When Pope Francis recently met with our Marist Provincials in Rome, he challenged us as Marists to pay particular attention to the area of Ecology. He stressed that we as Marist Educators play a critical step in working with young people who have a great passion for Ecology and are the best hope our planet has for a sustainable future.

In a further effort to respond to this, and to the Calls of our 22nd General Chapter, the USA Province has hired Mr. Sam King as the Director of Ecology and Sustainability to assist us in better responding to the Call to be in Solidarity with our Common Home. Sam has been specifically working with us to develop realistic responses and action steps towards the goals of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ Action Platform. He presented to the leaders of our USA Marist schools at the Marist Leadership Conference over the summer and invited them to ensure that all of our ministries will develop clear goals to respond more deeply to embracing and living an Integral Ecology. He has also offered a webinar called Living Laudato Si as part of the Marist of Champagnat Ongoing Formation offerings. Living Laudato Si is a two-part program which introduces participants to the Laudato Si' Action Platform based on Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment. During the webinar, participants had the opportunity to make personalized action plans to carry out in their home communities.