation Days (May) and Ember Days (September) to mark periods of planting and harvesting. An emergency preparedness virtual course is in the works.
In May an ecumenical prayer service will kick off Laudato Si’ Week.
Full story at National Catholic Reporter.
Hmm…a diocese chooses to restore the Rogation and Autumn Ember days because of Laudato Si’?I assume the fasting and penitential aspects will be included?
Any diocese or parish that does this sort of thing without condemning LGBTQ ideology is a fraud. Trans and gay are far greater threats than global warming.
Every effort by a parish doesn’t have to include a statement about other issues. Don’t be a one-trick-pony.
they’ve got a ways to go
in order to catch up w/ San Diego
Heard a homily at another parish in SD done years back on Trinity Sunday which wandered from the Holy Trinity to maunderings about solar power before ending up with what almost sounded like an invocation of Sol Invictus. Further comment would be uncharitable on several counts, so I will leave it here.
The Sacramento Diocese is quite large. I hope these efforts extend beyond Sacramento to towns like Oroville, Chico, Redding, Mt Shasta, etc. Thank you Pope Francis and Bishop Soto for leading these efforts to take care of our earthly home. God Bless.
Of course, we should be good stewards of creation. But, sometimes there are misplaced priorities. If we grow in holiness, we will care for others and all of creation. The goal is the new heaven and the new earth.
Green, green, it’s green they say
On the far side of the hill
Green, green, I’m goin’ away
To where the grass is greener still
Too many of these people mistake Earth, which is our domain, with Heaven which is our Eternal Home.
This article reminded me of the ecconomic principle of “Opportunity Cost”.Opportunity cost is the opportunity lost.We only have limited time and resources.When we spend that time and resources on a particular choice it is no longer available for something elese.Putting the foucus on enviornment takes the focus off abortion,euthenasia,sexual moralaty,and focusing on the integerity of the family unit in Church/society.
Today, the Congregation’s commitment to education is expressed in a variety of forms including elementary, secondary, university and other adult education. The commitment to extend the healing mission of Christ is expressed through acute care hospitals, rehabilitation programs, home health care, community education, primary care clinics, and wellness programs. The works of the Congregation have expanded, however, beyond education and health care to also include such things as helping new immigrants, feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless, and fostering spiritual development.