Our Response to the Cry of the Earth. Loreto Justice Network Launches Laudato Si’ Action Plan
In accordance with the Loreto commitment to working for ecological justice, the Loreto Justice Network has accepted the invitation of the Laudato Si Action Platform to create a Laudato Si’ (LS’) Action Plan. The invitation to create such a plan is one way the LS’ Action Platform encourages organisations, schools and religious groups to further their journey towards total sustainability in the spirit of integral ecology. The Loreto Justice Network (LJN) is proud to launch its LJN Laudato Si’ Action Plan and hopes that it will encourage Loreto communities to continue to reflect on how they answer the call “to live sustainably, discerning what is enough.” (IBVM GC Call 2014; reiterated at IBVM GC 2022).
The intention of the LJN Laudato Si’ Action Plan is to support all Loreto communities to consider what they can do to respond to the cry of the earth; what practical steps can we all take, as Mary Ward people, to work for ecological justice and develop sustainable practices in our daily lives. When we remember that “everything in creation is interconnected” (LS’ 138), we are prompted to ask ourselves: what do we do, and what CAN we do, in our daily lives to protect our common home for the wellbeing of all? The LJN Laudato Si’ Action Plan identifies concrete actions we can take individually and as communities to work for ecological justice.
In this Season of Creation (Sept 1 – Oct 4), we encourage each person to join with the global Mary Ward network in urgent action to protect our common home; to network and collaborate as stewards in the care of creation, each according to their own culture, experience and talents (LS’ 14). It is not envisioned that responses will be uniform; on the contrary, responses must reflect our diversity. May our actions to answer the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor discern the signs of the times and creatively answer the needs around us.
You can access the Loreto Justice Network’s Laudato Si’ Action Plan here.
Author: Carolyn Young, Loreto Justice Network