Sowing Hope for the Planet

Newsletter, October 2022

Dear Participants,

I hope that you are all happy and well! In this newsletter, I would like to tell you about some webinars, resources, and upcoming events that would help in your journey towards Laudato Si'. In November, we will be presenting for the third year, the JPIC Formation Workshop. This week long event will feature a variety of exciting speakers on subject such as Christ's legacy of peace, synodality, nonviolence and peace building, and many others. Participants will also have opportunities to interact with each other for network building. If you would like to attend this energetic event, registration is still open. Please also consider that now, until November 15, is a time of prayer and reflection regarding those who are working with the Laudato Si' Action Platform and those who are discerning if they want to join. 

This year we will witness the COP27. One of their major goals this year is to honor the commitments of previous conferences. Please pray for them and their important work. The Letter, a wonderful documentary on Pope Francis and Laudato Si' was premiered this month. It is now available on YouTube to watch for free. We have also recorded the recent Pax Christi webinar on Catholic nonviolence. It is available on our website.

Please continue to pray for all who are experiencing the effects of extreme weather, such as the people of Cuba, Florida, and Nicaragua who are dealing with the after effects of hurricanes. We must also remember to pray for and end to the Ukraine conflict and for those suffering from conflict in other areas. In these stressful times, please remember the gains and success that we have had in preserving biodiversity and the environment, and in protecting the rights and dignity of the poor and vulnerable. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do!



Sr. Sheila Kinsey, FCJM

Campaign Coordinator Sowing Hope for the Planet.

JPIC Formation Workshop

28 November - 2 December 2022



Our JPIC Formation Workshop will be an innovative experience in the spirit of Pacem in Terris and Laudato Si'. This will be an opportunity to reflect on how the vital message of these significant documents is important for us today. The five-day journey from Monday, November 28, to Friday, December 2, will provide new JPIC Promoters and those continuing in this service with tools needed to vitalize their ministry and animate members of their Congregation.

We will begin with the foundations of the legacy of Christ’s peace to the world and elaborate on themes exploring how religious can connect to the needs and concerns challenging us today. The workshop will focus on the integrative values for building peace in caring for the environmental and social concerns of our common home. During these days we will experience both theoretical and practical aspects that will help JPIC Promoters understand their role. This formation will focus on the methodology of See, Judge, and Act.

Our mission is to transform the world in the spirit of the Gospel through conscious prayer and sacred action, leading lives of justice, peace and care for the integrity of creation (JPIC).

To register for the program, please follow this link or email [email protected]

COP27

The 27^th session of the Conference of the Parties will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, November 7-18, 2022. Discussions will focus on the themes of energy, finance, decarbonization, adaptation, biodiversity, and agriculture. Held in Egypt, it is hoped that this year's conference will be the "African COP" as African countries are facing some of the worst impacts of climate change. An ongoing challenge that the COP27 will undertake is the task of continuing to work to ensure that previous commitments, such as the COP27 Paris Agreement, are honored.

COP27 website

The Letter Movie Premiere

Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on climate change and ecology, offers a transformative new vision of environmental protection. The Laudato Si’ Movement, in partnership with Off the Fence Productions, is collaborating with the Vatican to release the Laudato Si’ film October 4, 2022. The film premiered in Vatican City on the Feast of St. Francis that closed the Season of Creation. The entire film is now available to watch on the YouTube Originals channel for free. The film will bring Pope Francis’ vision of integral ecology to life.

Pax Christi Webinar

From 21 September (International Day of Peace) and 2 October (International Day of Nonviolence) the Pax Christi celebrated the third year of the Catholic Nonviolence Days of Action. The theme for 2022 was: “Blessed is every step toward nonviolence.”, acknowledging that a life of nonviolence is a process that takes daily work. Pax Christi invites you to take steps that broaden your understanding of its many facets, steps that deepen your faith in the nonviolent message of the Gospel, and steps that increase your engagement as we build a nonviolent world for all of God’s creation. For more information visit the following link.

UN International Days for October

6 November—International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. Action on the environment is part of conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding strategies—because there can be no durable peace if the natural resources that sustain livelihoods and ecosystems are destroyed.

16 November—International Day for Tolerance. The United Nations has launched a campaign to promote tolerance, respect and dignity across the world. TOGETHER is a global campaign that aims to reduce negative perceptions and attitudes towards refugees and migrants, and to strengthen the social contract between seven host countries and communities, and refugees and migrants.

• Amazonize Awareness Project
• Mercy International Reflection Process (MIRP)

20 November—Universal Children’s Day promotes and celebrates the rights of children, including the right to life, to health, to education and to play, as well as the right to family life, to be protected from violence, to not be discriminated, and to have their views heard.

• Booklet for Teaching Children How to Care for God’s Creation
• Care For Our Common Home—FMA Philippines
• Equatorial Guinea—Somos Protagonistas Del Cambio! Un Gesto Por La Tierra

20 November—Africa Industrialization Day draws attention to the efforts of governments and other organizations in many Africa countries to examine ways to stimulate Africa’s economy.

• Prayer On Artisanal Mining in French and English
• Plastics in Kenya

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