Weeks following Pope Francis’ new apostolic exhortation on climate, “Laudate Deum” (“Praise God”), the founding executive director of Catholic Climate Covenant will visit the Diocese of Camden to speak on how Catholics can do their part to care for the environment.
Dan Misleh, founder of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Catholic Climate Covenant, will present “Caring for our Common Home” at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 in the parish hall of Saint Thomas More in Cherry Hill. During the free program, which is co-sponsored by the Diocese of Camden’s Office of Life & Justice Ministries, Misleh will speak on Catholic social teaching and the call for faithful to care for creation, as well as the Pope’s latest writings on the topic and what parishes and individuals can do to help address the global issue.
“Many Catholics are not aware of the social justice tenets of the Catholic Church. It is said these beliefs are a ‘best kept secret,’” said Sister Ann Byrnes, RSM, pastoral associate for lifelong faith formation at Saint Thomas More Parish. “One of those principles is ‘Care of God’s Creation.’ In our Adult Faith Formation Programing, we like to include one or two presentations each year that assist our parishioners in learning about the Church’s justice teachings.”
Misleh’s organization was launched with the help of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2006 “to address growing ecological awareness and the need to implement Catholic social teaching on ecology within the U.S. Church,” according to its website. The nonprofit works to help guide and support efforts in the United States to respond “to the moral call for action on climate change” and works to share stories of the impact of climate change and provide tools and tips to faithful.
“I am hopeful that this presentation will alert those attending to the seriousness of the current climate crisis and inspire them to take action in their own lives to limit this global threat,” Sister Byrnes said.
“Laudate Deum,” released Oct. 4, warns that the climate change crisis is worsening and calls for immediate action.
“We must move beyond the mentality of appearing to be concerned but not having the courage needed to produce substantial changes,” it reads.
“We know that at this pace, in just a few years, we will surpass the maximum recommended limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius and shortly thereafter even reach 3 degrees Celsius, with a high risk of arriving at a critical point. Even if we do not reach this point of no return, it is certain that the consequences would be disastrous and precipitous measures would have to be taken, at enormous cost and with grave and intolerable economic and social effects. Although the measures that we can take now are costly, the cost will be all the more burdensome the longer we wait.”
Doing their part to combat this situation, members of the Catholic Community of Christ Our Light, Cherry Hill, launched a parish Care for Creation Committee in the spring as an outgrowth of their Justice and Outreach Commission, which includes a number of social justice ministries.
“We continue to write bulletin articles that provide parishioners with information about the many ways to reduce their carbon footprint and promote recycling,” said member Dave Czerniakowski, who is part of the committee along with his wife, Sandy. Observing this year’s Season of Creation from Sept. 1 through Oct. 4, the committee read special environmental prayers during Masses and placed them in bulletins as well. They also conducted a drive for new and recycled items to support local animal shelters.
The committee is also working toward a number of environmental service projects – including participation in Clean Ocean Action beach sweeps at Palmyra Cove on the Delaware River that take place each year in the spring and fall. They are currently a month into a challenge to collect 500 pounds of plastics within six months; that specified plastic will be recycled to create new Trex decking and outdoor furniture products.
“Our long-term project is to clean up the Memorial Garden at Christ Our Light and plant native pollinator and butterfly plants, which we hope will serve as an outdoor classroom and prayer space for Resurrection Catholic School students,” Czerniakowski said. “We also request our members to contact elected officials about environmental issues as we become aware of them.”
Czerniakowski said members of their committee look forward to Misleh’s program, and to joining others doing similar work in other diocesan parish communities.
“We look forward to Nov. 15 to connect with other Care for Creation teams and share ideas and learn,” he said.
To register for the Nov. 15 program, call (856) 424-3212 or email sthomasmore@comcast.net. The parish is located at 1439 Springdale Road, Cherry Hill.
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