Spreading the message of Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical ‘Laudato Si’

MADISON  An ad-hoc committee recently formed at St. Paul Inside the Walls here with the mission to help the Paterson Diocese spread the message of Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical, “Laudato Si’— that everyone bears a responsibility to protect the Earth and care for our fellow man — into meaningful local action in such possible areas as ecology, environmental education and social justice.

The eight-person committee met for the first time at the Diocesan Evangelization Center Oct. 3 to review the pontiff’s call to ecological and social action for mankind in “Laudato Si” as a springboard that led to a fruitful brainstorming session that night. Right now, committee members, who include several long-time environmental activists, are busy preparing for the next meeting in early November on possible initiatives for parishes — or the entire Diocese — to undertake. At some point, this enthusiastic group hopes to develop plan of action document to be presented to Bishop Serratelli, who originally suggested that interested people get in touch with St. Paul’s about formulating a diocesan response, said Father Paul Manning, St. Paul’s executive director and diocesan vicar for evangelization, who facilitated the first meeting.

“Pope Francis’ encyclical is about an integral ecology that does not divorce nature from human being, human society and human culture. It sees humanity as a ‘willed’ part of creation. It maintains that we all need to care for this household [the Earth], with each one of us putting this ecological spirituality and stewardship into practice,” said Father Manning, who gave a talk about “Laudato Si” with Brian Honsberger, coordinator of diocesan youth and young adult ministry, in September 2015. “Now, this committee hopes to make the Diocese more aware of the teachings in this encyclical and propose to the Bishop ways that we can respond within the life of our local Church,” Father Manning said.

The committee members, who attended the first meeting were: Jim Andreano of the Justice and Peace Committee of Holy Angels Parish, Little Falls; Alfred Dubois, recycling coordinator for the City of Clifton; Jackie Schramm, director of the social justice at St. Mary’s Parish, Pompton Lakes; Pam Lewis, a N.J. recycling professional; Jane Devlin of the faith community at St. Paul’s; Father Yojaneider Garcia Ramierez, parochial vicar at St. Peter the Apostle Church, Parsippany; and Gene Cracovia of St. Vincent Martyr, Madison.

On Oct. 3, the group brainstormed many ideas, including conducting research on initiatives that other dioceses have undertaken in response to “Laudato Si,” which Pope Francis promulgated in May 2015. Among the ideas were having the Diocese furnish priests with materials about the Pope’s teachings for their homilies or sponsoring activities, such as a Green Fair to showcase best practices in the area of ecology within the Diocese. These events can coincide with Arbor Day and Earth Day, members proposed.

A few committee members presented ideas by speaking about some of the activities that they or their parishes have held in response to Pope Francis’ letter.

Since the release of “Laudato Si,” St. Mary’s Advocates for Justice — part of the parish’s Social Justice Ministry — has been giving presentations on the document in the parish, in other parishes and to organizations around the community. The Pope’s message has energized the already active Social Justice Ministry, which established a website, earthactions.org, for education and advocacy about issues, such as climate change; genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food production; and fracking, or hydraulic fracturing. The group lobbied lawmakers to oppose a proposed oil pipeline through New Jersey, Schramm told The Beacon in a previous story about local parishes’ response to the encyclical.

“It’s how to present it [material about ‘Laudato Si.’] The issue is so heavy that you don’t want people to feel paralyzed. Add a little humor. You want to make them feel welcome and inspired to take action and become leaders in their own parishes,” Schramm said. “We also have to cut through the noise — criticism that Pope Francis was brainwashed [into believing in climate change]. The letter is not only a Pope Francis document. He quotes other people — popes, Catholic thinkers and philosophers — who came before him,” she said.

For its part, St. Paul’s has held two presentations about “Laudato Si”: “The Green Pope?” last year by Father Manning and Honsberger and “Pope Francis and Capitalism: The Enemy or the Answer?” in May by William McGurn, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Also, Lewis and Cracovia have planted bee and butterfly pollinator plants in St. Paul’s prayer garden, a 40- by 75-foot piece of land on its property, to make the evangelization center more ecologically friendly [see related story], Father Manning said.

In Parsippany, St. Peter’s plans to present a talk on “Laudato Si” in Spanish. Already, the Morris County parish has changed the incandescent light bulbs throughout its facility to LED light bulbs, that will save money and help save the environment, Father Ramierez told the committee that night.

Many of these initiatives mirror some of the activities that local parishes had undertaken around the time of the first anniversary of “Laudato Si” in May. The Beacon reported on presentations about the document by St. Mary’s and Andreano at Holy Angels. Also, St. Matthew the Apostle Parish, Randolph, installed a water filter on a faucet in a small sink in the kitchen of its parish office to help reduce the use of bottled water, while also educating faithful about the environment — part of the parishes ongoing conservation efforts, which include installing LED light bulbs.

During the Oct. 3 meeting, Devlin sounded an optimistic note about the committee’s efforts to promote ecology and social justice in the Diocese, stating, “Some things can be like a mustard seed. They can start small and then grow.”