By Liam Michael Quinn, Congregational Communications Manager, Rome, Italy
Today (Jan 26), as we celebrate the second International Day of Clean Energy, we acknowledge some of the actions that we have taken as a Congregation in ‘Response to the Cry of the Earth.’ This Laudato Si’ Goal proposes actions that include the adoption of renewable energies and energy-sufficiency measures.
These actions are in alignment with the Congregation’s firm position to address the catastrophic consequences of the destruction of our planet caused by greed and apathy. Our pledge to the Laudato Si’ Action Platform marks our willingness to integrate each of the seven goals of Laudato Si’ into our life, mission, and, ministries.
Shortly following the publication of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, a solar power system was installed on the roof at the Generalate in Rome. Since it became fully operational in 2019, annual power and energy consumption has been cut on average by half. In addition, the new system has avoided emissions of approximately 70 tons of CO2 into the Earth’s atmosphere each year.
In the Philippines, our sisters took their initial steps towards ecological conversion as early as 2009 when they began replacing the lighting in their community garden at the Provincialate in Quezon City with solar lamp posts. The following year, they replaced their electric water heaters in the convent with solar water tanks.
In 2017, solar lamp posts were installed at their 2.8-hectare Laudato Si’ Farm, and solar roof panels at the Mountain Maid Training and Development Foundation in Baguio. On average, these actions have seen their electricity bills plummet by a third. “Our journey from fossil fuel to alternative clean energy is a work in progress, and we have a long way still to go,” says Sr. Mary Guadalupe Bautista. A journey which they renewed their commitment to in their most recent 2021 Provincial Chapter when they mandated the use of renewable energy throughout the Philippines and Japan.
Steps were also taken in 2023 in the Democratic Republic of Congo to integrate clean energy solutions into our ministries when Bon Pasteur Kolwezi, with the support of Good Shepherd International Foundation, installed solar panels on the roof of the Provincialate to provide essential electricity to the Bon Pasteur Centre. Further solar panels and solar lamps were installed at the 45-hectare Maisha Farm, to provide cost-effective energy to the ChaKuishi social enterprise project in agriculture and fish farming.
At the beginning of 2025, a joint letter was delivered to Pope Francis – signed by Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd and over 80 other congregations and organizations – requesting that Creation Day, celebrated on September 1, be elevated to a liturgical feast. This represents a prophetic response to the “signs of the times,” complementing the appeals of Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum.
Later this year, we will be sharing the Congregational Laudato Si’ Action Platform plan and further resources to encourage all sisters and partners-in-mission to become more aware of our responsibilities to hear the cry of the Earth and respond to her call.
In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis invites us to set out on the long path of renewal to care for the Earth. Our Congregational Call to Action to a Universal Culture of Justice lights our way along this path. It provides us with a flexible and action-oriented framework to empower and connect our communities globally to act in the spirit of Laudato Si’ and respond to the cries of the earth.
This is an urgent call for each of us to act with courage and prophecy!