
Laudato Si’ Action Plan Newsletter for September 2025, No. 10
Welcome to the tenth edition of the Laudato Si’ Action Plan Newsletter of the Carmelite PCM Province. This electronic newsletter is intended to inform the members and partners of this province on our collective commitment to living the values of Laudato Si’ –hearing and responding to the cries of the earth and the cries of the poor.
If your Carmelite community or ministry has not yet contributed to the Province’s Laudato Si’Action Plan, you are strongly encouraged to do so. An updated version of the plan will be created and circulated on or about October 4, the Feast of St. Francis.
You may send your community’s or ministry’s action plan (or an updated existing plan) to Dennis Kalob at lscoordinator@carmelites.net by September 29 in order to be included in our updated document. Direct any questions to Dennis at that email address.
To view the Province’s Laudato Si’ Action Plan, click here.
Thank you all most sincerely for your commitment to living the values and vision of Laudato Si’!
Official Statements from the Province
The Most Pure Heart of Mary Province has issued official statements on two critically important issues: the situation in Gaza and the migrant policy crisis we are experiencing in the U.S. (with impacts far beyond).
These issues certainly relate to the lessons and vision of Laudato Si’. That document asks all of us to hear and respond to the cries of the earth and the cries of the poor. And by “the poor,” Pope Francis meant those who are at the margins of society. Those who are vulnerable. Immigrants, refugees and innocent victims of war are certainly included. In truth, Catholic Social Teaching over the generations has made clear our obligation to care for these vulnerable brothers and sisters and to seek peace. The two recent statements of the province are firmly in that tradition.
If you have not already done so, everyone is encouraged to read, reflect on, pray over, and act upon the messages in these provincial statements. They can be found here: https://carmelites.net/uncategorized/provincial-statements-on-gaza-and-migration/
Some may consider these statements to be controversial, but that may be partially due to the fact that we have grown too comfortable with silence in the face of injustices. The statements are meant to shake us out of this comfort zone and to face head-on the terrible and avoidable suffering that we see in this world.
Please understand that those who are suffering due to the mass arrest and deportation policies of our current federal administration in the U.S. and due to the war on Gaza need you. They all need you and your simple acts of solidarity and love.
“He who wants to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come in conflict with it.”
–Saint Titus Brandsma
Regarding the Carmelite Statement on Gaza
I have been involved with the Middle East, the Catholic/Christian — Jewish and the Catholic/Christian–Muslim Dialogues for fifty years and am more familiar with the issues than I would want to be. The entire scene is literally and figuratively a minefield. It is over and over been proven that the first casualty of war is the truth and it remains so.
While I understand and share the complexities and painful histories involved, politics disguised as religion and vice versa together with false equivalencies in misguided or cynical attempts to be “balanced” while well over 15,000 children are dead simply cannot be acceptable. Even some of the responses of different Catholic entities have been irritatingly anemic.
I mention the above because the Carmelite statement on Gaza is one of, if not the best statement that I have seen. It is most assuredly the best Catholic statement I have seen come out of the American Catholic context. Please accept and share with your colleagues my gratitude for your witness and courage of your statement.
Sincerely,
Rev. Elias D. Mallon, SA, PhD
Catholic Near East Welfare Association
Note: Fr Elias is a member of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, headquartered in Beacon, New York.

Season of Creation: September 1 – October 4
We are in the 2025 Season of Creation. Let us celebrate!
Click here for the Season of Creation Celebration Guide 2025: Peace with Creation. This includes some special messages, important background information, prayers and specific ideas for celebration and advocacy. It is a valuable resource and we hope you will utilize it.
We invite you to review and use this Catholic liturgical guide for the Season of Creation.
This summer, Pope Leo XIV presided over the first Mass for the Care of Creation. Here is his homily.

“Lord, make me a channel of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. And where there is sadness, joy.”
― St. Francis of Assisi
Again, an important reminder: If your Carmelite community or ministry has not submitted a Laudato Si’ Action Plan yet, you may still do so. To be included in the updated plan for the province, please send your plan to Dennis Kalob at lscoordinator@carmelites.net by September 29. Your plan can be simple or elaborate. But please, take that step forward for God’s creation. Many thanks!
“These actions are not just projects, they reflect a shift in lifestyle, rooted in our faith and our call to care for God’s creation.”
-From the Whitefriars Hall Laudato Si’ Action Plan