Laudato Si’ and Community Resilience & Empowerment By Sister Judith Herold Goal 7 of Laudato Si’—Community Resilience & Empowerment—emphasizes community involvement and action aimed at caring for our common home. It asks each of us to organize and activate our communities to work toward solutions to the ecological crisis we all face. This goal reminds us that, although our responsibilities...Read more

By Sister Mary Heather MacKinnon The Season of Creation – What is it and how did it begin? The Season of Creation is a theological and liturgical time designated to celebrate our human relationship with all of creation. It is now a global and ecumenical movement that began in 1989 when Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I declared September 1 as a...Read more

By Sister Helen Galadima The Laudato Si’ Action Platform, Goal One: Cry of the Earth holds a special place in the lives of the School Sisters of Notre Dame Province of Africa and the entire congregation. We become a Laudato Si’ congregation the moment we commit ourselves to the seven-year goals of Laudato Si’. In Laudato Si’, the concept of...Read more

By Sister Kathy Schmittgens “The Response to the Cry of the Poor is a call to promote eco-justice, aware that we are called to defend human life from conception to death, and all forms of life on Earth. Actions could include projects to promote solidarity, with special attention given to vulnerable groups such as indigenous communities, refugees, migrants, and children...Read more

By Ethel Howley, SSND Something is afoot in our world and also in the Universe. There is a growing sense that the networks involving ecology, economics, politics, and technology are all interconnected. At the same time, Laudato Si’ is calling everyone to explore our common home and respond to both the cry of the earth and to the cry of...Read more

The Use of Natural Resources at Notre Dame Girls Senior High School By Sister Emelia Ayambire Agana  The presence of the School Sisters of Notre Dame at Notre Dame Girls Senior High School in Sunyani, Ghana, has made a great impact on the lives of both staff and students. The influence has come not only through classroom knowledge but also...Read more

From May 21 to 28, we celebrate Laudato Si’ Week 2023! This year’s guiding theme is “Hope for the Earth. Hope for humanity.” What is Laudato Si’ Week? Laudato Si’ Week began as a way to celebrate the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ papal encyclical letter, “Laudato Si’: On Care For Our Common Home.” Since then, the annual celebration has...Read more

By Sister Maxine Pohlman The Laudato Si’ Action Platform’s goal of ecological education holds a special place in the lives of School Sisters of Notre Dame as we strive to be a Laudato Si’ congregation. In the prologue to You Are Sent, our SSND Constitution, we are reminded that from the beginning our congregation has been about “educating with a...Read more

By Sister Catherine “Missy” Gugerty It was near perfect timing! I arrived just as the shuttle bus came rolling onto the campus filled with excited children ranging in age from 8–12 years old from an outreach center in an economically depressed area of Baltimore. The bus came to a stop at one of my favorite spots on campus – an...Read more

By Sister Mary Heather MacKinnon As School Sisters of Notre Dame, associates and colleagues, we have made a public commitment to respond to Pope Francis’ call for us to be a Laudato Si’ congregation.[1] This seven-year commitment requires that we support and do our best to carry out the seven international goals proposed by Pope Francis and the Laudato Si’...Read more