Australian Catholic agencies to release analysis on new Encyclical

16 Jul 2015

By The Record

Copies of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” are stacked on a table prior to a presentation on the encyclical June 30 at UN headquarters in New York City. Photo: CNS/Gregory A. Shemitz

Catholic Earthcare, Catholic Religious Australia and Catholic Mission will soon release the second book in The Francis Effect series.

Entitled The Francis Effect II: Praised Be You – On Care for Our Common Home, the book will analyse the encyclical’s key themes on ecology and creation, with insights from Catholic theological and ecological experts.

The book will be among the first comprehensive responses to Laudato Si’.

Twelve prominent Catholic leaders, including Catholic Earthcare Director, Jacqui Rémond, ecological theologian Father Denis Edwards and Chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council, Thelma Parker, will join to offer their perspectives on Pope Francis’ encyclical.

The book will also inspire nationwide colloquiums that will provide Catholic leaders in mission, and all Australians, with a unique opportunity to collectively engage with the encyclical.

The colloquiums will be hosted in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and other cities around Australia, and will feature keynote speakers who were also contributors to The Francis Effect II: Praised Be You.

Catholic Mission Deputy National Director, Peter Gates, affirms the joint effort is driven by a desire to enable Catholic leaders at all levels to respond in an authentic and dynamic way to what Pope Francis describes as an “urgent appeal… for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.” (LS 14)

“The colloquiums held for The Francis Effect: Living the Joy of the Gospel in 2014 were a great success in updating and inspiring Church leaders on the latest teachings of Pope Francis, and I’m sure The Francis Effect II: Praised Be You colloquiums will be just as powerful,” says Peter Gates.

As the international mission agency of the Catholic Church in Australia, Catholic Mission funds projects in areas deeply impacted by climate change, including Kiribati, the Carteret Islands and much of the Amazon basin.