What is Earthcare?
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Earthcare is a Catholic group sponsored by Caritas Australia and the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Many parishes throughout Australia have Earthcare Groups.
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oRIGIN OF EARTHCARE
In May 2002 Catholic Earthcare Australia was established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference in May 2002, and received its mandate in May 2003, as an agency of the Catholic Bishops Conference. It was in response to Pope John Paul II’s call to encourage and support the ‘ecological conversion’.
In May 2017, Catholic Earthcare Australia was incorporated into Caritas Australia. This was to strengthen the capacity of Earthcare Australia in its advocacy and educational work centred on the principles of Pope Francis’ 2015 Encyclical, Laudato Si’ regarding our responsibilities on environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss and the need to live sustainably. -
What will Earthcare do within the parish:Pope John Paul II in January 2001 and Pope Francis in June 2015 have called on Catholics all over the world to care for our planet Earth. They urged Catholics also to care for all living things that are sustained by the Earth – plants, animals and sea life. They called all Catholics to understand more fully the issue of Climate Change and extreme weather events and the extinction loss of animals and plants caused by human development. The Popes called for Catholics to take responsibility for our planet Earth, by changing our consumption and reusing and recycling as much as possible. These may be the key questions of parishioners. Why is care of our planet Earth a Catholic Christian issue? Why should we care? How does it relate to the Gospel message of Jesus?
1. We understand that the plight of the poor is central to the gospel (Lk 4:16-22). Climate change affects poor communities and in our region it is affecting the people of the Pacific Islands. What we do here in Australia, can have a positive impact in reducing the harmful effects of climate change on our Pacific Island neighbours.
2. Creation theology encourages us to take up our responsibility to care for our common home, planet Earth. Catholic thinkers have always understood that God gave humans stewardship over the created world.
What will Earthcare do within the parish:- Raise awareness of our Catholic Christian responsibility to care for our common home, planet Earth.
- Suggest ways for our parish to become sustainable using the 4 stage assessment recommended by Caritas Australia Catholic Earthcare.
- Suggest ways in a spirit of continuous learning for our parish to become sustainable using the 4 stage assessment recommended by Caritas Australia Catholic Earthcare Australia.
- Suggest ways (in a spirit of continuous learning) for parishioners to live more sustainably in their own households.