On the occasion of the third anniversary of Laudato Si’, the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is organizing an International Conference on the 3rd Anniversary of Laudato Si’: Saving our Common Home and the Future of Life on Earth from 5 to 6 July 2018.
This conference aspires to communicate the deep urgency and profound concern for the precarious state of our common planetary home and reiterate the “need for substantial changes in policy and lifestyle to safeguard Creation.” It brings together representatives from civil society, religions, churches, scientists, politicians, economists, and grassroots movements to properly assess the extent of the ecological crisis and develop plans of action for the care of our common home. The goal is to spur in everyone an ecological concern that springs from our faith that everything in God’s creation was entrusted to our care.
Participation of indigenous and young people from Asia Pacific and the Oceania was requested with Ecojesuit coordinator Pedro Walpole SJ facilitating a session for the region and accompanying the indigenous group. Ten participants are now ready to join from Thailand (Chiang Mai), Indonesia (Papua and Kalimantan), Federated States of Micronesia (Pohnpei), Republic of the Marshall Islands (Majuro), Republic of Palau (Koror), Philippines (northern Luzon and Mindanao). There are also representations from South Asia, Latin America, Africa, among others.
The Conference is planned in connection with some of the major future events within the Church and in the civil society for the care of our common home: Season of Creation (Assisi, 1 September to 4 October 2018), the Global Climate Action Summit (San Francisco, 12 to 14 September 2018), the Synods on Youth (Vatican, October 2018), and on the Amazon (Vatican, October 2019), the annual IMF/World Bank meeting (Bali, 12-14 October), and COP 24 (Katowice, Poland, 3 to 14 December 2018).
Is it possible to share lessons learnt from such an important conference?