Catholic Earthcare to host Season of Creation workshop in September

Caritas Australia’s Catholic Earthcare team is inviting the Catholic community – including schools, parishes, diocese, organisations, and religious orders – to join its 2024 Season of Creation convocation.

Taking place from Thursday, September 12 to Saturday, September 14, the convocation will call participants to ‘Wonder’, ‘Weave’ and ‘Heal’ together. Attendees will enjoy keynote presentations, workshops, discussions, and spiritual experiences, before gathering to transform learnings into action.

Keynote speakers include Sr Anne-Maree O’Beirne RSM, Pedro Walpole and Sally Neaves.

Anne-Maree O’Beirn is a spiritual director and member of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea and was a founding member of Rahamim Ecology Centre in Bathurst.
Pedro Walpole is the Director of Research at the Institute of Environmental Science for Social Change in the Philippines and the leader of Ecojesuit the Global Ignatian Advocacy Network (GIAN) for Ecology.
Sally Neaves is the Eco-Education Coordinator at Rahamim Ecology Centre, a ministry of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Daily convocation themes include:

Day one: Wonder, during which participants will be invited to gaze with awe and wonder at the gift of creation and to come to a deep awareness of the times we live in.
Day two: Weave, with a focus on discerning a path forward through story-telling and deep weaving with our communities.
Day three: Heal, where attendees come together to heal our relationship with creation and act within our communities for change.

Alice Carwardine, Catholic Earthcare Coordinator for Caritas Australia, said “As Catholics we are called by God, and the writings of Pope Francis, to show greater care for our common home. This convocation will give Catholic communities across Australia the opportunity to engage in collective action to bring that mission to bear.”

Events will be held in Cairns, Brisbane, Maitland-Newcastle, Broken Bay, Sydney, Bathurst, Parramatta, Canberra-Goulburn, Sandhurst, Melbourne and Perth.

Find out more and sign up here: https://www.caritas.org.au/soc-convocation/

Media contact: Tara Harvey 0484 002 021 tara.harvey@caritas.org.au or caritasmedia@caritas.org.au

We are a community of communities from the Murray to the sea.
Inspired by the Gospel and nourished by the Eucharist, we follow the example of Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, reaching out in joyful and humble service, caring for all of God’s creation, growing in love day by day and looking forward to life with God forever.

Diocesan Vision Statement

In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands in which the Diocese of Ballarat sits. We would like to pay our respects to Aboriginal Elders past, present and future. Their wisdom can help us care for the earth, our common home.

- Acknowledgement of Country -