Laudato Si’ Week, the weeklong event marking the seventh anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical on creation care, will feature a series of global celebrations and the first-ever public sneak peek of The Invitation, a new film featuring Pope Francis.

Hundreds of thousands of Catholics will unite from May 22-29 to celebrate the progress made in bringing Laudato Si’ to life and intensify their efforts through the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform. The new tool is empowering Catholic institutions, communities, and families to fully implement Laudato Si’.

Jump to the complete Laudato Si’ Week 2022 Schedule

Tomás Insua, Executive Director of Laudato Si’ Movement, said: “Laudato Si’ Week has blossomed into a global celebration that leaves the faithful feeling inspired to do even more for our common home. Amidst chaos and destruction globally, every day Catholics take urgent action against the climate emergency and ecological crisis. Laudato Si’ Week will serve as a fountain of inspiration and lessons learned for all people interested in saving God’s creation.”

Each day of Laudato Si’ Week will feature global, regional, and local events tied to one of the seven Laudato Si’ goals. On the day celebrating ecological education, footage from The Invitation, a new feature-length documentary film on Laudato Si’, will be shown to the general public for the first time ever during a live-streaming event. The Invitation will have its global release later this year.

The event begins at 14.00 CEST on May 27. Registration is required at this link.

Facilitated by Deborah Castellano Lubov, correspondent for Vatican News and contributor to NBC News, the event will feature:

• A trailer of the film along with footage of Pope Francis and ecological champions. This will be the first time this material is shown to the general public. The event will not be recorded and clips will not be available after the event. Because this footage is not yet released, recording it is prohibited.
• Remarks by Fr. Joshtrom Kureethadam, head of the ecology sector in the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Nicolas Brown, director of The Invitation, and Arouna Kandé, administrative assistant at Maison de la Gare and a climate refugee featured in the film.
• An open Q&A, during which journalists can ask questions. Please send your questions during the event through the journalist question form here.

Images for journalists to use in their stories are available here (photo credit Laudato Si’ Movement).

The complete program for Laudato Si’ Week, including global events in Uganda, Italy, Ireland, Brazil, and the Philippines, can be found here and below. Catholics are encouraged to inspire their community by registering their local events at LaudatoSiWeek.org.

Monsignor Marcelo Daniel Colombo, Archbishop of Mendoza, Argentina: “By baptism, we are co-responsible for the life of our ecclesial community. How can we not be as a Church altogether co-responsible for this mission of witnessing love, respect, and care for everything created by the Father?”

Monsignor Guillermo Steckling, Bishop of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay: “Documents over time are forgotten and the process of implementation sometimes takes 50 years. But with Laudato Si’, we don’t have that much time. Let’s do something now!”

The theme for the week is “Listening and Journeying Together.” Laudato Si’ Week 2022 is sponsored by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and facilitated by Laudato Si’ Movement in collaboration with a cohort of Catholic partners.

Editor’s note: Laudato Si’ Week videos, logos, and graphics can be found here.

Laudato Si’ Week 2022 Complete Schedule

*All global events, excluding the movie sneak peek on May 27, will be broadcast on Laudato Si’ Movement Facebook and YouTube channels.

SUNDAY MAY 22 — 12:00 CEST Sunday Angelus by Pope Francis

15:00 CEST Prayer Gathering from Uganda

As oil companies continue to pursue the construction of the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline and the destruction of creation, Ugandans will host a Laudato Si’ Mass, restore creation by planting trees, and listen to the cry of the Earth.

 

MONDAY MAY 23 — 10:00 CEST No More Biodiversity Collapse: Rebalancing Social Systems With Nature

Broadcast live from the Australian Catholic University in Rome, Father Joshtrom Kureethadam of the Vatican will lead a dynamic conversation centered on raising Indigenous voices ahead of the United Nations biodiversity conference later this year.

Featured speakers:

• Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
• Theresa Ardler, Research Indigenous Liaison Officer at Australian Catholic University, Director and Owner of Gweagal Cultural Connections
• Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology in India and President of Navdanya International
• Fr. Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam, Head of the Vatican’s Ecology and Creation Office, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
• Angela Manno, award-winning artist
• Greg Asner, the director of ASU’s Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science

 

TUESDAY MAY 24 — 9:00 CEST Empowering ECO-mmunity: Embracing the poor

Broadcast live from the Metropolitan-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, or the Manila Cathedral, communities throughout the Philippines will partner with the Archdiocese of Manila for this daylong event that will inspire all to accelerate their response to the cry of the poor.

 

WEDNESDAY MAY 25 — 15:00 CEST Fossil Fuels, Violence, and the Climate Crisis

World-renowned professor and author Jeffrey D. Sachs will lead an urgent conversation about how faith-based institutions can lead the way to a cleaner and safer future by divesting from fossil fuels.

Featured speakers:

• Jeffrey D. Sachs, world-renowned professor and author
• Omar Elmawi, stopEACOP coalition of 350.org
• Svitlana Romanko, Stand With Ukraine
• Whitney Terrell, Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light
• Martin Kopp, GreenFaith
• Bishop Domenico Sorrentino (Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino, Italy)
• Davide Panzeri, ECCO, Italian climate change think tank 

 

THURSDAY MAY 26 — 15:30 CEST Faith-Consistent Investing—Living Laudato Si”

Featured speakers:

• Sr. Colette Kane OP, An Tairseach
• Lorna Gold, FaithInvest and Laudato Si’ Movement board president
• Nana Francois, FaithInvest
• Elizabeth Garlow, Economy of Francesco

FRIDAY MAY 27 — 14:00 CEST Sneak Peek: Feature Documentary on Laudato Si’

Footage from The Invitation, a new feature-length documentary film on Laudato Si’, will be shown to the general public for the first time ever during a live-streaming event. The Invitation will have its global release later this year.

SATURDAY MAY 28 — 21:00 CEST Laudato Si’ Festival

The Laudato Si’ Festival live from Assisi will showcase Catholic artists from across the globe who are using their talents to raise awareness about the need to care for our common home.

 

SUNDAY MAY 29 — 15:00 CEST Laudato Si’ Week Closing Prayer Gathering: Community resilience and empowerment as part of our Synodal Journey

Live from Brumadinho, Brazil, Msgr. Vicente de Paula Ferreira will lead a prayer gathering to officially close Laudato Si’ Week 2022. The gathering will carry a special focus on those affected by the climate crisis and bear witness to testimonies from people affected. In January 2019, a dam collapse in Brumadinho poured millions of tons of toxic waste into nearby communities and killed 270 people.