International Conference on the 3rd Anniversary of Laudato si’ Encyclical
On July 5 – 6, the Roman Curia’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development held a conference at Vatican City titled Laudato Si’, Saving Our Common Home and the Future of Life on Earth. The conference marked the 3rd anniversary of the encyclical Laudato si’. Among the many notable attributes of the conference was the integral engagement of the Eastern Orthodox Church as well as representation from other churches and religions. Included in the many fine presentations was an audience with Pope Francis, opening remarks by H.E. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, H.E. Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and H.E. John Zizioulas, Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan of Pergamon.
A central message of the conference was that we must work and pray in solidarity to address the
urgent need for a radical ecological conversion. A conversion that moves us away from a throwaway culture and rampant consumerism, to one which puts God and our relationship with others, including the care for our common home, at the center of our lives. Pope Francis, in addressing participants in Clementine Hall, thanked participants for “coming together to ‘hear with your hearts’ the increasingly desperate cries of the earth and its poor..”
Citing the message he and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew gave last lear for the World Day of Prayer for Creation, Pope Francis stated that “there can be no sincere and enduring resolution to the challenge of the ecological crisis and climate change unless the response is connected and collective, unless the responsibility is shared and accountable, and unless we give priority to solidarity and service.” In referencing the words of Saint John Paul II: “We must encourage and support an ‘ecological conversion’” (Catechesis, 17 January 2001), Pope Francis stated, “Here the religions, and the Christian Churches in particular, have a key role to play. The Day of Prayer for Creation and its associated initiatives, begun in the Orthodox Church, are beginning to spread among Christians communities throughout the world.”
To view a video summary of the International Conference on the 3rd Anniversary of Laudato si’, click
on this link: https://youtu.be/1L2oC1h75QQ