On this feast of St. Francis of Assisi, we take a moment to give praise to God for some of our siblings now forever gone from this planet, and to try and deepen our union with all of God’s creation.

In an unprecedented response to the “grave threat” facing all peoples worldwide from climate change, Pope Francis and some 40 faith leaders have joined in an appeal for urgent action.

The invasion of public land by big landowners and illegal miners at the expense of Indigenous groups and small growers has led to record numbers of violent conflicts in Brazil’s rural and forest areas.

For many women religious, the Laudato Si’ Action Platform is an opportunity to be creative, writes Kathleen Bonnette, as well as a way to disprove the alarmist idea that their communities are fading into obscurity.

Dubbed the Xingu screech owl, the little creature was given a scientific name of “Megascops stangiae” in honor of the late Sister Dorothy Stang, who was assassinated in 2005 in Anapu, Brazil, while fighting for the Amazon forest and its people.

Pope Francis asked everyone to join a new global grassroots movement to create a more inclusive, fraternal, peaceful and sustainable world.