By Nancy Lorence, Church of St. Francis Xavier NYC, Environment Ministry
June 10, 2025 – From May 24 through May 31, Catholics around the world celebrated Laudato Si’ Week and the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si’/ Praise Be (to God). Nancy Lorence, Chair of the Environment Ministry at the Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York, NY and co-founder of the Metro New York Catholic Climate Movement gathered the highlights in the reflection below.
The National Catholic Reporter published a series of articles on the 10th anniversary of LS, looking at the impact of the encyclical from different perspectives. One article highlighted the impact of Pope Francis’ firmly planting care of creation into the compendium of Catholic Social Teaching. The article quotes Dr. Erin Lothes, an active member of the MNYCCM steering committee.
A second article focused on how the last ten years have formed individuals involved in the Laudato Si’ Movement (LSM), quoting several trained as Laudato Si’ Animators.
A third article featured Tomas Insua, founder of the Laudato Si’ Movement, who examined what the encyclical means for our Church and the world. He considers if concepts like ecological conversion and integral ecology will endure and continue to activate the Church.
A fourth article highlights the Laudato Si’ actions taken by 10 Catholic diocese, including the work of the NY Archdiocese to make buildings mor sustainable.
An article in Ecojesuit offers a Jesuit perspective on the impact of Laudato Si’ over the last 10 years.
The Laudato Si’ Movement held a webinar that offered a wonderful look-back through ten years of major initiatives and events of the organization, which formed after the encyclical. Nancy recalls that the Metro NY Catholic Climate Movement was the second chapter of LSM to form (after Boston) and began with just give members.
A joint webinar sponsored by Catholic Climate Covenant and LSM/North America started with a message from Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development. Cardinal Czerny made it clear that Pope Leo XIV would be following in the footsteps of Pope Francis with regard to caring for creation. The webinar featured speakers from each of the seven sectors of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, where 32 dioceses and 251 parishes have reported on their action plans.
Together, this series of articles and webinars wove a message of hope and inspiration: Laudato Si’ did have an impact around the globe. It continues to flourish and generate concrete actions. Nancy offered thanks to Pope Francis and to all the people and institutions who have worked to bring Laudato Si’ alive in their part of the world. It is wonderful to see how we are all connected!
Nancy Lorence will be one of 20 delegates taking part in the USA East delegation of the Jesuit Integral Ecology Assembly from June 17-20, 2025 at Loyola University Chicago, where nearly 100 Jesuit ecology leaders from across the US and Canada will gather to deepen our collaborative work to care for our common home.
