10 years of Laudato Si ‘: the emergence of a Christian ecology

For Louis too, years have passed. In June 2015, the young man was affected in the heart by reading the encyclical Laudato if ‘. Two years later, with Agnès, his young wife, he undertook a tour of Europe by bike to discover the reality of shared habitats.

At the time, the call to engage with family in this new dynamic of “integral” ecology (which links environmental and social issues) had sounded obvious. On the way, two children joined the adventure.

And in a decade, their investment has not weakened. If Agnès now works as a psychomotor therapist with families in difficulty, for Louis the quest for coherence continues. In recent months, the family has joined a group home with a social vocation of the Emmaüs movement, on the side of Vaudricourt (Pas-de-Calais). Louis took the opportunity to realize a personal dream: to create a herd of goats to produce and sell his own cheese.

The project of the Saint-Casimir goat is still in progress, full of a good hope. In this secular place of life which works as a small local fraternity, several members were marked by Laudato if ‘, But with nuances. “The text itself is not necessarily unanimous between us,” explains Louis. But it might be fairer to say that we express it and live it differently. For Louis, living in this text is reflected in a process that engages in its existence.

Personal approaches of this kind, the encyclical has generated a lot over the past decade. To the point of being able to talk about the emergence of a “generation Laudato if ‘ ».

Constituted at the beginning of Christians sensitive to longtime ecological issues, often engaged in the associative or political world and that the encyclical has confirmed in their choice, it has been enriched with convinced from increasingly diverse horizons; young professionals in search of meaning in their upcoming orientation; forties tired of exhausting professions in multinationals with questionable practices; Retirees wishing to take advantage of their time to get involved following the call of Pope Francis.

So many very different spiritual and political sensitivities. And all of them make this same observation, often confusing: if it is not easy to be a “catho” among the “ecolos”, to be an “green” among the “cathos” is not always so either. This social encyclical with an ecological predominantly has registered in the right line of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church, its reception by the greatest number will still take time.

In June 2023, a survey speak climate-fai rocha stressed that 56 % of practicing Catholics did not know what is talking about what is talking about Laudato if ‘ ! The document had however experienced a certain media impact when it was published, a few months before COP 21 in Paris in 2015.

Maintain networks

Laura Morosini is well placed to take the measure. This longtime militant ecologist, renewed in his faith by this major writing, first participated in the launch of the Green Church label in 2017. A few years later, here she is the Europe Director of the Laudato Si ‘Movement (MLS).

With this global network born in the wake of the encyclical, the work was substantial: “More than 18,000 animators were trained in 140 countries. And the documentary The letter, Which gives the floor to witnesses committed to integral ecology, has been viewed by more than 10 million people around the world. The ten Catholic organizations members of the MLS of the beginnings were joined by several hundred others.

In addition, 348 Catholic organizations have been committed, to date, to exclude from their savings all funds supporting the fossil fuels industry. A commitment to underline, as the sums concerned are substantial.

In France, French -speaking animators from MLS, from France, Haiti, Lebanon, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, are regularly found by videoconference, sharing their innovative ecological practices and the harshness of certain local social and political situations.

“Lately, it was a Philippin bishop who came to arrest representatives from Crédit Agricole Français, in order to ask them not to support a natural gas exploitation project, very destructive for Pacific ecosystems. »»

Transform social action

Another sign of mutations that take place in depth is the conversion to the ecological themes of structures previously dedicated to social activities.

The case of Secours Catholique, in this regard, is enlightening. The diocese of Besançon (Doubs) thus entrusted the local team with the site of Claire Combe: a terrain wooded of six hectares, with different reception spaces for people marked by painful experiences: out of school, outgoing prison, exiled or precarious people, etc.

The site was inaugurated on June 8, 2021 to make it an integral ecology laboratory. In the spring of 2024, for example, the weekend “Living the land in Claire Combe” offered construction sites, workshops and celebrations.

Without forgetting the launch of a game designed by precarious people, volunteers and employees, as well as many partners (Scouts, Social Centers, Emmaüs, Ademe, ATD Fourth World, etc.) around the articulation between ecological crisis and poverty.

A sign that the awareness is deep, the statutes of Secours Catholique are being overhauled to take full account of the ecological dimension in the project of the charity. The “cry of the poor” and the “cry of the earth” must be heard together, had already underlined Pope Francis in his encyclical.

