The Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN) has partnered with the Catholic Coalition for Climate Change for the past two years. As part of that partnership, we would like to alert all our members to the St. Francis Pledge.
In his ministry, among other things, St. Francis committed his life to nature. Today more than ever, we are all encouraged to care for our environment. “The environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole.” Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (48)
The feast of St. Francis of Assisi is this coming Monday, October 4th. A concrete commitment to advocating for better ways of addressing the challenge of climate change is by taking this pledge and following it up with some advocacy. Make your pledge here now.
This issue is important to AFJN because it affects in specific ways our brothers and sisters in Africa on whose behalf we advocate. Countries in Africa do not contribute much to the kind of emissions that cause climate change, but they are the first to be affected by the changes that are happening around our world. We encourage you to add your voice and muscle to this advocacy effort. So, as an individual or as a group, please take this pledge today.
St. Francis’s Canticle of the Sun (St. Francis, 1182-1226)
Source: http://catholicclimatecovenant.org
“We believe our response to climate change should be a sign of our respect for God’s creation.”
US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence and the Common Good, 2001
O most High, almighty, good Lord God,
to you belong praise, glory, honor, and all blessing!
Praised be my Lord God with all creatures;
and especially our brother the sun,
which brings us the day, and the light;
fair is he, and shining with a very great splendor:
O Lord, he signifies you to us!
Praised be my Lord for our sister the moon,
and for the stars,
which God has set clear and lovely in heaven.
Praised be my Lord for our brother the wind,
and for air and cloud, calms and all weather,
by which you uphold in life all creatures.
Praised be my Lord for our sister water,
which is very serviceable to us,
and humble, and precious, and clean.
Praised be my Lord for brother fire,
through which you give us light in the darkness:
and he is bright, and pleasant, and very mighty,
and strong.
Praised be my Lord for our mother the Earth,
which sustains us and keeps us,
and yields divers fruits, and flowers of
many colors, and grass.
Praised be my Lord for all those who pardon
one another for God’s love’s sake,
and who endure weakness and tribulation;
blessed are they who peaceably shall endure,
for you, O most High, shall give them a crown
Praised be my Lord for our sister,
the death of the body, from which no one escapes.
Woe to him who dies in mortal sin!
Blessed are they who are found walking by your most holy will,
for the second death shall have no power to do them harm.
Praise you, and bless you the Lord,
and give thanks to God, and serve God
with great humility.