In our modern word ecology is an important issue, and the Church asks the faithful to live in harmony with and respect for nature. In his famous encyclical letter from 2015, Laudato si’, Pope Francis writes “I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all” (14).
In 2018 the Superior General of the Society of Mary established the “Marist Commission for Ecology”.
The Commission has three objectives:
1. To strive for a higher level of professionalism in missionary involvement through further education, research, teaching, publishing and advocacy.
2. To contribute locally by offering on-going formation, education, seminars and awareness-raising exercises for the local people in the respective areas of the Commission.
3. To contribute to living our Marist missionary vocation more authentically by working within the Society of Mary to help all of us respond better as Marists and Marist communities with the leadership of the Commission.