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Today is another historic Eco Day

On the first day of a global Catholic 'summit', a Laudate Deum call to protect the environment is announced following up the Laudato Si encyclical, a first-of-its-kind "Integral Ecology" letter to the billion+ members and to the interfaith global community. The release of the Catholic leader's new environmental letter is a global event, the second environmental encyclical, and carries forward a profound interfaith-catholic announcement/doctrine.

Many have spoken about a 'catholic' definition of citizen action and here a dictionary definition of the word -- catholic -- finds meaning in action.

kăth′ə-lĭk, kăth′lĭk

1. Of broad or liberal scope; comprehensive.

2. Including or concerning all humankind; universal.

3. Of or involving the Roman Catholic Church.

Let's look more closely at the meaning and beliefs brought forward here. One can say, as with those who attempt to 'preserve and protect' life on Earth, that this is an eco-platform of a church called Catholic and is an ecumenical outreach worth considering universally, by all humankind. The ideas and ideals of respecting life and quality of life, is a goal we can all share.

The Commons

From Earthbeat, and environmental movement

Planet citizens in action

• https://www.ncronline.org/earthbeat/viewpoints/popes-laudate-deum-must-elevate-those-ecological-peripheries

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Media release:

Via Vatican News

“Laudate Deum”: the Pope’s cry for a response to the climate crisis

Pope Francis has published an Apostolic Exhortation building on his 2015 encyclical. We’re not reacting enough, he says, we’re close to breaking point. He criticises climate change deniers, saying that the human origin of global warming is now beyond doubt. And he describes how care for our common home flows from the Christian faith.

• https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-10/laudate-deum-pope-francis-climate-crisis-laudato-si.html

In a new document titled “Laudate Deum,” or “Praise God,” the pope criticizes oil and gas companies for greenwashing new fossil fuel projects and calls for more ambitious efforts in the West to tackle the climate crisis. In the landmark apostolic exhortation, a form of papal writing, Francis says that “avoiding an increase of a tenth of a degree in the global temperature would already suffice to alleviate some suffering for many people.”

“Laudate Deum” is a follow-up to the pope’s 2015 encyclical on climate change, known as “Laudato Si’,” which lamented the exploitation of the planet and cast the protection of the environment as a moral imperative. When it was released, “Laudato Si’” was viewed as an extraordinary move by the head of the Catholic Church to address global warming and its consequences.

Nearly a decade later, the pope’s message has taken on new urgency.

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The "Summit", a Catholic 'Synod', Opening Day October 4, 2023

The Synod on Synodality, a gathering of bishops and others — including women and laypeople, a historical first — convened by Pope Francis to discuss a wide range of issues facing the church. With its broad mandate, collaborative process and open-ended topics, the gathering has alarmed many conservatives, including in the United States. They fear the conference could result in the church ordaining women as deacons, or blessing same-sex unions, among other possibilities.

The gathering opened in Rome today, October 4th, the same day the pope released a second part of his environmental encyclical Laudato Si.

• https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/us/pope-vatican-catholic-church-texas-bishop.html

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