We show our respect for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. Care for the Earth is not just an Earth Day slogan. It is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.
Bishop’s wisdom
Bishop Hying summarized this principle wonderfully when he wrote in his May 19, 2022, column in the Catholic Herald:
“Care for the environment has become increasingly urgent. In the many debates on global warming, we can certainly all agree that we are called to nurture this beautiful world which God has created and entrusted to us.
“Mindful of global poverty and environmental damage, we are obliged to be prudent, resourceful, and sacrificial in our usage of resources. Food, water, energy, soil, and air are gifts that we all need to live and flourish. Changing our wasteful habits of consumption is a moral necessity.”
In the Diocese of Madison, we are blessed to have six Creation Care Teams, and it is an honor for me to work with these teams as we strive to do even more to care for the environment.
There are parish teams at Blessed Sacrament, St. Dennis, and St. Thomas Aquinas in Madison, along with St. Bernard in Middleton, St. Clare of Assisi in Monroe, and St. John the Evangelist in Spring Green.
These great teams meet on a regular basis to pray; to discuss ways of caring for our environment; to share what is going on around the diocese, nation, and world in regards to this care; and to discuss how all of their work can fit into and support the diocese as much as possible.
Inspired by Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ (“Praise be to you, my Lord”), the teams live beautifully and concretely what our Holy Father wrote in Laudato Si’ about “On Care For Our Common Home.”
The teams
Emily Burke, a doctoral degree student at the UW-Madison and facilitator of the teams stated, “For what it’s worth, this ministry has developed from a wonderful group of Madison Catholics who give their time and energy to care for God’s great creation, as they see protecting and caring for our common home as integral to the Catholic faith. We come together regularly in fellowship and shared prioritization of creation care in our respective parishes and our shared diocese, we put care for God’s creation in conversation and connection with other important social issues, and we discuss this Catholic social teaching principle as an evangelization tool.”
There is an annual Laudato Si’ Week. This year, the week is May 21 through 28. “Hope for the Earth. Hope for humanity” is the theme for 2023.
“Laudato Si’ Week began as a way to celebrate the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ papal encyclical letter, ‘Laudato Si’: On Care For Our Common Home.’
“Since then, the annual celebration has become a way for all Catholics to unite and rejoice in the progress we’ve made in bringing Laudato Si’ to life and to commit ourselves to further prayer and action for our common home,” says the Laudato Si’ Movement website.
The Creation Care Teams are a very important part of the Diocese of Madison’s Care for God’s Creation Ministry efforts through the Office of Human Life and Dignity. The goal would be to have a team, ideally, in every pastorate.
If you are interested in being part of a team, please contact Emily Burke at eeburke3@wisc.edu
It is a great ministry in many ways and reflects Pope Benedict XVI’s concluding words in his message for the 2010 Celebration of the World Day of Peace, “Protecting the natural environment in order to build a world of peace is thus a duty incumbent upon each and all. It is an urgent challenge, one to be faced with renewed and concerted commitment; it is also a providential opportunity to hand down to coming generations the prospect of a better future for all. May this be clear to world leaders and to those at every level who are concerned for the future of humanity: the protection of creation and peacemaking are profoundly linked! For this reason, I invite all believers to raise a fervent prayer to God, the all-powerful Creator and the Father of mercies, so that all men and women may take to heart the urgent appeal: If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation.”
Dr. Chris McAtee is the Director of Human Life and Dignity and publishes his “Building the Kingdom of God Together” column each month in the Catholic Herald. Email him at chris.mcatee@madisondiocese.org