Integral Ecology Pilgrimage

The inaugural integral ecology pilgrimage will celebrate the season of creation while listening to the cry of the earth and the poor, Australian Catholic University Integral Ecology lecturer and Laudato Si’ Movement co-founder Jacqui Rémond has said.

The series of six online sessions has been created as a dynamic, interactive and deep learning experience.

“It is about the dialogue process between people with creation and with each other,” Jacqui explained.

“The reason we are calling it a pilgrimage is because it is to take the next step on the faith journey together to learn about integral ecology – what that means for each person, what that means for each parish, what that means in each school.”

The pilgrimage runs during what is known as the ‘season of creation’ – a month-long period from 1st September to 4th October, when all churches are invited to celebrate, but also to listen and respond to the cry of the earth and the poor.

“We have invited our ecumenical brothers and sisters on the journey to really explore what it means to be human on this planet and to live life to the fullest,” Jacqui said.

“It is going to cover a range of ways of seeing ourselves within the context of that. There will be explorations from indigenous first nations’ perspective. There will be a weaving of scientific knowledge and social sciences as well and Catholic social teaching.”

Jacqui said the pilgrimage would tap into how we respond to the call of justice during our time of ecological crisis.

“That is a critical challenge,” she said.

“It is about taking the next steps together to learn about integral ecology, to celebrate the season of creation, and to live in response to the Laudato Si’ goals.”

The pilgrimage is designed to animate new pathways for the Laudato Si’ action plan in the Archdiocese.

“It is about seeing how interconnected we are in the scheme of God’s creation,” Jacqui said.

“And that has benefits for people relating to how they will be enriched through learning and dialogue together and being able to embark on this journey together, which hasn’t really happened before.

“There is a call to ecological conversion at the heart of all this work. That call means our spiritual faith journeys are connected in ways to the material world that we are still coming to understand. And the significance of that has ramifications throughout our whole lives.”

Register here: https://cgcatholic.org.au/integral-ecology-journeying/