Launch of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform

Tara C. Trapani


On November 14, the Laudato Si' Action Platform was offcially launched by the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and their site is now open for enrollment. This much anticipated global project will help Catholic communities create environmental action plans and track their progress to help move our world in the direction of the Laudato Si' goals

From the Platform website: 
Caring for our brothers and sisters means caring for the home we share. This responsibility is “essential to a life of virtue” (LS 217). The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform is a space for institutions, communities, and families to learn and grow together as we journey towards full sustainability in the holistic spirit of integral ecology. You are warmly invited to join this community. Your unique “culture, experience, involvements, and talents” are needed on our journey towards greater love for our Creator, each other, and the home we share. (LS 14)

The Laudato Si’ Action Platform is a unique collaboration between the Vatican, an international coalition of Catholic organizations, and “all men and women of good will” (LS 3). Taking a truly ground-up approach, it is rooted in the strengths and realities of communities around the world, empowering all to take “decisive action, here and now” as we journey towards a better future together (LS 161). Action is urgently needed. Our Creator called the human family to be the steward of creation, but we have neglected that call. Our hotter, dirtier, deader planet is driving up the risk of suffering. The most vulnerable suffer above all. At this kairos moment, we are responding to the call for healing in our relationships with God, our neighbors, and the Earth itself. Through the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, we are walking the “path to renewal” together (LS 202).

The effort includes support to help Catholic communities and congregations formulate their own action plan; a resource library; informational webinars; and opportunities for networking and long-distance community building. Groups and families can register their action plan here

For more information about the Laudato Si' Action Platform, go the project website and see this recent EarthBeat article by Brian Roewe.