The following story highlights a video by the Congregation Sisters of St. Agnes, showcasing their involvement with the Laudato Si’ Action Platform. Learn more about the Laudato Si’ Action Platform by joining Laudato Si’ Week, to take place from May 22-29.
On the World Day of Prayer for the Poor in 2021, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announced the launch of the next phase of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform. The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA) has played a key role in its development as a member of the Religious Order working group.
As we prepare for Laudato Si’ Week 2022, Listening and Journeying Together, The Laudato Si’ Action Platform takes center stage, providing practical tools to address our socio-ecological crisis. By committing to creating a Laudato Si’ Plan, registrants can access free resources to evaluate where they stand on the road to sustainability, reflect on the principles of integral ecology, and make a plan to take action.
Watch the Laudato Si’ Action Platform Announcement:
Learn more about what CSA is doing
Join the Laudato Si Action Platform
Video highlights
“We come together today to joyfully announce our public commitment to participate in the LSAP, a seven-year transformative journey toward sustainability in the spirit of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical, Laudato Si’.” -Sr. Jean Steffes
Sr. Cyndi
The Laudato Si’ Action Platform is a call to the universal Church–families, parishes and dioceses, educational and healthcare institutions, organizations and religious orders of women and men–to take concrete steps toward a sustainable future in the spirit of Laudato Si’. Over the next seven years, the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes as well as the Associate community, plan to be part of the critical mass needed to create a global paradigm shift, which is nothing short of a transformation of our relationship with Earth and all who share our common home.
The Congregation Sisters of St. Agnes commits to actions that:
- Flow from a spirituality of integral ecology (Laudato Si’ – Chapter 4) that expresses interconnections among environmental, economic, scientific, social and cultural systems,
- Respect Earth and the interdependence of all life,
- Consume less of Earth’s nonrenewable resources through the six R’s: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose, and restore,
- Educate ourselves and others about the equitable development of renewable, cleaner energy sources in order to
-mitigate the impact of climate change and
-enable the most vulnerable to adapt to climate change
- Promote a low-carbon economy especially in Nicaragua and the USA where we serve
- Cooperate with governmental and non-governmental organizations that are committed to care for Earth.
“This renewed commitment is especially critical given the urgent need to address the global climate crisis.” -Sister Cyndi
Sisters Dolores Lytle, Trish Wiedman, and Dulce María Rodríguez,
We are fortunate to have three sisters who have become certified Laudato Si’ Animators who can provide insight and direction to our congregation’s movement towards an integral ecology. Additionally, our JPIC Coordinator, Tracy Abler, has recently become a certified animator. She will be working closely with leadership and all of us as we move through this process.
Tracy Abler, JPIC Justice Coordinator
“I’m excited for CSA to be joining the Laudato Si’ Action Platform–a space that provides a global community of support and offers shared ideas and inspiring action, not only for Catholics, but for the whole human family. Indeed, women religious are ahead in these initiatives, especially in our environmental efforts. However, we must not lose sight of the end goal, which is to work together to create a sustainable and integral ecology, meaning understanding how everyone and everything is connected. Pope Francis writes in his Laudato Si’ encyclical, “Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature.”
“As we journey the next seven years together, integral ecology will be the overarching theme to the work of the JPIC Office, which will be guided by our Care of Earth stance and the themes of Catholic Social Teaching. These themes are largely incorporated into the Pope’s Laudato Si’ encyclical. Year one of this journey will be one of preparation to include developing procedures and guidelines essential to sustainable ecology and a survey tool to measure our annual progress.”
Sr. Jean Steffes
“We are now embarking on a journey of commitment to care for Earth, our common home, in a very deliberate manner over the next seven years. Together we can make an impact that works toward providing the generations to come the ability to enjoy the beauty and bounty that has marked our lives on this planet. We show our gratitude for all that God has given us as we go forward in faith, hope, and love.”
The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes
The Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes (CSA), founded in 1858, is based in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Today, CSA has more than 150 sisters across the United States and Nicaragua who strive to minister with simplicity and hospitality in the fields of education, healthcare, pastoral ministry, and social service.
For additional information, please visit www.csasisters.org
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