Laudato Si' Action Platform Commitment
At the BVM Congregational Assembly in June 2021, the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary affirmed two Directional Statements. The desire to work toward Care for the Earth and Care for the Poor was strongly affirmed. We expressed in the first statement prologue that we “commit ourselves” to “engage and collaborate with those suffering injustices and a lack of resources for all life to flourish” and in the second statement, that we are called to work for “a just, equitable, and sustainable world in which all flourish.”
The Laudato Si’ Action Platform is a global project that has been in the works for more than two years. It is a collaborative effort of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and an international coalition of Catholic organizations to engage in the effort to build a better world as described in Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si.’
The seven goals of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ are intended to rebuild our relationship with each other and our common home. The goals of the Laudato Si’ Planning Guide call for a spiritual and cultural revolution to realize an integral ecology. They are: Response to the Cry of the Earth, Response to the Cry of the Poor, Ecological Economics, Adoption of Sustainable Lifestyles, Ecological Education, Ecological Spirituality, and Community Engagement and Participatory Action.
And so, today, on Jan. 1, 2022, we the Leadership Team of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary sign our commitment to participate in this global movement to protect God’s creation for future generations, to embrace a lifestyle change for their own good, and to take care of those who are poor and vulnerable.
Laudato Si’ Statement
We, together as BVM Sisters, Associates, and Circle of Friends are drawn by grace
- into living more profoundly into the mystery of the Source of All
- into living more consciously our interconnectedness with all of creation
- into living more integrally our understanding of freedom
- into living our Gospel values, humbly, boldly, and courageously.
We publicly commit to join the world community in responding to Pope Francis’ appeal to work together towards sustainability and integral ecology by developing a Laudato Si’ Action Plan.
This commitment marks our willingness:
- To take up the “urgent appeal” of Laudato Si’ to listen and respond to the cry of Earth and the cry of the economically poor by making it a community priority;
- To further our ongoing ecological conversion by bringing our members into greater understanding of their socio-ecological vocation within the spirit of our BVM charism;
- To integrate each of the seven Laudato Si’ goals into our life and ministries by developing a process to transition to an integral ecology;
- To take bold concrete actions in the spirit of Laudato Si’ to address the multiple crises afflicting our common home and all of creation;
- To practice nonviolence, as we reconcile and heal the pain in creation and sow hope for peace.
This commitment is made in faith, hope, and love, knowing that we are participating in God’s ongoing work of transformation, “for we know that things can change” (LS 13).
Be alert! Be present! We are doing something new. (Is. 43:19)
January 1, 2022
BVM Leadership Team: President LaDonna Manternach, Vice President Lou Anglin (D. May 29, 2022), Vice President Katherine Kandefer, Vice President Kate Hendel, BVM, Vice President Carol Marie Baum
