Next week, Viatorians from the Province of Chicago will gather in Las Vegas for the annual Provincial Assembly. One of the themes they will explore will be formulating a Viatorian response to Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’.
Fr. Dan Belanger and Associates Ky Guerrero and Anthony Gugino, back, listen intently.
Viatorians in Las Vegas got a head start on them. They gathered Saturday at Cristo Rey St. Viator College Prep for a one-day retreat that aimed to educate them about Laudato Si’ and formulate an action plan.
They heard first from Dr. Christina Bagaglio Slentz, who is a Peace & Justice Associate Director for Creation Care in the San Diego Diocese. In her presentation, In Light of Laudato Si’, she highlighted the issue of environmental degradation and the dire need for good stewardship.
She unpacked the dynamics of injustice and estrangement from God, nature and one another that lie within the human systems of over-consumption and hyper-individualization, that have degraded our communal gift of creation.
Dr. Slentz speaks about Laudato Si’ to Catholic groups across the country. One week before she met with Viatorians in Las Vegas she gave a similar presentation at the University of Notre Dame, her alma mater, for members of the Notre Dame community as well as the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.
Dr. Christina Bagaglio Slentz
Viatorians also heard from Sr. Sara Tarango, who is a member of Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. In California, she is affectionately known as “Sister Soil” for her interest in promoting healthy soil.
At the retreat, she described the impact of putting so many synthetic inputs into the soil, including herbicide, pesticide, fungicide and insecticide; as well as the adverse effect of heavy tilling. All of those are killing the life within the soil, she says.
Sr. Sara Tarango, CSJ
The retreat drew professed and associates, who join with Viatorians around the world in finding ways to reduce their carbon footprint and take better Care for our Common Home, as Pope Francis described in Laudato Si’.