FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Elena Gaona, 202-907-9717
elena@catholicclimatecovenant.org
Catholics Launch Season of Creation with Healing, Hope and Action
Catholic Climate Covenant releases its 2020 Feast of St. Francis program for faithful to participate in “The Healing Power of Love in Action” September 1st-October 4th
Washington, D.C. – As Christians throughout the world prepare to celebrate Season of Creation, Catholic Climate Covenant announces the release of its 2020 Feast of St. Francis Program: The Healing Power of Love in Action: Creation Care in a Time of Pandemic and Partisanship to help Catholic parishes, groups and families join in this global celebration.
The Covenant’s 90-minute program enables U.S. and global Catholics to host in-person and virtual sessions to better understand that care for creation is integral to the Catholic faith and to more fully respond through prayer, education and action. The program is part of the Season of Creation (September 1-October 4) being marked worldwide with hundreds of events, prayers and activities.
The 2020 Feast of St. Francis program is framed through St. Francis’ famous prayer, the Canticle of Creatures, which he wrote while in suffering, to illuminate our current journey from the pandemic, from indifference to climate change, and from political partisanship, to a place of healing through God, with each other and with Creation. The program ends by offering ways to act, including courageous conversations with friends and family, learning more about our civic duties as Catholics, pledging to vote, and ways to embrace the call to protect life, our vulnerable communities and neighbors, and God’s creation which sustains life.
All praise be yours, my Lord,
through those who grant pardon for love of you;
through those who endure sickness and trial.
Happy are those who endure in peace,
By You, Most High, they will be crowned.
-- St. Francis, Canticle of Creatures
“We’re in a critical moment for the health of our environment, our relationships with each other, and the future of our public health, which all connect back to creation care. While we may at times feel lost, we are called to imitate God in word, spirit and deed, and St. Francis teaches us the way,” said Dan Misleh, executive director of Catholic Climate Covenant. “The post-pandemic future is being shaped now. This is a time to heal. Through prayer, renewal and action we can unite to shape a new future that includes everyone, and life in all its forms.”
During Season of Creation, the Covenant is also launching a webinar series that invites participants to learn why Catholic Social Teaching is integral to our faith, how to have courageous conversations about climate change, and how to engage actively in social and community life. The series highlights the Catholic foundation for addressing the interrelated challenges people are facing right now through the pandemic, systemic racism, economic distress and climate change. Details of the series will be announced soon.
The Covenant’s Season of Creation activities form part of the global Ecumenical Season of Creation - a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment together. The 2020 theme “Jubilee for the Earth: New Rhythms, New Hope,” speaks to how, amid crises that have shaken our world, we’re awakened to the urgent need to heal our relationships with creation and each other, and to imagine radically new ways of living with creation.
Season of Creation begins September 1st, which Pope Francis has designated as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Find special prayers, resource materials and hundreds of local and global events at https://seasonofcreation.org. You may also upload and share your local event.
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About Catholic Climate Covenant:
Catholic Climate Covenant is a national nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. that includes 19 U.S. Catholic partner institutions. It was formed under the auspices of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2006. The Covenant helps guide the U.S. Church's response to the moral calling to act on care for Creation including climate change and caring for the poor by educating, giving public witness and offering concrete resources.