Laudato Si Movement offers Catholics free leadership training
It was seven years ago when Pope Francis released an Encyclical letter “Laudato Si’” calling on everyone to “enter into dialogue with all people about our common home” with the urgency of the climate and ecological crises.
And now area parishioners can become inspirational in that Catholic movement.
Last week, registration opened for a new online leadership training course, the Laudato Si’ Animators Program. The free course is for Catholics seeking to learn about integral ecology and how to serve in educating their communities on the crisis, according to Laudato Si Movement (LSM), which is offering the course.
“Animators” are local leaders who strive to live Laudato Si’ in their own lives and inspire and motivate others in their communities to live “ecologically aware,” according to the website.
“It’s a great course for lay people,” said Ann Marie Brennan, the Archdiocese’s Parish Liaison for Environmental Justice Task Force coordinator.
The course will cover four modules: What is Happening to Our Beautiful Home?; What does our faith say? Laudato Si’ and Catholic Social Teaching; A Commitment to Personal Ecological Conversion; and Action in the Light of our Faith.
LSM has three strategic goals for participants covering three dimensions: Spiritual, lifestyles and prophetic. All are covered in the course and will help participants identify where they want to take their training once certified, Brennan said.
They are:
- Ecological Conversion — To encourage a change of heart of the Catholic faithful and motivate a more passionate concern for our common home, enshrining creation care as a Catholic priority through prayer.
- Full sustainability — To help the Catholic community lead by example by embodying the “Less is more” motto and shrinking its footprint to zero, in line with the urgency of the climate and ecological crises. This could be as simple as planting community gardens, changing to renewable energy sources or composting, Brennan said.
- Prophetic advocacy — To mobilize the church to raise a “prophetic voice for climate and ecological justice,” whether to accomplish the Paris Agreement’s goal of 1.5C and halt biodiversity collapse or to lobby for local and state-wide initiatives such as the recent New Jersey plastic bag ban.
“These are not really optional activities. The pope calls on us to be good stewards of the earth as Catholics,” Brennan said.
The course’s timing also coincides with Season of Creation 2022, Sept 1- Oct. 4, which calls for all to join in the care of our Common Home.
The videos are available every Wednesday at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. If you are unable to attend the webinars live, you can watch the recordings afterwards. The course is also offered in four different languages: English, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Participants will also get to work with other attendees from all over the world on a capstone project. The course will end with a graduation and closing ceremony.
Go to laudatosianimators.thinkific.com to register for the class or learn more.
The Archdiocese of Newark’s Environmental Justice Task Force was created about four years ago, inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’.
The task force is comprised of parish leaders who have committed to caring for the environment and recognizing the importance of mobilizing Catholic community in “this urgent endeavor,” according to task force officials. Father Timothy Graff, Director of the Archdiocese’s Social Concerns Office, heads up the task force.
For more information, visit online at www.rcan.org/environmental-justice-task-force.
Featured photos: A new online leadership training course, the Laudato Si’ Animators Program offers knowledge of integral ecology and how to serve your communities. (Markus Spiske via Unsplash)
