Join Loretto, Loretto-affiliated schools and others working to heal Earth

Laudate Deum is a call to heed the gravity of the moment and undertake change before it is too late for Earth and life on Earth. The pope urges us to do this “in conscience, and with an eye to the children who will pay for the harm done.”

Loretto learned about Laudate Deum, Pope Francis’s follow-up to his encyclical, Laudato Si’, at its October 2023 Community Gathering.

Efforts on behalf of Earth Loretto has been making thus far are multifaceted (many undertaken at the Motherhouse in Nerinx, Ky.): helping heal ecosystems and mitigate carbon through the Carbon Reduction Fund; practicing regenerative agriculture; instituting green burials; restoring ecosystems; building up a local food shed; including eco-spirituality in Community liturgies, retreats and Community members’ lives; providing ecological education at the Motherhouse and beyond; and advocacy efforts across the Community and at the U.N. Loretto also promotes the rights and health of farmworkers as a critical component of ecological justice. The Investment Committee engages in ecological economics with groups like the Iroquois Valley Farm.

Loretto-affiliated school Loretto Academy in El Paso is getting ready to launch a couple of “Laudato Si’ Days” with the student body, from pre-k through 12th grade. The entire faculty recently viewed the documentary, “The Letter.” Armed with the information in the movie and the desire to raise awareness about the global crisis we are now facing, the teachers will formulate activities to engage the kids.

The Middle School and High School will be viewing the documentary on March 6. The entire school will wrap Laudato Si’/Laudate Deum themes around Earth Day celebrations on April 22.

After watching the documentary, the middle and high school students will talk about the film and develop ways, as informed by Loretto values, to address issues that they identified through their discussion. The class will select one or two issues they would like to address and create an action plan. These plans will then be transformed into posters highlighting the problems and solutions. Two of the students’ posters will be selected from each homeroom to highlight.

After the posters have been made and chosen, the middle and high school students will meet in the gym where each homeroom will present the problem that they identified and tell of the solution they think might work. There will be a poster contest to see which poster will represent each homeroom. These posters will be displayed in the cafeteria where all of the student body will be able to view them.

Based on the results of the poster contest, the Academy will take action. The action might be on the school grounds, or in the way we use energy, the products we purchase — the sky’s the limit! 

For elementary school students, other resources than the movie will be used to educate and empower. The Elementary School also will create posters in support of the environment that will be showcased in the cafeteria.

Long live Loretto and Laudato Si’!

Please join Loretto and all our Loretto-affiliated schools and other groups in this work to heal Earth and work for climate justice. Read the pope’s encyclical Laudato Si’ and the follow-up Laudate Deum. Make lifestyle changes as you can, and help educate others. Donate to Loretto’s Carbon Reduction Fund by visiting our donate page. This week’s Facebook posts offer other ideas to join in the work.