A Filipino man plants new crops - Photo: Fr Brian Gore
St Columbans Mission Society extends our congratulations and best wishes to the Church in the Philippines – Bishops, priests, sisters, brothers and lay faithful – on the occasion of the launching of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines National Laudato Si Program. This Program will be rolled out across all the 85 dioceses in the Philippines. A workshop titled “The Deep Journey into Laudato Si” will take place in each diocese as they commence the implementation of the Program. All the bishops in the Philippines will participate in the workshop in their sub-regions.
The Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) - Philippines is a part of the team tasked to facilitate the implementation of the Program. Columban missionaries in the Philippines are founding members of GCCM-Philippines and have been actively involved in education programs on Laudato Si over the past five years. Columban Fr John Leydon, during the launching of the CBCP National Laudato Si Program, will speak about the development of Laudato Si education across the church in the Philippines.
Pope Francis asks us to invite the spirit of St Joseph into our lives as we listen to the twin cry of the earth and the cry of the poor and respond with integrity as we work for what Pope Francis calls an integral ecology in striving towards ecological sustainable development that benefits the common good.
It is exciting news for the church in the Philippines, and for the universal church at large, that the CBCP National Laudato Si Program is being launched during the ‘Laudato Si Special Anniversary Year’ named by Pope Francis. This Year of Jubilee, marking the 5th anniversary of Laudato Si, began in May 2020 and will conclude in May 2021. Pope Francis has also named December 8th, 2020 to December 8th, 2021 as a year honouring St Joseph. It is a year of petition for St Joseph’s fatherly care for all people and earth itself. This Year of St Joseph is in honour of the 150th anniversary of St Joseph being named as patron of the Universal Church.
Pope Francis asks us to invite the spirit of St Joseph into our lives as we listen to the twin cry of the earth and the cry of the poor and respond with integrity as we work for what Pope Francis calls an integral ecology in striving towards ecological sustainable development that benefits the common good. We pray that the spirit of St Joseph and his fatherly care will inspire and guide the church in the Philippines in the implementation of their National Laudato Si Program.
Join the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the CBCP Inter-Commission Working Group, and the Global Catholic Climate Movement - Philippines in launching and implementing the 2021 National Laudato Si Program!
Related links
- Watch: Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/3kiD1it (Password: 327124) - Wednesday, March 3, 12.30 – 2.30pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time)
- Columban Online Resource - St Joseph the Worker
