The first online course jointly promoted
by the Roman Pontifical Universities and Athenaeums

ON-LINE COURSE ON INTEGRAL ECOLOGY From Laudato si’ to Laudate Deum

An Initiative of the Alliance Laudato si’ for the Care of Our Common Home (Pontifical Universities & Atheneums of Rome)

In 2015 Pope Francis gifted us Laudato si’, the landmark encyclical letter on the care for our common home, in which he invited all people of good to “a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet” (LS, 14). However, as Pope Francis recognizes in Laudate Deum, the apostolic exhortation published on 4th October 2023 - on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron of ecology, “our responses have not been adequate” and “the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.” (LD, 2).

The recently concluded Climate Summit in Dubai (COP28) has painfully demonstrated that we continue to remain largely deaf to the growing “cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (LS, 49). Time is running out. However, we are still to wake up to the gravity of the existential threat to life and civilization on this planet that we call “home”.

The unprecedented challenge facing the planet and people can only be addressed within the lens of an integral ecological vision that Pope Francis championed in Laudato si’. The rebuilding of our common home and our common human and biotic family calls for an alliance of all members of our household cutting across of all segments of society. It was in the spirit of this prophetic mission that the Pontifical Universities and Atheneums in Rome came together soon after the publication of Laudato si’ to initiate the Joint Diploma in Integral Ecology (2016) under the patronage of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development along with the Laudato si’ Movement. On the seventh anniversary of this collective and fruitful effort, we are happy to announce the launch of the English edition of this initiative to be offered on-line.

The Certificate Course in Integral Ecology is led by a renowned faculty of academics, leaders and activists from around the world, representing some of the major institutions and groups involved in the area of creation care. The Course consists of six modules of 90 minutes each to be held from January to June 2024 (on every third Thursday of the month from 13.30 to 15.00 hrs CEST/GMT+1), along with a Workshop in March and an international on-line conference on Laudate Deum in May.

The Course will be officially inaugurated on 25th January while admissions remain open up to 31st March 2024. The participants will be enrolled at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (the Course secretariat) with access to on-line services like the digital library, course material, etc. The enrolment fees have been intentionally kept low to facilitate wide participation, in view of creating the mass movement of people from below for the care of our common home and one another, in the current era of planetary emergency.

On completing the Course the students will be awarded a certificate on request. The participants can also become an official Laudato si’ Animator, thanks to the Laudato si’ Movement.

For interviews please contact the Gregoriana’s Press Office – Dr. Paolo Pegoraro: press@unigre.it

Speakers during the course will include:

• Susana Réfega, Executive Director, Laudato si’ Movement
• Mauricio Lopez, Executive Secretary, Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon Region (CEAMA)
• Rodne GalIcha, Living Laudato si’ Philippines
• Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and Salesian Pontifical University, Rome
• Arturo Bellocq, Pontifical Holy Cross University, Rome
• Sheila Kinsey, Former Co-Chair, Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, USG/UISG, Rome
• Erin Lothes, Director of the Laudato si’ Animators Programme, USA
• Angelito Andig Cortez, Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation - Order of the Friars Minor
• Prem Xalxo, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome
• Giulia Lombardi, Pontifical Urban University, Rome
• Dominique Lambert, Université de Namur, Belgium
• Jacqui Remond, Australian Catholic University
• Xavier Jayraj, Former Secretary, SJ Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat
• Michael Terrien, Archdiocese of Chicago
• Inocent-Mária Vladimir Szaniszló, Pontifical Angelicum University, Rome
• Celia Deane-Drummond, Laudato Si’ Research Institute, University of Oxford
• Allen Ottaro, Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability, Nairobi
• Antonio Molavin, Don Bosco Green Alliance, Philippines
• Mark Charlesworth, European Laudato si’ Alliance
• Claudia Caneva, Pontifical Lateran University, Rome
• Lindlyn Moma, Laudato si’ Movement, Advocacy Director, South Africa
• Jackie Miller, Partnership for Change
• Neil Thorns, CAFOD - Catholic International Development Charity, UK
• José Aguto, Director of Catholic Climate Covenant, USA
• John Mundell, Laudato si’ Action Platform
• Ivan Colagè, Pontifical Antonianum University, Rome
• Amy Echeverria, Justice, Peace and Ecology Sector of Columban Missionaries
• Michael Schuck, Loyola University, Chicago
• Tomás Insua, Laudato si’ Movement, Assisi
• Emanuela Chiang, Youth Pastoral Department – Salesians of Don Bosco

ADVISORY BOARD

• Card. Michael Czerny, Prefect, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
• Card. Peter Turkson, Chancellor, Pontifical Academy for Sciences and Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
• Prof. Mauro Mantovani, Prefect, Vatican Apostolic Library
• Prof. Luis Navarro, Rector of Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and President of the Conference of Rectors of Roman Pontifical Universities and Institutions (CRUIPRO)
• Prof. Piera Silvia Ruffinatto, Vice-President of the Conference of Rectors of Roman Pontifical Universities and Institutions (CRUIPRO)
• Prof. Mark A. Lewis, Rector of Pontifical Gregorian University
• Prof. Vincenzo Buonomo, Rector of Pontifical Urban University
• Prof. Andrea Bozzolo, Rector of Salesian Pontifical University
• Prof. Alfonso V. Amarante, Rector of Pontifical Lateran University
• Prof. Agustín Hernández Vidales, Rector of Pontifical University Antonianum
• Prof. Michal Paluch, Rector of Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas – Angelicum
• Prof. Jesús Villagrasa, Rector of Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum
• Prof. Bernhard A. Eckerstorfer, Rector of Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm
• Prof. Myles Allen, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, UK
• Prof. Dominique Lambert, Université de Namur, Belgium
• Sr. Sheila Kinsey, Former Co-Chair, Commission for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, USG/UISG, Rome.