Archdiocese of Newark's Environmental Justice Task Force continues to grow

The Archdiocese of Newark created an Environmental Justice Task Force on May 29, 2019. Following a suggestion from the Task Force, Father Timothy Graff, the director of Social Concerns for the Archdiocese of Newark, sent a letter to pastors requesting they designate a parish liaison to work with the task force.

A sub-committee of parish liaisons held their first virtual meeting on Aug. 11, 2020. On Aug. 21, 2020 the name was officially changed to Archdiocese of Newark Environmental Justice.

Shortly after the publication of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, and while still archbishop of Indianapolis, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., now the archbishop of Newark, wrote: “Fortunately, we Christians believe that God so loved this ruptured world that he sent his only Son to save us from ourselves and from our inhumanity to all creatures. By the power of God’s grace, we are called to restore all creation to its original dignity. Together with all our sisters and brothers (visible and invisible), we are invited to proclaim: Laudato Si’! Praise be to you Lord!”

The parish liaisons meet every six weeks via Zoom due to the Covid -19 Pandemic. In total, 24 parishes have designated one or more liaisons. Ann Marie Brennan, of St. Catharine Parish in Glen Rock, chairs the meetings and issues the minutes.

In October of 2020, Brennan also issued the first e-newsletter to the parish liaisons. The goal was to share events, parish stories, resources, advocacy and/or prayers and reflections on such topics as environmental justice, ecological conversion, Laudato Si’, sustainable activities and more.

The parish liaisons have been active in relating environmental advocacy at their parishes as well as keeping up with online information from Earth Beat, Catholic Climate Covenant, Franciscan Action Network, Ignation Solidarity Network and community efforts. Some more recent activities include:

Early in 2020 Joseph Lavin (task force co-chair) began to give presentations via Zoom covering all six chapters of the encyclical Laudato Si’. He has recently completed the fifth Zoom presentation. Lavin has also given two Power-Point presentations to the parish liaisons on food waste and biodiversity at risk. Additionally, he developed an outline for Parish Creation Care Teams which was sent to the Parish Liaison members.

Notre Dame Parish in North Caldwell (Sheila Fant) partnered with their religious education director to promote two family activities to help the environment and fulfill a service project. One activity was to plant a pollinator garden and another involved cleaning up a neighborhood. A flyer was created in celebration of Earth Day 2022 and distributed to the participants along with a pollinator garden seed packet.

Notre Dame Parish and St. Aloysius Parish in Caldwell (Ann & Mary Richards, Sr. Suzanne Janis and Marianne Autorino) developed a set of weekly reflections and actions based on the Sunday scriptural readings during the 2022 Lenten season for inclusion in parish bulletins.

St. Lucy Parish in Newark (Martha Henao-Paez and Genaro Perez) was involved in obtaining signatures for the Essex-Hudson Greenway petition to Governor Phil Murphy and contacted Ann Marie Brennan to request support from the parish liaisons and in turn their parishes. The outreach team member for the project presented information on the “once in a generation opportunity” to support creation of nearly nine miles of linear park in northern New Jersey. In November the governor announced that the state will provide funding to purchase 11 miles of defunct New Jersey Transit track-bed in Essex and Hudson counties, paving the way for the creation of a 135-acre rail to trail linear park connecting Montclair and Jersey City. The latest information states the funding will be available in June 2022.

St. Catharine Parish in Glen Rock (Ann Marie Brennan and Lynn Mayer) have been holding Sustainable Sundays on the third Sunday of the month with information on topics such as transportation, food, Laudato Si’ week, and more. The two also initiated a one-page chart of about 20 choices of sustainable actions for people to learn more and enact for the good of the environment.

Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Park Ridge (Virginia Millard and Patricia Dellosso) established a Creation Care Corner in the weekly bulletin. Most recently they have compiled wild seed packets to be distributed after all the Masses on Mother’s Day. Last fall they set up Abraham’s Tent in the church gathering space with information on care for creation. The parish is currently advocating for the non-profit Save Barnegat Bay and arranged for the documentary DRIFT, produced by Monmouth and Montclair Universities, to be shown May 5 at the Montvale, N.J. council chamber.

The Archdiocese of Newark held the first annual Green Mass celebrating the Season of Creation and Laudato Si’ at St. Michael the Archangel Parish, in Lyndhurst on Sept. 18, 2021. Father Graff was the celebrant. This was an initiative of the task force co-chairs Gerald Dalzell and Joseph Lavin.

The author, Edna Lord, is a member of the Archdiocese of Newark Environmental Justice Task Force. Learn more about the task force here.

Featured image: The Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, N.J. pictured from Branch Brook Park on April 17, 2022. (Photo by Jai Agnish/Archdiocese of Newark)