Call for an Ecological Conversion

Following the United Nations Climate Action Summit of September 23, the Declaration of the International Commission of Dominicans for Justice and Peace expresses solidarity with the youth and others working to challenge leaders, support for action and policies needed, and a call to the Dominican Family to commit to an ecological conversion as noted in Laudato Si’.

Statement of the International Dominican Commission for Justice and Peace to the Dominican communities:

In the “common house”, “everything is connected” (LS 91). We are one Earth community with a common destiny. “There is no planet B!” is the cry of millions of young people around the world trying to raise awareness and warn all agents of the international community about the urgency of taking action to curb climate change. Global warming will bring more migrations, more diseases and strange phenomena. Natural disasters add to global inequality sharpening the tragedy of the most vulnerable population. Those who have less are those who suffer the most from extreme events. Droughts, floods, razed crops, and diseases are primed in them. Children and women are on the front line of the victims. The World Bank warns that in 2030 there will be 100 million more poor people due to climate change. The consequences of global warming are evident already and everywhere. Not wanting to see it is denying scientific evidence and denying the right of the next generations to a sustainable environment. Not wanting to face it means ignoring the Social Teachings of the Church and the last Popes, collected in Laudato Si’.

Faced with this reality, coinciding with the United Nations Summit on Climate Change in New York, as members of the International Dominican Commission for Justice and Peace:

1. We commend the ecological awareness of these young people, admiring the courage to express themselves without fear, in the face of the indifference of those who have the responsibility to produce the changes.
2. We express our solidarity with young people and other people and social movements that are fighting for a sustainable future around the world.
3. We support the fair demand for policies and actions that contribute to preventing the increase in global warming.
4. We invite the Dominican Family from all over the world to commit to all levels (international, regional, provincial, community) with an ecological conversion and spirituality, consistent with the lines of guidance and action of Laudato Si’ (LS, IV and V) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030).

How?

• Discerning how to apply “ecological conversion” to daily life and our institutions.
• Promoting exhibitions, campaigns, mobilizations, educational projects.
• Working the encyclical Laudato Si’ with children and youth as protagonists.

—Rome, September 23, 2019

International Dominican Commission for Justice and Peace (Fr. Mike Deeb, Sr. Cecilia Espenilla, Fr. Orlando Rueda, Sr. Margaret Mayce, Sr. Durstyne Farnan, Sr. Mary Tuck, Fr. Emmanuel Mulu, Sr. Teresa Dagdag, Fr. Victor Calvo, Sr. Marie Monnet, Fr. Xabier Gómez, Sr. Marcela Soto, Fr. Ricardo Guardado, Sr. Marcelline Koch, Fr. Brendan Curran, Sr. Irene Díaz, Duncan McLaren, Maria Teresa Tenti, Dimitri Díaz).

 

Ways to Take Action

https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/

 

 

A Prayer for Our Earth
Laudato Si’ –  On Care for Our Common Home
Encyclical from Pope Francis

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe

and in the smallest of your creatures.

You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.

Pour out upon us the power of your love,

that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live

as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

 

O God of the poor,

help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,

so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives,

that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts

of those who look only for gain

at the expense of the poor and the earth.

 

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature

as we journey towards your infinite light.

 

We thank you for being with us each day.

 

Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle

for justice, love and peace.