Special Week and Anniversary
Year to mark 5 years of “Laudato Si"
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| This year occurs the 5th anniversary of "Laudato Sí" |
It was on May 24, 2015, that Pope Francis signed his
landmark encyclical, “‘Laudato Si’: On the Care for Our Common Home”.
By Robin Gomes
On Sunday, it will be exactly 5 years of this popular
document, which has been a point of reference not only for the Church and
Christians but also for governments, politicians, world bodies, including the
United Nations, as well as environmental groups and movements worldwide.
“Laudato Sì” Week
Addressing his viewers and listeners during the midday
Regina Caeli prayer on Sunday, May 17, Pope Francis announced the start of the
“Laudato Sì” Week across the world that will conclude on the anniversary day, Sunday,
May 24.
“In these times of the pandemic, in which we are more aware
of the importance of care for our common home,” he said, “I hope that all the
common reflection and commitment may help to create and strengthen constructive
attitudes for the care of creation.”
Special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year
The Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human
Development that is promoting the week has also announced the celebration of
a Special
“Laudato Si” Anniversary Year, which runs from May 24, 2020 to May 24,
2021.
Father Joshtrom Kureethadam is the Coordinator of the Sector
on Ecology and Creation, which functions under the Dicastery for Promoting
Integral Human Development.
Crises of “Our Common Home”
Presenting the Special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year, the
Salesian priest said that the context of this year is “the precarious state of
‘Our Common Home’”, which Pope Francis speaks about in ‘Laudato Si’.” The Holy
Father asks, “What kind of world do we want to leave those who come after us,
to children who are now growing up?”
The Indian priest said that scientists have been warning
about the “precarious state of the earth Our Common Home”. He pointed to the
“tragic experiences of so many vulnerable communities around the world”.
Children have been getting out onto the streets “to tell us that we cannot
steal their future”.
With the advent of the Covid-19 emergency, the Indian priest
said, the world came to realize how “interdependent and interconnected”
humanity is, and the need for “solidarity in order to create a new world”.
“All these crises can be an opportunity, a moment of grace
to begin anew and build a world together, responding to the invitation of Pope
Francis.”
Thus, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
has planned a slew of events and celebrations, starting with the “Laudato Sì”
Week.
Unfortunately, Father Kureethadam lamented the Covid-19
pandemic will force most of them online.
Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year programme
The Special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year will kick off on
Sunday, May 24, with a special midday prayer across the world. The Salesian
priest mentioned some of the initiatives his Sector on Ecology and Creation has
scheduled during the anniversary year.
The “Season of Creation” will run from September 1 - October
4. “Reinventing the Global Educational Alliance” (15 October) and the “Economy
of Francesco” meeting (21 November) have been postponed.
In 2021, the “World Economic Forum, Davos – Third Vatican Roundtable”
has been scheduled from 26-29 January.
A gathering of religious leaders has been scheduled for
early spring and World Water Day will be marked on March 22.
Towards the conclusion of the Anniversary Year, Father
Kureethadam said there will be an international conference, a musical is being
readied and conferring of “Laudato Si” awards.
The Indian priest also mentioned a few special projects that
the Sector on Ecology and Creation is working on, such as a documentary film on
“Laudato Si”, “’Laudato Si’ Living Chapels” and “’Laudato Si’ Institutes
Network”.
In the Sahel, he said, they have already started the
“Laudato Tree Initiative”, about which Pope Francis spoke on Sunday. There is
also an interesting initiative called the “Plastic Bank” to fight plastic
pollution, and a Bible Quiz.
It is an open-ended list, which will be updated and revised
from time to time as the year progresses. Father Kureethadam invited people to
make suggestions and proposals which will be welcome.
7-year “Laudato Si” Action Platform
The priest said that the conclusion of the “Laudato Si”
Anniversary Year will see the launch of a “Laudato Si” Action Platform that
will simultaneously address 7 areas of interest for a period of 7 years. These
areas are families, dioceses, schools, universities, hospitals, businesses and
religious orders.
They will be asked to make the 7-year journey in the spirit
of “Laudato Si” to ultimately become “Laudato Si” dioceses or
schools.
Fr. Kureethadam explained that the first batch of some 500
dioceses or schools will begin the journey in 2021. The following year, 2022,
another group of dioceses, schools will be asked to start a 7-year journey. So
the number will grow exponentially from year to year over the coming decade.
From 2021 onwards, the Sector on Ecology and Creation also
plans to confer 7 awards, such Outstanding “Laudato Si” Leader, Outstanding
Laudato Si’ Local Animator and Outstanding Laudato Si’ Family.
Acting together
Father Kureethadam thus invited all to “act together to save
Our Common Home, to create a new birth, a new common home, to restore the
eco-systems, to build up solidarity among ourselves”.
He urged that current crises, such as climate change and the
Covid-19, be a “jubilee time for humanity, for all of God’s creatures” during
the Special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year and the decade to come.
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