POPE MONITOR

POPE FRANCIS ISSUES CHALLENGE FOR LAUDATO SI’ WEEK: “HOW WILL YOU RESPOND?”

SOUTH SUDAN ECUMENICAL VISIT OFFERS HOPE FOR PEACE

Laudato Si’ Week, the weeklong event marking the seventh anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical on creation care, featured a series of global celebrations and the first-ever public sneak peek of The Invitation, a new film featuring Pope Francis.

Hundreds of thousands of Catholics united from May 22-29 to celebrate the progress made in bringing Laudato Si’ to life and to intensify their efforts through the Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform.

Tomás Insua, executive director of Laudato Si’ Movement, said: “Laudato Si’ Week has blossomed into a global celebration that leaves the faithful feeling inspired to do even more for our common home. Amidst chaos and destruction globally, every day Catholics take urgent action against the climate emergency and ecological crisis. Laudato Si’ Week [serves] as a fountain of inspiration and lessons learned for all people interested in saving God’s creation.”

The theme for the week was ‘Listening and Journeying Together’. The eight-day global event was guided by the following quote from Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’: “Bringing the human family together to protect our common home” (LS 13).

Pope Francis marked the beginning of the week by asking the crowd gathered in St Peter’s Square, “How will you respond?” Inviting everyone to participate, he emphasised the importance of “listening ever more attentively to the cry of the earth, which spurs us to act together in caring for our common home.”

Each day of Laudato Si’ Week featured global, regional and local events tied to one of the seven Laudato Si’ goals. On the day celebrating ecological education, footage from The Invitation, a new feature-length documentary film on Laudato Si’, was shown to the general public for the first time ever during a livestreaming event.

The event featured a trailer of the film, which will have its global release later this year. The film follows diverse ecological champions from around the world as they find common ground with each other and with Pope Francis, who is featured in the film.

The closing celebration of Laudato Si’ Week was held in Brumadinho, in the region of Minas Gerais, Brazil. During the ceremony, a special moment was held to remember the 273 victims who have suffered the consequences of the climatic tragedies in the region, particularly the Brumadinho dam disaster on January 25, 2019.

The Laudato Si’ Action Platform, aimed at empowering Catholic institutions, communities and families to fully implement Laudato Si’, can be accessed at laudatosiactionplatform.org.

Pope Francis, Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury and the Rev. Dr Iain M Greenshields, who took office as moderator of the Presbyterian Church in May, will visit South Sudan together from July 5-7.

As violence in South Sudan continues to cause concern, it is hoped the visit will offer a much-needed boost for the peace process after decades of war, the country’s newest bishop has said.

Bishop Christian Carlassare of Rumbek, who made headlines last year after he survived an assassination attempt, said the long-awaited papal visit will reassure the country’s people that the Christian churches will not abandon them. Political instability and the pandemic had forced repeated delays of the trip.

“The pope is coming here not just to see that peace is achieved but to ensure that the path to peace continues… But above all, to bring that peace that is sought after by the politicians and give it to the people,” said Bishop Carlassare.

South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war, but just two years after independence, violence erupted once again.

“It is important that in this peace process, the people know that the pope, the church, the (Christian) churches are close to the people,” he added, and that “despite situations of injustice, the people can choose peace, they can choose reconciliation, they can choose to put down their weapons.”