Environmental  Stewardship

To inspire action within the parishes of the Catholic
Diocese of Worcester to address the impact of
environmental degradation on all humanity, now
and in the future. 

Laudato Si is Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the environment or more formally – On Care for Our Common Home. Laudato Si means “Praise be to you” which is the first line of a canticle of St. Francis of Assisi, his namesake, that praises God with all of his creation. 

Indeed, the spiritual tradition of “creation care” has run through our Roman Catholic tradition from its earliest years and begins with the Book of Genesis. The Old Testament is filled with beautiful images of nature and the revelation of God in nature.

From the outset, Pope Francis states the goal of the document... More

In Laudato Si, Pope Francis says:  "The human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together; we cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we attend to causes related to human and social degradation. In fact, the deterioration of the environment and of society affects the most vulnerable people on the planet ... More

Embracing Laudato Si’

“Saint Francis, faithful to Scripture, invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness.”   In June 2015, Pope Francis made this observation in his powerful encyclical, Laudato Si’ - On Care for Our Common Home.

In our home state of Massachusetts, we are blessed with inspiring natural beauty from the seashore on the east coast to the majestic mountain vistas in the west - with rolling hills, vibrant communities and rich farmlands throughout the state. We, the four Roman Catholic Bishops of Massachusetts, call on all Catholics and others of faith in Massachusetts to reflect on this natural beauty – this gift from God. To protect and sustain this gift we must act now within our faith institutions and throughout the state to take substantial, meaningful steps to protect our environment... More

As Laudato Si’ states, climate scientists around the world have clearly shown that the Earth’s atmosphere has been heating up rapidly since the early 1800s. In fact, 97% of climate scientists have concluded that human-caused global warming is happening (NASA).

A basic physical property of CO2 is that it traps heat in the atmosphere like a blanket. We also know that the Earth’s climate shifts naturally from time to time due to things like volcanic eruptions and solar activity.  But since CO2 has dramatically increased due to human activity, it is now the main “driver” of climate change. ...More 

Idling wastes fuel

In 2014 alone, U.S. drivers wasted billions of hours and up 3 billion gallons of fuel sitting in traffic.  That translates into almost 60 billion pounds of greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere just by traffic congestion! (Department of Energy)

30% of food is wasted

From our farms to grocery stores to dinner tables, 30% of the food we grow is never eaten. At 2.8 trillion pounds, that’s enough food to feed three billion people, the people that go to bed hungry every night (National Geographic Magazine).