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New Resource! Practical Ways We Can Help Pollinators August 14th, 2023
Actions to Support Local Pollinator Biodiversity
BACKGROUND
At the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in 2022, countries agreed to return 30% of land and 30% of the oceans to nature. Seizing this momentum, in June 2023, Irish Bishops called for conservation of nearly a third of church property to become havens for pollinators and biodiversity.
The bishops’ initiative responds to:
- Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si, on Care for Our Common Home,”
- the impending loss of biodiversity
- and agreements made at COP15 in December 2022.
Integrity of Creation as an integral part of evangelization was re-affirmed at the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate’s 37th General Chapter in September 2022.
The OMI Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation has adapted some ideas from the Irish Bishops’ resource Faith Communities Actions to Help Pollinators and complied them as possible actions for people to take.
DOWNLOAD THE REPORT
2023 Creation Care Calendars for Lent February 22nd, 2023
We invite you to join us this Lent to take actions to help preserve God’s great gift of Creation.
Invite your communities to distribute them as bulletin inserts during worship on an upcoming Sunday. Each year, these calendars go up on refrigerators and bulletin boards across communities, and open many conversations about environmental stewardship and climate action.
“Christians have fasted from meat during Lent for generations. Try eating vegetarian today and check out Oxfam’s Eat for Good resource online for other ways to use your fast to bless others”: bit.ly/eat4good
Visit their website to download the calendars:
ipldmv.org/lent
“May this season serve as a reminder of our interdependence and our call to care for our common home.”
Powerful US Bishops/United Methodist Church Statement Marks Earth Day April 26th, 2012
U
.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the United Methodist Church (UMC) marked Earth Day 2012 with the release a joint statement on the Eucharist and the environment. The statement, Heaven and Earth are Full of Your Glory, affirms that both Methodists and Catholics believe their celebration of the Eucharist helps them to see God’s glory in all of creation and therefore leads to greater care for the environment.
The document says: Jesus chastises the Pharisees for being able to interpret the appearance of the skies while being unable to interpret the signs of the times (cf. Mt 16:3). In our time the appearance of the skies has become a sign of the times. The threat of climate destabilization, the destruction of the ozone layer, and the loss of bio-diversity point to a disordered relation between humankind, other living beings and the rest of the earth (emphasis added). The elements of nature—grain for bread and grapes for wine—become part of salvation through the Eucharist and that salvation itself is an act of God at work in all of creation and all creation encountering God.
Additionally, the document call[s] both Methodists and Catholics to participate more deeply in the Eucharist by recognizing its intrinsic connection with the renewal of creation. Bishop William Skylstad, retired bishop of Spokane (and honorary chairman of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change) and Methodist Bishop Timothy Whitaker of the UMC Florida Conference co-chaired the dialogue.
Read the entire statement here.
