JOURNEYING
The Journey begins in practice when an initial group of students, faculty, administration, and local community members gather and reflect on what their committed university is currently doing and aspiring to do for care of the common home. These reflections are then discussed within the context of the Journey, which asks how the university’s actions can be:
ENRICHED
…by a shared vision of people working for environmental sustainability in one area of the university necessarily linked to the efforts of people working in all other areas of the university
EXPANDED
…into new, transformative nonviolent actions that advance Pope Francis’ 7 Laudato Si’ goals
EMPOWERED
…by an ecological conversion that open minds and hearts to the sacred task of caring for our common home
ENLARGENED
…by collaboration with other international universities on the Journey.
Universities may take the first year of their Journey finding out what their current actions are as they consider them in relation to Pope Francis’ 7 Laudato Si’ goals and imagine how they might enhance and increase their actions over a period of seven years. The goal is to have a Laudato Si’ Action Plan created by the university and for the university. This Action Plan would be rolled out at the beginning of Year 1 and annually evaluated in Years 2-6. Year 7 would mark a time of celebration and official Vatican recognition of the institution as a Laudato Si‘ University.
Three things are required of committed universities by the Vatican Dicastery.
At the start of the Journey
…the university uploads to the Action Platform a brief document or video explaining how the university’s mission is connected to Pope Francis’ 7 Laudato Si’ goals and completes a baseline evaluation (on the Action Platform Dashboard) to establish a starting point for the Journey.
within the first year of the Journey
…the university uploads its 7-Year Action Plan to the Action Platform.
at the end of each Journey year
…the university uploads to the Action Platform a short document or video that communicates how its Journey effort is going. Of special importance is sharing how the Journey has (or has not) invigorated the university’s mission to heal the Earth, build relationships with other universities on the Journey, and bring its community into a greater sense of God’s presence in nature and in the work of caring for our common home.
These are the main stepping stones for Journeying with Pope Francis on his 7-Year integral ecology project. Further details and assistance is available by contacting Pathways staff at ijep@luc.edu.
The support given on this website is:
An introduction to the Journey and the Vatican Dicastery’s commitment and enrollment procedure.
A set of outcomes and action examples for each of Pope Francis’ 7 Laudato Si’ Goals
A discussion of the relationship between the Journey and other preexisting programs for environmental sustainability.
An explanation of what is required by the Dicastery of committed universities in the first year and the subsequent six years of the Journey.
Committed Universities Map
Join our growing network of Universities committed to the Journey and the teachings of Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’. Consider teaming up with one or more universities anywhere in the world to share Journey experiences and resources. For assistance in teaming up. contact us at IJEP@luc.edu.