Launch coincides with 2nd Anniversary of Papal encyclical
Global – In celebration of the 2nd anniversary of Pope Francis’ historic encyclical Laudato Si’ (June 18, 2015), the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) is launching a Laudato Si’ Pledge campaign to keep the Pontiff’s message alive and encourage mass Catholic action to address the climate crisis.
The Laudato Si’ Pledge (see text below) is a way for Catholics to commit to the transition to renewable energy in their homes and communities, and to push elected leaders to take strong action on climate change. It will target four different audiences: individuals, families, parishes and organizations. The goal is to get 1 million Catholics engaged to address the climate crisis through this new initiative.
The Laudato Si Pledge was launched with the support of Cardinals, Bishops, and other high-level leaders (see quotes below) to encourage interest by the wider Church.
A major kickoff event took place in Manila on June 17th (pictures below), with the support of high-level Church leaders as Cardinal Tagle and Archbishop Socrates Villegas (president of the Bishops Conference of the Philippines). The location is significant given how vulnerable the island nation is to the impacts of climate change, as well as how active Filipino Catholics have been in raising the ecological issue.
The pledge will be distributed online in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, with other languages to follow soon. Signatories of the pledge will receive invitations to turn Laudato Si’ into action through GCCM initiatives taking place throughout the year, such as the ecumenical Season of Creation (September 1-October 4) and Earth Day.
The Catholic Church with a collective carbon footprint of 1.2 billion faithful (17% of the world’s population) and the institutional Church (220,000 parishes, 150,000 schools) has a significant role to play in addressing the climate crisis.
Laudato Si Pledge text: Answering Pope Francis’ urgent call in Laudato Si’, I pledge to: 1) Pray for and with creation 2) Live more simply 3) Advocate to protect our common home.
Laudato Si Pledge website: www.LiveLaudatoSi.org
Pictures of #LiveLaudatoSi and People’s Climate March: LINK
Pictures of kickoff event in Manila (to be uploaded on June 17 at 3am US Eastern Time): LINK
About the Global Catholic Climate Movement: The Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) is an international network of Catholic individuals and organizations responding to the Pope’s Laudato Si’ call for climate justice. Founded in January 2015, GCCM has grown extremely quickly by bringing together 400+ member organizations and thousands of Catholics to take action through innovative campaigns to bring Laudato Si’ to life. In 2015, GCCM led a massive campaign gathering over 900,000 petition signatures calling for the 1.5C target which were delivered to the French president Francois Hollande and UN climate chief Christiana Figueres in interfaith events in Paris during the COP21.
