The Vatican asks each sector entity to address seven areas of concern in its plan. In his encyclical, the Holy Father stresses that everything is about relationships and interconnections; nothing stands alone. Multiple people and events are linked in many ways. Thus, the areas of concern overlap and, many times, are co-dependent but always have a focus on the good of all people.

The Response to the Cry of the Earth is a call to protect our common home for the wellbeing of all as we equitably address climate change, biodiversity loss and ecological sustainability.  Actions could include the adoption of renewable energies and energy sufficiency measures, achieving carbon neutrality, protecting biodiversity, promoting sustainable agriculture, and guaranteeing access to clean water for all.

Goals

• Identify potential areas for improvement in our ability to live compatibly in the environment God created for us.

Diocesan Actions Completed

• The diocese enrolled in the Laudato Si' movement on November 14, 2021 and thereby made a commitment to develop a Laudato Si' Action Plan.

• With the assistance of a grant from the Catholic Climate Covenant, the diocese will undergo a carbon audit by the Verdis Group, an engineering firm that specializes in sustainability and climate resilience planning. Verdis will assess the total carbon footprint of the chancery building and all associated operations and make recommendations to reduce their carbon footprint and move toward carbon neutrality.

• The diocese instituted a work at home day to reduce chancery energy usage and eliminate a day’s worth of harmful emissions from vehicles carrying staff to and from work.

• The chancery garden provides produce for the meals of retired priests who reside at the chancery, reducing the emissions caused by transporting produce from a distant location. The diocese replaced a large amount of single use/disposable cups, glasses and silverware with reusable counterparts.
   

Suggestions for Parish Action

• Reduce electrical consumption by switching to LED lighting and replacing standard switches with proximity sensor switches.

• Schedule energy efficient appliance replacements when less efficient appliances wear out.

• For decorative purposes, use potted flowers that can be planted around church structures or provided to parishioners rather than purchasing flower bouquets that must be transported from great distances and later will be discarded. 

• Hold sessions with organizations such as Iowa Interfaith Power and Light to educate parishioners on household environmental and energy efficient improvements.

Parish Accomplishments

• The far-sighted parishioners of St. Ann Parish, Long Grove selected geothermal heating when they built their new church. Later, they replaced all lighting, including exterior and parking lot, with LED fixtures. Three years ago, they installed a solar array under a power purchase agreement, which reduces their electric costs/demand on the power grid.

• Notre Dame High School, Burlington installed a solar array in 2017 under a power purchase agreement to reduce electrical costs and to serve as a model for others in the community. This resulted in other local schools investing in solar arrays to reduce electrical costs/demand and as a teaching device.

• Saints Mary and Mathias Parish, Muscatine has installed LED lighting and timers to reduce electrical consumption in its 100-year-old church building.

• Immaculate Consumption Parish, Colfax, plants trees as memorials for those who have died and encourages parishioners to do likewise.

• St. Patrick Church, Iowa City was built from the ground up as an LEED church, which means it implemented the international standard for energy efficient, eco-friendly structures. The church has many energy saving features in its electrical system and structure.

Suggestions for Individual and Family Action

• Plant a garden or assist with a community garden to provide produce for food pantries. Involve local ethnic communities in the garden to produce food native to their culture.

• Switch to LED lighting and energy saving appliances. 

• Design patios and outdoor areas to be eco-friendly, providing for the management of storm water and habitat for animals and beneficial insects.

• Take children to state and local parks, forest preserves and lakes. Make observations during these visits and study the place of each in our environment.

• Compost yard waste and non-animal kitchen waste to provide for soil enrichment.

• Replace lawns with habitat more closely resembling Iowa native prairie flowers and grasses.

The Response to the Cry of the Poor is a call to promote ecological justice and raise awareness that humanity’s relationship to the earth is special. We are called to defend all of human life from conception to death, and all forms of life on earth.  Actions could include projects to promote solidarity, with special attention given to vulnerable groups such as indigenous communities, refugees, migrants and children at risk, analysis and improvement of social systems, and social service.

Goals

• Recruit two candidates for environmental leadership roles as Laudato Si' animators (Laudato Si' Animators (laudatosianimators.org)

Diocesan Actions Completed

• The chancery houses a multicultural ministry office, an educational office and other support for family life; a social action office that assists parishes and non-profit organizations in the diocese; and an immigration program to assist families separated by immigration to reunite. Through grants, the diocese provides assistance to anti-hunger efforts, various child-related services, and community organizers working to benefit marginalized people within the diocese.

• Create outreach to the marginalized in the community.

• Provide welcoming materials and signage in multiple languages.

• Support programs such as Special Olympics and events for other-abled in the parish and the community.

• Work with refugee settlement agencies to help refugees and immigrants become established in communities.

• Support food pantries and clothing distribution.

• Establish a Creation Care Team to assist parish implementation of the plan.

