Rome (Italy). On 4 October 2024, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology, closes the Season of Creation, begun on 1 September, the Day of Prayer for Creation, on the theme: “Hope and act with creation” (Rom 8:19-25).
The biblical image depicts the earth as a mother who groans as during childbirth (Rom 8:22). Saint Francis of Assisi had understood this when in his Canticle of the Creatures he referred to the Earth as sister and mother. The present times show that humanity is not treating the earth as a gift from the Creator, but rather as a resource to be used. Therefore, “Creation groans” because of human selfishness and the unsustainable actions that damage it. Together with Mother Earth, creatures of all kinds, including humans, cry out at the destructive behaviors that cause climate crisis, loss of biodiversity, and human suffering, as well as the suffering of Creation.
This annual meeting saw the world ecumenical family engaged in listening to the cry of the earth and the poor, together with the call to take care of the common home, in the hope that, internally renewed, we will continue to proceed in synodality, united by the one Baptism in this ever more urgent commitment.
The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians have valued the Season of Creation as a strong time that has recalled the journey of the FMA Institute towards conversion to integral ecology, in view of the commitment made in General Chapter XXIV with the Chapter Deliberation. This has been implemented through proposals for various activities and reflections at the level of the Institute and in the World Provinces.
In continuity with the proposal made during the Laudato Si’ 2024 Week, the Youth Ministry Sector of the FMA Institute has encouraged the Provinces to share good practices, according to some elements related to the objectives of Laudato si’. For an international institute such as the FMA, sharing good practices becomes a response to the invitation to “take on integral ecology as a dimension of life and educative mission, according to Laudato si’,” with young people and together with the Educating Communities. (Video good practices)
This also becomes a recognition and appreciation of the initiatives undertaken with young people and the Communities in various parts of the world, as had been emphasized by the General Councilor for Youth Ministry, Sister Runita Borja, in the video message on the occasion of the time of creation: “It is very moving to see how little by little awareness is growing in our educative works. The Platform of Laudato Si’ Initiatives has stimulated us in our charismatic choice towards the poorest, concretizing listening in the answers of integral education that we offer at different levels, according to the contexts.”
In this perspective, significant was the initiative of the webinar held on 14 September 2024, organized by the YM Sector in collaboration with the International Commission of Integral Ecology and the Communication Sector. The webinar – which was attended by more than a thousand people from all over the world, including FMA, young people, and lay people – provided a formative moment, according to the Salesian perspective, by Sister Linda Pocher, FMA, Professor of the Pontifical Faculty of Education Science “Auxilium” of Rome.
Sister Linda asked the participants to listen to the Word of God that accompanied the annual theme, inspired by the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, and then highlight some links with the Salesian pedagogy environment. She then concluded with what could be the strategic areas of action to make a contribution as FMA in countering the environmental crisis and to form an ecological mentality in young people and adults attending the communities and educational works of FMA. Participants were involved through questions which opened up to further work in the local context:
- How do we feel about the climate crisis? What frightens us? What gives us hope?
- Is the educative environment in which I live and work open to collaboration with other institutions? Try drawing a map of the social network in which your work is embedded… What hinders or threatens collaboration? How to make it grow? How to make it stronger?
- Did I know about the “Treaty on the non-proliferation of fossil fuels”? What can I do to promote it? In my Province, how are we promoting formation to sustainability and integral ecology? (Materials in 5 languages)
The participation of a large number of people, together with the resonances received, can be seen in the perspective of a systematic demand for reflection on integral ecology from a charismatic point of view, starting from the Chapter deliberation and the teachings of Pope Francis in Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum.
In addition, in synergy with the religious sector of the Laudato Si’ Initiative Platform, on 10 September 2024, Sister Chanda Nsofwa, Collaborator of the YM Sector, spoke at a webinar that aimed to support participants in recognizing the deep interconnectedness of spirituality, charism, social and environmental justice in the pursuit of integral ecology. The importance of encouraging communities to recognize the importance of the charism and spirituality as motivators for social and environmental justice was reiterated in the webinar, so that each congregation, community, and individual is inserted into a spirituality, seen as motivators, can easily interconnect with social and environmental justice. This encourages the commitment of religious to act quickly, as urged by Pope Francis in Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum.
“Hope and act with creation” is also the invitation of Sister Ruth del Pilar Mora, General Councilor in charge of the International Commission on Integral Ecology, to the webinar organized by the FMA: “We are part of a cosmic family called to act with responsibility and care. Being aware of the damage that we are doing to our mother earth and her creatures is a decisive step in order to continue on this path of ecological conversion in which we are all engaged. Hope is not about immediate results, but confidence that our efforts are worth something, even if change is slow. We are called to act with determination to face the challenges of climate, ecology, peaceful coexistence among peoples, and true social justice. The ecological conversion process is gradual but crucial. The Spirit guides us in understanding our role as part of a larger cosmic family. Hope is a transformative force that requires time and determination. It is the trust in a better tomorrow, anchored to the resurrection of Christ.”
To close the Season of Creation, on 4 October the Laudato Si’ Movement organized an online prayer meeting led by the Ecumenical Youth Committee, where good practices and reflections from various parts of the world were shared. In this meeting, an appeal was made to take a commitment of concrete action for the common home, to give continuity to the reflection, on the basis of the experiences lived throughout the month.
