The Encyclical Laudato Si’ reflects on the origins and ongoing injustices of the ecological crisis. It encourages Catholics to reflect on our relationship to creation and our common home.
How can the encyclical Laudato Si’ inform the EU’s response to the COVID-19? The economic fall out from confinement measures is enormous, communities that were in crisis before have only seen their condition worsen, and the ecological crisis continues. A just recovery is the only holistic response to rebuild our societies with better social services, to be resilient to future crises and respect our common home.
On the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’ and building on our work to date, the main objective of the webinar is to provoke an exchange at the European level on the urgent need to address the current COVID-19 crisis and build plans for a just and sustainable recovery. A recovery that must put at the centre a radical shift of the dominant economic system towards a more just and sustainable paradigm where the economic, health, social, environmental crises are not addressed in silos but as one crisis.
We will do so listening from two keynote speakers, before exchanges and responses.
- Mariana Mazzucato, Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London / Founding Director of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
- Monsignor Bruno-Marie Duffé, Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Vatican
- Exchange among participants
- Reactions from Members of the European Parliament: Lukas Mandl and Patrizia Toia
This webinar is organised by ELSiA – European Laudato Si’ Alliance: a group of organisations joining forces in Europe to promote climate and social justice, highly inspired by the Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ of Pope Francis. This alliance brings together the following organisations: COMECE – Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU; JESC – Jesuit European Social Centre; CIDSE – International family of Catholic social justice organisations; GCCM – Global Catholic Climate Movement; Justice and Peace Europe; CCEE – Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe.