Photo by Julianna Leopold

ATLANTA—“Praise be to you, my Lord,” opens the landmark papal encyclical focused on the environment.  

Ten years ago, Pope Francis issued his teaching on the environment “On Care for Our Common Home,” Laudato si’. 

He emphasized “integral ecology,” a vision for human development and the common good. He called for “a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.” 

Pope Francis wrote, “We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all.” 

Believers from around the globe took up the challenge, including the Archdiocese of Atlanta. As part of the vision of the late pope, environmental scientists at leading universities in the archdiocese authored a guidebook on the impact of climate change in Georgia and how parish groups could implement the encyclical.  

The archdiocesan Office of Life, Dignity and Justice also hosts a podcast called “Faith and Sustainability,” which showcases diverse faith-driven guests from around the world. 

Here are a few of the ministries around the Atlanta area that have embraced the vision of Laudato si’:  

St. Francis of Assisi Church, Blairsville, has a half-acre pollinator garden to help the local ecosystem. Among its other activities, its members also manage parish-wide recycling, wash dishes to reduce the use of single-use plastic and spread the word about Firewise, a national program to curb forest fires and protect homes. It’s also supporting a group called To the Nations, a missionary effort serving in Uganda, by providing reusable bags to students in the African country to cut back on the littering caused by plastic bags. The parish will host this year’s Green Mass on Saturday, Oct. 4, the Feast of St. Francis. Ministry leader Frances Mason encouraged other parishes to “start out small and branch out once you get one little thing implemented.” 

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Atlanta, completed an energy audit to guide renovations. The church was the first to add solar panels to the priests’ residence. Recently, John Lanier, the executive director of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, spoke to the community on Catholic social teaching and sustainable action. The Creation Care team created a one-pager about expectations for renters of the parish hall, including no plastics. Ministry leader Nikki VanDerGrinten said too many Catholics still do not understand the church’s view of caring for the environment as part of God’s plan so parish leaders must continuously promote it. No one has to work alone to start a creation care ministry, since there are many archdiocesan resources to start a green team, she said.  

St. Thomas More Church, Decatur, founded Encounter Georgia, the creation care advocacy group that interacts with Catholic Climate Covenant’s national advocacy network. It recently hosted a six-week “Laudato si” book study. The team collaborates with the Knights of Columbus council to make the popular Lent fish fry dinners waste-free. The team washes reusable dishes and manages CompostNOW bins, where all uneaten food goes to be commercially composted. Ministry leader Lauren Hoade said the work is an equal amount of ecological awareness and ecological conversion, which focuses on “changing hearts, not just minds.” People come from different places on the issue, so the goal is “to help parishioners become more mindful of their responsibility to care for our common home.” 

The Catholic Center at the University of Georgia, Athens, has one of the Catholic St. Kateri Habitats marked on the national St. Kateri Habitat map and will be helping to run a student-led Season of Creation—Pilgrimage of Hope for Creation for the archdiocese.