We hope that you had a joyous, and safe, Easter celebration, and also found rest within the Octave of Easter! We in the NPM national office are still singing our Alleluias with Easter joy. We are especially grateful for you, our members, our pastoral musicians, who led so many of our faithful through Triduum with your music. Your work leaves such a profound mark on our Church’s journey through all of the liturgical seasons, but especially as we journey through Holy Week, through Christ’s death and resurrection. If no one has told you this today, your presence in your parish matters, and God has given you the gift of music ministry to bring His presence to others through you. So thank you for all that you do.
Today on the podcast we take a moment to reflect on the impact that we, as Catholics, can have for our climate and our world today. With the upcoming Earth Day celebration, as well as Pope Francis’s recent encyclical, Laudato Sí, we reached out to our friends at the Catholic Climate Covenant to discuss the responsibility that we, as Catholics, have to the care of our earth. Where does care for creation lie within the Church’s Catholic social teaching? What can we do to raise awareness?
Jose Aguto was kind enough to sit down and discuss all of these things with me today. Jose is the Associate Director of the Catholic Climate Covenant, a nonprofit based in Washington, DC that seeks to care for both creation and the poor.
Lastly, please note that this interview was made into a video podcast as well! You can watch the video version of this episode, including a slide show presented by Jose. The video version of this episode can be found on NPM’s YouTube channel, NPM Livestream, and can also be found in the “show notes” of this episode at ministrymonday.org.
SHOW NOTES
Bio: Jose Aguto
Jose is the Associate Director of the Catholic Climate Covenant, which collaborates with other Catholic organizations to advance the Church's call for us to love and care for God's creation and our vulnerable neighbors. Building bridges across differences is an important component of this work. Before joining the Covenant, Jose worked for the Friends Committee on National Legislation, the National Congress of American Indians, and EPA's American Indian Environmental Office. He graduated from Brown University and Villanova Law School and served with the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division.
Resources (Provided by the Catholic Climate Covenant)
USCCB, Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good, 2001
Pope Benedict XVI, World Day Of Peace, If You Want To Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation, 1 January 2010
Pope John Paul II, World Day Of Peace, Peace With God The Creator, Peace With All Of Creation, 1 January 1990
Catholic Climate Covenant programs
Catholic Energies – [forgot to mention] turnkey operation that enables parishes to deploy renewable energy (see projects including e.g., 16 parishes in the Diocese of Richmond, with Catholic Charities ADW, the largest solar array in DC}
Upcoming programs and events
April 7 and April 20 - webinars currently focusing on environmental justice and indigenous issues
April 22 - Covenant’s Earth Day program
July 13-15 - Covenant’s 2021 Conference: Laudato Si’ and the U.S. Catholic Church
May-Oct - Vatican’s Laudato Si’ Action Platform (more coming soon on the Covenant’s website in late May)
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