LAUDATO SI’ – What is it?
Pope Francis released the landmark encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ – Care of our common home’, in 2015. Translated approximately from the Latin – Laudato Si’ means ‘Praise be to you, My Lord”.
Brisbane Archdiocese Laudato Si’ Action Plan 2024 – 2026
Laudato Si’ – Care for our Common Home, calls us toward sustainability in the spirit of integral ecology. “With profound care for each other, our Creator, and all creation, we are building a better future together.”
The Pope has called on Catholics to discern a response to both social and ecological crises. Laudato Si’ defines seven goals, which are guiding the church’s response.
These goals are diverse and their holistic style is designed to support a spiritual and cultural revolution as we strive for total sustainability in the spirit of integral ecology. Laudato Si’, through its foundation in integral ecology, emphasises an integrated approach to political, social, economic, and environmental problems.
The agencies of the Archdiocese of Brisbane collectively develop Laudato Si’ Action Plans to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to taking action to embrace Pope Francis’ vision where “Christians … realize that their responsibility within creation, and their duty toward nature and the Creator, are an essential part of their faith” (#64) In 2022 the Archdiocese of Brisbane became the first diocese to launch a Laudato Si’ Action Plan and now in 2024 we have relaunched our most current plan.
“Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” Pope Francis, Laudato Si’.
What is an encyclical?
Encyclicals are open letters circulated by the Pope to Catholics across the globe but they are addressed to all people of good will, i.e. non-Catholics, who may want to draw upon the ideas.
Using the Gospels and the Tradition of the Church as a foundation, Papal encyclicals provide analysis on relevant issues for the faithful. Previous popes have penned encyclicals on a wide array of topics, from the study of Scripture (Leo XIII, 1893) to humanity’s redemption in Christ and the dignity of human beings (John Paul II, 1979).
As industrialisation and secularisation have proceeded apace, many encyclicals have come as pastoral responses to questions raised by social movements and calls for societal change. For example the struggles of workers maintaining jobs in a mechanised world (Leo XIII, 1891), the urgent need for peace post-World War II (John XXIII, 1963) and the global financial crisis (Benedict XVI, 2009). These later encyclicals now form an integral part of what is often referred to as Catholic Social Teaching.