Care for Creation
Franciscans are dedicated to the care of creation, seeing all creatures as brothers and sisters.
Saints Francis and Clare had a relational understanding of creation. All creatures, from the smallest to “our Sister, Mother Earth,” were sisters and brothers, part of the very family of God. Because of this, Francis was named the patron saint of ecology by Pope John Paul II. Following this tradition, St. Bonaventure developed a theological and spiritual vision that acknowledged all creation as emanating from the goodness of God, existing as a “footprint” of God, and leading us back to God if we are able to “read” nature properly. He spoke of creation as the first book that God wrote.
“Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically…He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.”
-Pope Francis, Laudato Si #10
Urge your Members of Congress to Oppose EPA Rollbacks
In a newsletter I receive from the Little Portion Farm (a ministry of the Franciscan Friars Conventual, Our Lady of the Angels Province in Ellicott...
Caring for Creation: Celebrate Earth Day at 50 and Laudato Si Week
As Franciscans, we hold a special place in our heart for our Mother Earth. We see our God reflected in her beauty and remember the necessity of a...
We Took the Plunge! Thank you for your Support!
January 25, 2020 saw crowds of enthusiastic plungers gathered at the National Harbor outside of Washington, D.C. for the 15th annual Polar Bear...
FAN Partners with Jane Fonda for a Fire Drill Friday
Inspired by youth activists as well as Reverend Barber’s Moral Mondays and Randall Robinson’s often daily anti-apartheid protests, actress and...
FAN Introduces a New Campaign to “green” Faith Communities and Dioceses
The Franciscan Action Network (FAN) holds at its core a deep care for creation which stems from our patron, St. Francis of Assisi. FAN sees the...
FAN Builds Coalition working on Just Transition
In the nationwide migration to clean and renewable energy, there is great need to implement a just transition that attends to the social dimensions...
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