Our Common Home
BY TERE FLORES ONOFREIwas born in the state of Puebla, Mexico, in a small, rural community called Santa Maria (Holy Mary) Xuchapa. In Xuchapa, the only church was a Catholic one. It was built in the 1800s on the highest part of town, where it could be seen by all. Thus, I knew I was Catholic before I knew many other things. From a young age, I remember learning about the key teachings of the church from my catechism teachers. The one that always stayed with me was: “God created the sky, the Earth, and all things in them.”
This teaching helped me understand God as a powerful creator. As I got older, I realized we were also part of that creation and, at the same time, called to be stewards of it. This realization and the experiences I faced as an immigrant in the United States propelled me into faith-based community organizing from the time I was 16 years old, and Catholic social teaching has continued to ground my faith and calling ever since.
Catholic social teaching (CST) is not something new: It can be traced back to papal documents and statements from the 1800s, but the foundation and clarity of these teachings is embedded in scripture itself: “The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” (Gen. 2:15).
One of the seven pillars of Catholic social teaching calls us to care for creation, not only as a social responsibility but also as a moral and spiritual one. As we read in the Book of Genesis, after God created the Earth, God created humans to be one with creation and to care for it. In the opening lines of Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home), Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter, he reflects on this amazing relationship between creation and human beings: “In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. ‘Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs.’”1
Although human actions and inactions have caused great damage to God’s creation, Pope Francis also reminds us that we can and must act now to help project our common home,
that we need to do this together through collaboration, authentic listening, and solidarity. “The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change,” he writes in Laudato Si’. “The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us. Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home.”2
Throughout my 18 years of social justice work, I have found faith-based community organizing to be one of the most effective ways to work together to identify, advocate, and win sustainable solutions to the pressing challenges we face, including ecological ones. Working toward integral ecology and community organizing for ecological justice requires, first and foremost, deep engagement and listening with the local communities that are most directly impacted.
The Washington State Catholic Conference is working to ensure the voices of Indigenous communities are heard and valued when it comes to finding solutions to the salmon crisis in the Lower Snake River. In their letter, “Caring for Creation and the Common Good in the Lower Snake River Region,” they remind us that being in solidarity and listening to the voices of Indigenous communities needs to come first: “In respecting the dignity of every human person, we first consider the Original Peoples of Washington state. Native American tribes of the region have a long-standing relationship of care and respect for the salmon of the Lower Snake River . . . we recognize that deliberate action is necessary to find ways to restore the health of the salmon of the region.”
This is the same call that the Catholic bishops of the Watershed Region shared more than 20 years ago in their international pastoral letter, “The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good.” In discerning the challenges facing the region, the bishops held listening sessions to hear from all those impacted and then developed 10 key recommendations, including “Respect the Dignity and Traditions of the Region’s Indigenous People.” To this point, the bishops honor Indigenous people, saying that “indigenous peoples have a wealth of spirituality, culture, and traditions that call forth a need for appropriate respect and preservation.”
1 Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ (Vatican City: Vatican Press, 2015), sec. 1. 2 Laudato Si’, 13.Although the journey to answer the call to care for creation often begins with an individual response, such as reducing one’s carbon footprint, composting, or recycling, Laudato Si’ reminds us that “love for society and commitment to the common good are outstanding expressions of a charity which affects not only relationships between individuals but also ‘macro-relationships, social, economic and political ones.’”3
Pope Francis invites us to discern the many ways in which we can work toward an integral ecology. Both in small ways and also by developing and advocating for systemic solutions to the environmental challenges facing our communities. The Washington bishops served as a model in “Caring for Creation and the Common Good in the Lower Snake River Region,” stating, “We urge federal and state policy makers to develop and implement a holistic plan for the Lower Snake River region that seeks input from the Original Peoples of Washington state as principal dialogue partners, as well as input from farmers, community members, and concerned citizens.”
Real Rent Duwamish
Faith-based community organizing is an integral way of responding to the call to care for creation. Grounded in Catholic social teaching, it is a powerful reminder of the importance of centering and listening to those who are directly impacted by the issues, those who are oftentimes marginalized and not heard. It shines a light on strategic and systemic issues that go upstream to address the root causes of the problems impacting communities, including environmental injustices. Lastly, it invites and moves us into collective action to work for structural solutions that help us be in solidarity with our sisters and brothers and care for our common home.
Tere Flores Onofre has been a faith-based community organizer for over 18 years and is currently the codirector of movement development for the Laudato Si’ Movement. She is a 1.5-generation immigrant and mestiza from Puebla, Mexico. Learn more about the Laudato Si’ Movement at https://laudatosimovement.org/.
3 Laudato Si’, 231.
Real Rent Duwamish was started by the Duwamish Tribe—the city of Seattle is named after Chief Si’ahl, a Duwamish leaded and signatory of the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855. The program seeks to honor the fact that the land on which Seattle is built was originally inhabited by the Duwamish people by inviting nonIndigenous individuals and organizations in the local community to contribute “rent” as a form of reparations to help support the tribe and their efforts to preserve their culture and sovereignty.
The Duwamish Longhouse is located in West Seattle and is open to the public as a place to learn more about the Duwamish Tribe and history of the Seattle region. Learning more about the Duwamish people and the true history of the region is a first step in working toward reconciliation and healing from the injustices that the tribe has experienced, and continues to experience, at the hands of colonial settlers, especially as the Duwamish struggle for federal recognition.
To learn more about Real Rent Duwamish and to contribute, visit realrentduwamish.org.
“ Faith-based community organizing is an integral way of responding to the call to care for creation.”