The Catholic community is joining with the Earth Day Network to help reach the goal of planting 7.8 billion trees by 2020. This would equate to one tree per person on earth. Pope Francis's recent encyclical, Laudato Si, focuses on the importance of trees and their benefits to the environment as well as human kind.
Saint Kateri Conservation Center decribe their various ecological program offerings on their website:
"The Saint Kateri Conservation Center offers a faith-based program to inspire Catholics and others to restore yards, gardens, schools, farms, parks, forests, rivers, and wetlands into healthy habitats for people and wildlife. We do this close to home, where we live and work.
The Saint Kateri Habitat Program encourages individuals, parishes, schools, religious orders, and working landowners to restore their natural homes in a way that praises God and fosters a greater connection between people and nature. "
Jerry Freewalt is Director of the Office for Social Concerns of the Catholic Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. In this capacity, he serves as an educator and advocate to further the understanding of the Church’s social justice teachings. Jerry joined the office in 1995 as the respect life coordinator. Jerry also administers the respect life program, parish social ministry, rural life, jail and prison ministry, advocacy for persons with disabilities, and other education and advocacy efforts.
The Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach (CCAO) was founded in 1985 as the national advocacy office for the Missionary Society of St. Columban in the United States.
CCAO serves as the line of communication between Columban missionaries on the ground and policy-makers in Washington, D.C. Their mission is to work towards a more just, peaceful, and environmentally sustainable world by engaging in the political process guided by our faith and the Gospel. They work for structural change for the poor and marginalized populations Columbans serve around the world. Moreover, they advocate for policies and structures that bring society and the world into the right relationships with all of God’s Creation.
CCAO follows Catholic Social Teaching as their lens to engage in legislative advocacy and community engagement.
AOHD promotes activities concerning charity, integral human development, justice and peace within the Catholic Church's Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese. It operates under the purview of the AOHD Secretariat and Board of Management.
