VATICAN: To Mark the Laudato Si’ Week, Vatican Official Calls for a Radical Ecological Conversion

Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

As the entire Church and people of good will crown the special Laudato Si’ anniversary year meant to celebrate and accelerate action to bring Pope Francis’ Encyclical Letter (Laudato Si) to life, a Vatican official in a Webinar session has called for complete transformation as a way forward in the realization of ecological conversion.

Speaking a day after the launch of the 2021 Laudato Si’ Week (LSW), Fr. Augusto Zampini Davies, Adjunct Secretary of the Vatican’s Social-environmental Ministry in the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development said there is need for “radical ecological conversion from the roots which should not just be personal but interpersonal.”

For the Church to realize the ecological transformation, Fr. Zampini said, there is need to promote Laudato Si’ goals including,“ responding to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor with one heart, creating ecological economics, adapting a simple life style and promoting ecological locations in schools, families, universities, parishes and dioceses.”

“When we implement all these in caring for our common home, together with ecological spirituality, we will drive the change and sustain it in time,” the Vatican official continued and added, “This will help us prepare the future that we like.”

He reiterated Pope Francis’ message that the ecological journey requires “community engagement and participation, where everybody is part of the journey including young people and no one is to be left behind.”

“By involving everyone, we start healing from the root and promoting the development of the fruits,” Fr. Zampini who was addressing the people under the theme “critical opportunities in 2021 to create change, call for an integral path,” noted.

During the Monday, May 17, virtual session, Fr. Zampini disclosed that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed several other crises in the society such us economic crisis where people have experienced inequality, food related issues and job crisis among others.

In his observation, the crises in the society call for unity and connectedness which can only be realized through sincere “love.”

“If we don’t love society and we don’t love creation, it becomes very difficult to care for people, society and environment,” he said adding, “When we love sincerely, when we listen to the cry of the earth, the cry of the poor and the vulnerable, we will be deeply touched and this will provide a concrete foundation for ethical and spiritual itinerary that follows.”

The 2021 Laudato Si’ Week marks the sixth anniversary of the Pope’s Encyclical and the week-long global event from May 16 to 25 is meant to “celebrate” the improvements made so far towards nurturing the environment.

Meanwhile, another panelist Ms. Ditebogo Lebea a global youth movement representative from South Africa who spoke during the same event, shared that climate crisis has “opened our eyes to see how greedy we have become and how humanity has lost moral compass.”

“We have less than nine years to save the world from universal damage,” Ms. Ditebogo a climate activist disclosed and cautioned.

Speaking about the detrimental effects of climate change on humanity, she observed that the world is failing the youth who are forced to inherit a society they do not deserve.

“There must be inter-generational exchanges in order to achieve sustainable goals that we want,” Ms. Ditebogo said and continued, “Climate justice is social justice and is also inter-sectional.”

She called upon the Church to continue leading on the plight against climate crisis and take decisive actions to help in elevating the society to adapt to more sustainable practices.

“Let us act now and act together, and let us think of the world we want to leave for the next generation,” she concluded.