Other structures operate similar conversions. The Apprentis d’Auteuil Foundation for example, which supports nearly 40,000 young people in social difficulty. Constance Gros, its coordinator in integral ecology, confirms it: “We have adopted integral ecology as the guideline of our pedagogy. A priority which results in numerous initiatives to commit and awareness of young people, but also through our training sectors for which integral ecology is a real engine. It is particularly important to train young people because future professionals and future parents are them. Their commitment is essential for today and tomorrow. »The educational and ecological campus of Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine) testifies to this: entirely renovated to reduce its carbon footprint at least, it now offers agroecology training.

In Loos-en-Gohelle (Pas-de-Calais), the Sainte-Barbe training center is dedicated to the trades in renewable energies, eco-construction and the circular economy. If the foundation is a secular structure, it continues to draw from its original Christian inspiration, now renewed by the encyclical Laudato if ‘. “Ecological issues are a way of making young people who are often behind on other subjects,” confirms Thierry Campos, the former director of the Meudon campus, confirms.

The fact remains that the adventure of integral ecology is not just a matter of eco -responsibility. The stake is also eminently spiritual and pastoral. About fifteen monasteries in France understood this and began to re -benefit their community life in greater proximity to the land and the concern of the “common house”. But the fall in vocations and the management of a real estate assets which often have become bulky slows down the possibilities of evolution.

The mobilization of new professional Catholic actors, in order to support these communities in their real estate transactions, testifies to the urgency to act: according to the Observatory of Religious Heritage (OPR), it is on average two convents or monasteries which close their doors each month in France. A young structure like Oykos is particularly attached to linking places that close with new pastoral projects, often attentive to the requirements of integral ecology.

Also used, for others, to take the measure of the natural and social heritage that constitutes the agricultural land of these religious institutions. Like La Foncière Agricole Laïque Terre de Lies, including the first audit of this genre, led in Alsace, had a significant indirect impact: the 252 parishes of the Protestant churches of Alsace and Lorraine (Uepal) recently signed an agreement with the Municipality of Strasbourg to sanctuarize their 1,600 ha of agricultural land, in order to promote a real agroecological transition.

Mix audiences

On the side of Christian spiritual centers, there is also a lot to do. But the Jesuit Center of Châtelard (Rhône) may well become, in the coming years, a salutary reference and a sting.

Fruit of a long process of discernment in the company, the project of ecological conversion of this spiritual center could thus emerge without arouse too many fears. It must be said that this large bourgeois building surrounded by around forty hectares of forests and meadows, in the Lyon hinterland, has many assets.

Xavier de Bénazé, who is part of the Jesuit team on site, accompanies the current process. Replanting of hedges, pond installations, more consistent meals with foods from cooperatives in organic farming in the region, etc. : There is no shortage of initiatives, while waiting for the upcoming construction of a new chapel “with a great panoramic vision in the surrounding region to help those who pray to contemplate the world entrusted to us”.

Ecospritical sessions now enrich the classic program of Ignacian pensions, bringing together public and long -distance spiritual quests. Here, as in other emerging places, the possibility of an ecospritity imbued with Christian hope takes shape.

The work is also done in the rest of the company. In France, the appointment of a Jesuit delegate and secular employees dedicated specifically to this task contributes to it. Gabrielle Pollet is one of them, responsible for supporting the transition from local communities. With the objective of carrying out a carbon assessment of the whole of the latter to “identify the main action levers”.

Scramble

The time has thus come to switch from the start of the beginnings to the deployment of new places and tools, to concretely support the still necessary conversions. The recent interuniversity degree in integral ecology is one of them.

Sister Hélène Noisette, co -responsible for the field of social and environmental ethics at the Loyola Paris faculties ,, Make up: “We feel that it feels good for these promotions of thirty people of all ages and from all over France to be able to reconcile their personal faith, their ethical reflection and their ecological commitment. »»

We meet, among them, lay people with good scientific and technical skills; but also diocesan delegates Laudato if ‘ including some priests. Training more than ever necessary at a time when, in French society and in church networks, ecological issues seem to compete with inerties, even sometimes lively oppositions.

Born barely two years ago, the Jean-et-Hélène-Bastière center, in the small hamlet of Berganty, in the Lot, took the measure. He thus organized, in the beautiful sanctuary neighboring Rocamadour, from July 13 to 15, 2025, a training session in integral ecology specifically dedicated to the ordered ministers, from the bishops to the deacons, via the priests. Almost a catch -up session. And above all, an opportunity for pastoral renewal for the communities they are responsible for.