In 2022, the Concord-Carlisle Catholic Collaborative formed the Environmental Ministry to respond to the call of Pope Francis for all Catholics to take action to protect the environment and mitigate its adverse effects on poor communities throughout the globe. In our first year we initiated three projects. The first was to participate in the Laudato Si Action Platform which we joined in June 2022 and included the development of educational materials for Laudato Si. The second was to enhance recycling in our facilities. The third project was to support projects intended to bring water to communities in Africa. During the Lenten Season of 2023, our collaborative raised the needed funds to support two water projects in sub-Saharan Africa. As we enter our second year we have added advocacy to our Laudato Si effort and will seek to engage other parishes within the Archdiocese of Boston to join us in answering the Pope’s call. Additionally, we have added a new project intended to explore more sustainable energy generation in some of our collaborative facilities and also maintenance practices focused on sustainability.

• Volunteers to join our ministry and participate in achieving these objectives
  • Work to identify opportunities to generate & conserve energy in our parish facilities and operations
  • Work to assure optimal recycling at all church activities and operations
  • Develop educational material on environmental protection
  • Identify a partner to work with on water projects

• Parishioners willing to commit to participate on specific projects
  • Recycling of food scraps and textiles
  • Environmental initiatives for collaborative facilities
  • Exploration of facilities energy generation and maintenance which are more sustainable
  • Reaching out to other local parishes to join Laudato Si