Laudato Sì: The Sisters of Charity and Care of Our Common Home

As a result of dialogue and submissions from Sisters at the Congregation’s 28^th General Chapter in March 2021, the Congregational Leader & Council initiated the Care of our Common Home Committee.

Members of the Committee were appointed for three years from September 1, 2021. The members are (from left below):  Sisters Elizabeth Dodds (Chair), Kathleen Doohan, Margaret Guy; then (from left in the second row): Anne Taylor, Margaret Valentine, and Karan Varker.

The Committee’s focus is on relevant sections of the Chapter Direction Statement and the Laudato Sì Action Platform under the auspices of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in Rome.

We are engaged in partnership with our Sister Congregation, centred in Dublin, and connected particularly with their Care of the Earth Committee. Other partnerships have also been fostered, especially with Religious Congregations and other organisations whose focus is Ignatian Spirituality.

The importance of gathering information from our Sisters as to how they were responding to care of Earth in the reality of their lives and our community homes cannot be emphasised enough. Responses from our Sisters were far beyond what the Committee had believed possible. These responses formed the basis for future work as we move from environmental consciousness to ecological conversion.

A global endeavour was to encourage our Congregation to join with so many others in ensuring our investment portfolio was free of any engagement with the fossil fuel industry.

In October, the Congregation made a commitment to divest from fossil fuels. This was announced prior to COP 26, Glasgow Oct-Nov 2021.

Read the story here — 7 congregations join divestment announcement ahead of COP26 — published in NCR’s Global Sisters Report on November 1, 2021.

Recently, the Committee articulated its STATEMENT of INTENT and from this will concentrate on the seven goals of the Laudato Sì Action Platform.

For further information, please email Sr Elizabeth Dodds at congregation@rscoffice.com

Count me in! Live the  Laudato Sì Action Platform

The Sisters of Charity of Australia’s Care of our Common Home Committee invites you to explore the seven goals of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform as a Lenten practice.

Bring the goals to life either personally or with your local community and colleagues.

We are partnering in this with our Sister Congregation.

You can find the main page here — www.ignatiansolidarity.net

And you will be able to join the Laudato Si’ Lenten practice page by signing up here — https://ignatiansolidarity.net/ignatian-carbon-challenge/laudato-si-lent/#tab-id-2