After Pope Francis wrote his encyclical Laudato Si’, many in the Catholic and global community embraced his words as a path forward towards a new ecology, one that recognizes every being on Earth is interconnected and the cries of the poor and Earth are one. In December, the Dominican Sisters of Houston joined the Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP), an initiative of the Vatican that urges Catholic institutions, parishes, communities, and families to commit to a seven-year journey towards sustainability by taking concrete steps to care for our common home in the hopes of achieving tangible solutions to our climate and ecological crisis.
As a religious community here on the Gulf Coast, the congregation decided to commit to the LSAP by focusing its efforts on water, paying particular attention to the increased severity of adverse climate events resulting in the destruction of natural and human environments. In the first year of the journey, the congregation will continue to educate themselves and others about the value and destructive power of water and identify organizations with whom to partner that are addressing issues of flood mitigation, storm recovery, and water contamination and pollution. Next fall, the congregation will assess its progress to determine how to move forward in the second year of the LSAP journey.
Dominican Sisters LSAP Committee pictured from left to right: Linda Gibler, OP, Heloise Cruzat, OP, Ceil Roeger, OP, Laura Henderson, and Carol Mayes, OP. Photo credit: Liz Witrago