Promoting Catholic Social Teaching that All Life Is Sacred
Our mission is to spread Catholic teaching of creation care concerning our duty to be good stewards of our common home, to include the just use of our environmental resources and the protection of all life. We raise awareness to the “cry of the earth” and the “cry of the poor,” encourage individual and community resilience and empowerment, and advocate for the adoption of sustainable lifestyles, all with the urgency the times require.
Read Pope Leo’s latest words of urgency, calling us to Care for Creation, Pope Leo XIV’s Address at the Raising Hope Conference, October 1, 2025.
Living Water
The Season of Creation is a time for us to renew our relationship with our Creator and all of creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment.
This time of reflection and action begins on September 1st, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and concludes on October 4th, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi.
You can read Pope Leo XIV’s Message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation here.
Please join us as we celebrate a Mass for the Care of Creation with Bishop Pham on September 5th at 6PM at Saint Francis of Assisi Parish in Vista. Details and registration are available here.
“Immersion in Living Water” is this year’s theme, drawing on Ezekiel 47.
It calls us to recognize ecological damage, embrace interconnectedness, and actively work for the renewal of creation so that environmental healing and human well-being may flourish. As we journey through this season, each week we invite you to explore a different impacted waterway in our diocese, reflecting on our relationship with Sister Water and discerning how to improve our care of this gift of creation. They are:
- Week 1, SEP 5/6 — Colorado River and the Cry of the Earth
- Week 2, SEP 12/13 — Los Peñasquitos Lagoon and the Voice of Biodiversity
- Week 3, SEP 19/20 — Chollas Creek and Community Empowerment & Resilience
- Week 4, SEP 26/27 — Lake Wohlford and the Voice of Indigenous Peoples
- Week 5, OCT 3/4 — Tijuana Estuary and the Cry of the Poor
To find weekly handouts, catechetical resources, and fun opportunities to learn and take action, go to our Season of Creation electronic resource folder here. Contact our office for assistance!
Our Pathway to Creation Care
SEE
Watch “The Letter,” a free film produced by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development and the Laudato Si’ Movement to get an overview of today’s environmental crisis and develop understanding of how the poor and vulnerable experience the greatest impact.
Families can watch at home on YouTube here, or parishes/schools/groups can register for a link here.
DISCERN
Participate in one of our diocesan introductory workshops to learn about the science that explains today’s environmental degradation, the spiritual nature of these dynamics, and how you can get involved with our Creation Care programs.
We offer a catechetical introduction to Creation Care at a minimum twice a year, typically at the beginning of the year and again during the Season of Creation in September. We will also gladly come to your parish—English and Spanish presentations are available! Contact Christina Slentz at cslentz@sdcatholic.org to coordinate.
ACT
Attend a Laudato Si’ Action Planning Hands-On Workshop, at which we will guide you—parishes, schools, families, businesses, and universities—through the Vatican’s online platform for taking action to lessen your impact on our sister,
Mother Earth!
These seven goals provide guidance on urgent and immediate actions each one of us can take in the care of our common home. “All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation, each according to his or her own culture, experience, involvements and talents” (Laudato Si’ 14)
RESPONSE TO THE CRY OF THE EARTH
RESPONSE TO THE CRY OF THE POOR
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS
ADOPTION OF SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES
ECOLOGICAL EDUCATION
ECOLOGICAL SPIRITUALITY
COMMUNITY RESILIENCE AND EMPOWERMEN
1st Monday of the Month Zoom Call for Creation Care (Changed to Tuesday, Sept. 8)
Upcoming Events
Season of Creation Art Contest
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1st Monday of the Month Zoom Call for Creation Care (Changed to Tuesday, Sept. 8)
12
Los Peñasquitos Lagoon Talk & Walk – Listening to the Voice of Biodiversity
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Rooted in Community at Chollas Creekside Park
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1st Monday of the Month Zoom Call for Creation Care
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1st Monday of the Month Zoom Call for Creation Care
A Christian
Prayer in Union with Creation
Triune Lord, wondrous community of infinite love,
teach us to contemplate you
in the beauty of the universe,
for all things speak of you.
Awaken our praise and thankfulness
for every being that you have made.
Give us the grace to feel profoundly joined
to everything that is.
