Laudate Deum Reflective Reading and Discussion January/February 2024
The Conference Care of Creation Dream Group offered an opportunity for Presentation people to read, reflect, discuss and discern around Pope Francis’ Laudate Deum document. This six-week reflective experience was held in January and February of 2024.
You can view videos from each week below.
Below are resources that will be used for this opportunity:
- Pope Francis’ Laudate Deum
- Praise God – Group Reading Guide (PDF)
We used Bill Huebsch’s group reading guide for our process.
January 3 – Laudate Deum Session One: The Global Climate Crisis
January 10 – Laudate Deum Session Two: A Growing Technocratic Paradigm – Human Causes, Damages and Risks
January 17 – Laudate Deum Session Three: The Weakness of International Politics
January 24 – Laudate Deum Session Four: The Climate Conferences – Reconfiguring Multilateralism
January 31 – Laudate Deum Session Five: What to Expect from COP28 in Dubai?
February 7 – Laudate Deum Session Six: Spiritual Motivations, In the Light of Faith
“Laudate Deum” comes from a long line of creation care in the Catholic Church
While Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “Laudate Deum” was published on October 4, 2023, it is hardly the first time a pope has spoken about caring for creation as being integral to our Christian calling. In 2015, Pope Francis issued the prophetic and most widely read encyclical “Laudato Si.” This writing was addressed to every person on the planet.
Before Pope Francis, Pope Benedict was known as the Green Pope for his many statements regarding creation care and for putting solar panels on the Vatican.
On January 1, 1990, Pope John Paul II gave his World Day of Peace message in which he declared that “the ecological crisis is a moral issue.”
Centuries ago, mystics like Hildegard of Bingen wrote about the goodness and holiness of creation. Some 800 years ago St. Francis of Assisi wrote the “Canticle of the Sun” and is beloved for his humility, and his care of creation and of those made poor.