As world leaders prepare to gather for the COP26 United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, the Divine Word Missionaries are undertaking a series of local and global initiatives to help play their part in tackling the climate crisis.

SVD communities across the world are committing to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform which proposes a seven-step, seven-year set of goals towards preserving and restoring God’s creation which is seen as a vehicle for all human life.

The SVD AUS Province is embracing the principles set out in Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’ by taking a series of small, practical steps to help protect the environment.

Recently, the Provincial Council and the Treasurer’s Office approved the installation of a 25.2KW solar panel array at Dorish Maru College in Melbourne.

If there’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us it is how deeply the globe is interconnected.

This interdependence is something I’ve been pondering on as Christians across the world prepare to join together over the next month to celebrate the Season of Creation.

The young people of St Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Marsden, Queensland, recently brought Pope Francis’ plea for ecological conversion to life when they hit the streets with garbage bags in hand, for Clean Up Australia Day.

“It was Laudato Si’ in action,” says Parish Priest, Fr Sunil Nagothu SVD, of the Pope’s encyclical on ‘Caring for our Common Home’.

Well greetings, friends! This month’s message for our In the Word E-News comes from me, Fr Raas, rather than from Fr Henry, who is taking his home leave at the moment.

Do you remember Pope Francis’ encyclical letter, Laudato Si? It gave us so much food for thought about how we should care for our common home, but what have we done to take up the challenges it contained?

Recently, I had a chance to spend some time with a good friend whom I have not seen for a long time. My friend, as best as I could tell, is a decent human being. He is a faithful husband to his wife, a loving father to his children, a responsible employee in his company, and most importantly, a God fearing man. 

But when our conversation recently turned to my writings on religious environmentalism, my friend was not impressed ...

When SVD priest, Fr Anthony Le Duc chose the topic of Theravada Buddhist Environmental Spirituality for his Doctoral thesis, he was hoping to go beyond theory and to help provide practical resources for local communities living in environmental crisis.

Fr Anthony is a missionary in Thailand, which is part of the AUS Province. He is due to graduate soon with a Doctorate in Religious Studies.