Parishes and Dioceses

Catholic sisters living in a convent in northeast Washington, D.C., used to look out their windows at a big, empty field. Now they gaze out at a solar farm that, in spring, will have flowers blooming between the panels.

The convent sits on 14 acres of land owned by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington. A few years ago, the group decided to use that property to make clean energy.

A five-acre solar installation now generates enough power to offset the electricity used at the group’s 12 buildings across D.C.

“So it’s driving substantial energy cost reductions to the tune of well over $300,000 a year,” says Page Gravely, president of Mission Energy.

The California Conference of Catholic Bishops is joining Pope Francis in the launch of the Laudato Si' Action Platform (LSAP), which kicked off on November 14.

The LSAP is a list of seven goals that the Holy Father has outlined to help spur a worldwide grassroots effort to mobilize Catholics to take action on the environment over a period of seven years.

California parishes on Nov. 14 included liturgical messages on how we all can seek out opportunities to reflect on the call to be good stewards as outlined in the Bishops' pastoral statement God Calls Us All to Care for our Common Home, as well as Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si.'  

A group of 10 parishioners from All Saints Church in Syracuse, NY recently joined their pastor, Fr. Fred Daley, to both celebrate and bless two hedge maple trees on Lancaster and Euclid Avenues in Syracuse. The Caring for Our Common Home Team earned a grant from the Catholic Climate Covenant to purchase the trees from Rare Earth Nursery and they had members of the Onondaga Earth Corps plant the trees.