• Our Lady of Victory Parish, Davenport has a Laudato Si' animator, who recruited a number of parishioners to participate in a capstone project of paring a grandparent with a grandchild in an ecological “Grand Adventure,” and continues to provide the parish with opportunities in support of Laudato Si'.

• St. Anthony Parish, Davenport provides food to the homeless at Mc Anthony’s Window, maintains a clothing distribution center, and has a book club that helps educate parishioners and interested people on topics of social concern.

• St. Ann Parish, Long Grove provides spiritual programming for special needs children and adults, and supports the Special Olympics and the North Scott Food pantry.

• Become informed by attending local presentations on homelessness, hunger, refugee settlement, immigration, housing, assistance to single mothers, community health.

• Participate in the outreach activities of your parish or social service organizations in the community.

• Advocate on behalf of Catholic Social Teaching issues with our legislators via phone calls, emails and visits to regional offices.  Be an advocate in your community through contact with mayors, city councils, and county boards of supervisors. 

Ecological Economics acknowledges that the economy is a sub-system of human society embedded within the biosphere – our common home.  The economy should exist for the benefit of all people, and not the other way around. It should not be the case that some persons are harmed to benefit others.  Actions in this area could include sustainable production and consumption, moving from a linear economy of extract, manufacture, use and disposal to a more circular economy in which resources are extracted in the least impactful way and use the fewest materials.  Other actions could include ethical investments (divestment from fossil fuels and any activity harmful to the planet and the people), prioritizing labor, and protecting the dignity of workers.

Goals

• One program offering per year for the remainder of the plan based on identified emerging issues in which proponents of business and care for creation come together to address concerns about climate change and actions to combat it.

• Conversation among business leaders and scholars at St. Ambrose University in 2019 on the topics of multinational corporate investment and corporate stewardship in light of our Catholic Christian faith. (http://www.catholicmessenger.net/2019/10/caring-for-our-common-home-faith-and-business-leaders-share-insights-on-stewardship-of-earth/)
• Suggestions for Individual and Family Action
• Individual and Family Accomplishments

Goals

Diocesan Actions Completed

Suggestions for Parish Action

Parish Accomplishments

Suggestions for Individual and Family Action

Individual and Family Accomplishments

Ecological Education is about re-thinking and re-designing curricula and institutions (foundations, institutes, professional societies) in the spirit of integral ecology to foster ecological awareness and transformative action.  Actions could include ensuring equitable access to education for all, promoting human rights, fostering Laudato Si’ themes within curricula and educational communities, encouraging ecological leadership (students, teachers), and ecological restoration activities.

Goals

• Enroll one parish in the JustFaith Faith and Poverty: A Global Response program, or a program in the JustFaith Eco-Justice Series.

• Present two programs to parishes, one featuring the CRS climate action (https://www.crs.org/media-center/current-issues/climate-crisis-facts-and-how-help) and one featuring the JustFaith series of programs

• Two Social Action staff members participated in the Faith and Poverty: A Global Response program.

• Provided a continuing series of articles and other material via email to parish advocates.

Suggestions for Parish Action

Parish Accomplishments

Suggestions for Individual and Family Action

Individual and Family Accomplishments

Ecological Spirituality springs from a profound conversion based upon the relationship of all things and all people that helps us to “discover God in all things.” We discover God in the beauty of creation and in the sighs of the sick and the groans of the afflicted, aware that the life of the spirit has a connection to worldly realities. Actions could include promoting creation-based liturgical celebrations, expanding our theology of creation, and developing ecological catechesis, retreats and formation programs.

Diocesan Goals

• Celebrate the Season of Creation each year (praise, prayer and action) from September 1 to October 4, the Feast of St. Francis
• Create a Care for Creation team with members from each deanery to assist in developing each year’s Season of Creation celebration. 

  • One special program will be offered each week of the season.

  • Social media posts and resources for praise, prayer, and action will be provided.

• At least one in-person prayer gathering will be offered, such as a mysteries of creation rosary, ecological Way of The Cross, or the Liturgy of the Hours.

• At least one gathering will be held in a rural community of the diocese, highlighting the significance of rural communities and the connection of the communities to the created world, including other nations.

• The celebration of the Care for Creation will include a listing of parish accomplishments.

Diocesan Actions Completed

Suggestions for Parish Action

Parish Accomplishments

Suggestions for Individual and Family Action
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Individual and Family Accomplishments

Community resilience and empowerment envisages a synodal journey of community engagement and participatory action at various levels, a recognition that society is based on communities of families, and an acknowledgement that all have a role in the health of the community.  Actions could include promoting advocacy for resilience and empowerment and encouraging rootedness and a sense of belonging in local communities and neighborhood ecosystems.

Goals

• Care for Creation teams will make two visits to local offices of elected federal senators and representatives to stress the Catholic Church’s urgent concern for action to counteract climate change
• One program per year will present the FEMA concept that it takes a community to respond to disasters in a community.

Diocesan Actions Completed

Suggestions for Parish Action

Parish Accomplishments

Suggestions for Individual and Family Action

Individual and Family Accomplishments