This Season of Creation, we celebrate the efforts of SCNs and SCNAs to fulfill our mission to care for all creation and live into integral ecology, as introduced by Pope Francis in Laudato Si’.
In acknowledgement of our efforts, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth have earned the Laudato Si’ Action Platform’s Annual Certificate. The certificate recognizes the congregation’s achievements towards integral ecology and towards the Laudato Si’ Action Platform’s seven goals of ecological spirituality; ecological economics; ecological education; response to the cry of the poor; response to the cry of the earth; adoption of sustainable lifestyles; and community resilience and empowerment
SCNs enrolled in the Platform in 2021, the year of its introduction. Since then, we have developed numerous provincial annual plans and directed energy to support the seven goals above. In the five years since we enrolled, the congregation’s activities have included the following:
- taught thousands of students in our schools and ministries about integral ecology and protection of the environment;
- led numerous celebrations of World Environment Day and Earth Day, including skits, poetry recitations, and dances;
- planted hundreds of new trees;
- given away hundreds of trees as gifts and thank-yous;
- advocated for energy efficiency in affordable housing;
- fought for access to renewable energy development;
- reduced our congregational greenhouse gas emissions;
- invested in over 100 kW of solar energy;
- educated almost 500 people in three presentations and a book discussion about climate change, how to improve wildlife habitat, and plant-based eating;
- sacrificed eating meat to donate money to the economically poor;
- made art and functional items out of trash;
- grown tens of thousands of pounds of vegetables, fruits, and grains;
- restored 23 acres of prairie habitat;
- made our own bleach and cleaning solutions;
- advocated against the use of pesticides that are harmful to raptors;
- reduced the amount of paper we use;
- recycled thousands of pounds of construction material and metals from two deconstructed buildings;
- led workshops on ecological justice and peace;
- built water storage tanks to provide drinking water for others;
- created plastic-free campuses;
- reduced our use of single-use plastics;
- launched a seed-saving initiative;
- promoted weekly vegan meals;
- improved our recycling and composting systems;
- went on a Pilgrimage of Hope for ecological justice and integral ecology;
- started a nature center at Camp Maria.
These activities are only a sample of the dedicated actions our congregation has engaged in since 2021 to care for all creation and work for peace and ecological justice. Earning the Laudato Si’ Action Platform’s Annual Certificate is a point of pride, but our actions are an echo of the public commitment we made when we joined the Action Platform. Below are excerpts from that commitment:
“We, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and Associates, grateful to God for all Creation, reverence the sacredness and interconnectedness of all and commit ourselves to a sustainable relationship with Earth… We again hear the urgent call to respond to the cry of the Earth and the economically poor, and joyfully and earnestly commit ourselves as a Congregation to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform…We will collaborate with others in this urgent task, working with them to exchange ideas, in advocacy and policy intervention, and sharing with them our gifts and resources. This commitment is made in faith, hope, and love, knowing that we are participating in God’s work of transformation.”