Useful Resources for Dioceses & Parishes
The bishops of the Arch(dioceses) of the northwest and Nelsen, Canada issued
on January 8, 2001 a pastoral statement, The Columbia River Watershed: Caring
for Creation and the Common Good. The bishops established a consultation
process over a three year period listening to community leaders and representatives
of interested organizations in many communities along the river. This unique
international endeavor among bishops and Catholics in the region has helped
raise an ethical concern for the future use of the river.
The San Isidro Project Phase follows the 1998 release of the NM bishops environment
pastoral, Partnership for the Future, and the very successful 1998 state
wide ecumenical conference on the environment and Catholic social teaching.
In 1999, the San Isidro Project conducted a series of four mini leadership
retreats in various locations throughout the state. The purpose of the retreats
was to bring the NM bishops’ message closer to the parishes and to organize
a broader network of Catholics and ecumenical partners to address New Mexico
environmental concerns. The Project also hosted a state wide conference in
Las Cruces on the Feast Day of St. Frances (October 4. 1999) on the theme of
economic growth, the environment and the poor.
The Diocese of Lansing project organized six to ten parishes in the city of
Lansing to participate in a year-long environmental justice leadership program
for parish youth and adults. Day-long sessions conducted during each season
of the year helped Catholics understand the Church’s approach to the
environment based on Scripture, theology and the Church’s social teaching.
The emphasis was on the connection of spirituality to our moral commitment
to care for God’s creation. The training sessions used Catholic sacramental
theology to explore themes of the beauty and grace of Creation (Baptism); the
wounds of Creation (Reconciliation); the transforming power of Creation (Confirmation);
and a new vision of Creation (Communion). The intent after this initial organizing
was to expand the program to other regions in the diocese.
The Archdiocese of Hartford sponsored an environmental leadership retreat for
participants from the four dioceses in the Connecticut Catholic Conference
to reflect on Jubilee themes and learn about environmental and urban sprawl
concerns within the context of Catholic faith and social teaching. This weekend
retreat was designed to balance spiritual reflections and education/presentations.
This weekend retreat served as a focal point for further planning for a more
intensive follow-up effort.
The Maryland Catholic Conference, the Archdiocese of Washington’s Office
of Social Development, the Diocese of Wilmington’s Office of Parish Social
Ministry, and the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Office of Communications
co-sponsored an educational and organizing project. The initial training session
examined a range of issues from poultry farming and associated labor and environmental
problems to pollution of the Chesapeake Bay and urban sprawl. The training
included simulation exercises designed to engage participants in formulating
public policy options. The goals of the Maryland Eastern Shore Education Project
include increasing the awareness of the Catholic community about the environment;
encouraging dialogue among effected parties; and initiating community activities
to support legislation to improve environmental protection in Maryland. Additional
activities included hosting smaller leadership retreats of 20-30 church leaders
and a series of statewide conferences.
The River of Life Initiative is a joint venture of the Christian Service Department
of the Archdiocese of Detroit and 70 parishes. The project goal is to organize
these parishes in an effort to clean-up and protect the Clinton River Watershed
as part of a larger effort to deal with the economic, social and environmental
problems spawned by urban sprawl. The Clinton River Watershed is the second
largest river basin in southeast Michigan. Communities and neighborhoods in
the watershed continue to absorb population shifts and growths in a sprawl
pattern leading to the pollution of the watershed. The Environmental Justice
Program Grant enabled the Archdiocese and the parishes to begin to build parish
leadership to address this concern based upon the Church’s social teaching
about the environment coupled with a public policy advocacy campaign.
The Florida Catholic Conference and the Florida Council of Catholic Scholarship
(Barry University, Blessed Edmund Rice School for Pastoral Study, St. John
Vianney College Seminary, St. Leo College, St. Thomas University and St. Vincent
de Paul Regional Seminary) joined together as sponsors for this project. The
project initiated a scholarly and educational process offering support for
what Pope John Paul II has called “the Gospel of Life” across a
range of human experiences that touch upon the spiritual, familial and environmental
lives of the young people of Florida. Through a series of seminars, inter-faculty
dialogues, a state wide conference and a follow up public education campaign,
the consortium began to address the problems Florida youth face from the erosion
both of community and family life and the special environmental problems of
Florida. The project focuses on creating the intellectual support needed to
address these problems from a Catholic perspective tying this intellectual
effort into the public policy work on the environment of the Florida Catholic
Conference.
A significant problem in addressing agriculturally related environmental concerns
is the lack of understanding between farmers, ranchers and environmentalists.
Often this lack of trust and understanding inhibits effective environmental
protection. The Promised Land Network offers an opportunity for the Church
to pull together farmers and environmentalists to explore through dialogue
common values and goals that can serve as the basis of more effective environmental
practices. The series of initiatives the Network conducted as part of this
project sought to establish and sustain a dialogue among farmers, ranchers
and environmentalists that can serve as a model for dispute resolution.