The Archdiocese of San Antonio has long endeavored to walk alongside the poor and most abandoned in our community. In response to an invitation from Pope Francis, the archdiocese has announced its commitment to join the international Laudato Si’ Action Platform, which originates from the 2015 encyclical from the Holy Father on Care for Our Common Home.
A plan will be developed in a synodal style of discernment to address seven goals, which include: Response to the Cry of the Earth, Response to the Cry of the Poor, Ecological Economics, Adoption of Sustainable Lifestyles, Ecological Education, Ecological Spirituality, and Community Resilience and Empowerment. “Everyone’s talents and involvement are needed,” the pontiff stated in Laudato Si’.
Each year, Catholic Charities delivers more than 50 programs and services addressing the needs of the poor and vulnerable, including creating organic gardens in the most economically challenged areas of our community and also operating the Migrant Resource Center/Centro de Bienvenida to honor the dignity of those fleeing danger and poverty.
The commitment by the archdiocese to the Action Platform brings a new depth and breadth to these efforts while responding to the pope’s plea in the encyclical that we recognize “the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor.”
“I invite all the People of God in the archdiocese to join me in reflecting on how we hear and respond to the Cry of the Poor and the Cry of the Earth,” states Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS. “Together, let us proceed in faith toward the fulfillment of God’s divine plan for us and for all Creation.”
Archbishop Gustavo will sign commitment documents regarding the Laudato Si’ Action Platform on Sunday, July 28, in Spanish at the 8 a.m. Mass and in English at the 10 a.m. liturgy at San Fernando Cathedral at 115 Main Plaza.
