Care for Creation

Our mission is to spread the 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.

Upcoming Events

Creation at Grave Risk

Devastating droughts. Increasing number of powerful tornadoes and hurricanes. Record-setting fires. Hundreds of thousands have died, millions injured worldwide just in the last decade, and millions have been forced to leave their homes permanently. The destruction of climate change is a worldwide catastrophe.

The Catholic Church is responding to this existential crisis. Since its origins, caring for creation and for the poor have been integral to the Catholic faith. Pope Francis is a global leader in calling for swift, sweeping changes to save creation, particularly the most vulnerable. In his pastoral letter to “everyone on the planet,” known as “Laudato Si’ Care for Our Common Home,” he urges everyone to work together to reverse climate change and to implement systemic change to lift up the poor.

In response to his call, the Catholic Diocese of San Diego, led by Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, has made protecting the environment a priority. The diocese formed a Creation Care Ministry to help parishes to develop their own action plans. And itself made changes, among them installing solar power systems in most of diocese’s 98 parishes and many of its schools.

Laudato Si’ Goals
Click on the thumbnail to view the Laudato Si’ Goals.

Contacts

Maria de Lourdes Valencia
Associate Director, Culture of Life
Phone: (858) 490-8323
mvalenciaEmail at symbolsdcatholic.org
Christina Slentz, PhD
Associate Director, Creation Care
Phone: (858) 490-8327
cslentzEmail at symbolsdcatholic.org
Mark Smith
Administrative Assistant
Phone: (858) 490-8324
msmithEmail at symbolsdcatholic.org
Rev. Emmet Farrell
Spiritual Advisor, Creation Care
efarrellEmail at symbolsdcatholic.org

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.

(Pope Francis, A Christian Prayer in Union with Creation, Laudato Si’)

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