Interview with Dennis Kalob | Laudato Si’ Action Plan

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW:

Ken Pino: So this morning, we are here with Dennis Kalob. The Province has an action plan to align with the goals of Laudato Si, so we’re going to find out a little bit about Laudato Si today and about Dennis.

So Dennis, I guess first of all, I know you’re also a college professor. You’re doing a lot of different things. So tell us a little bit about you and what you’re doing, how you came to be part of this.

Dennis Kalob: Okay. That could be a really long story. I’ll try not to make it too long. But, you know, the older you get, the more story you have, right?

Ken Pino: Yes. That’s right.

Dennis Kalob: Well, yes, I’m a sociologist, and I’ve taught in a couple of different places. I currently am at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. There’s a couple of Wheatons, one in Massachusetts. And I coordinate a program on criminal justice, restorative justice, and criminology with a special emphasis on reform and finding, you know, more creative and healthy ways to deal with harm that’s done in society.

But I’m a generalist in sociology, and I’ve taught a range of courses in that subject.

I first came to the Carmelites. Sister Jane Remson, who is the founder of the Carmelite NGO, I had known her for a very long time. At one point, she asked me if I could help out with the NGO. And so starting in January 2015, I started working with her and now currently with Father Bill, who’s now the president. And I’m the chief administrative officer of the NGO, which just means, for a lot of years, I just said I’m the person who helps Jane, and now I help Bill. That’s what I do.

But it was through that work with the NGO, which has a lot of emphasis on the environment and social justice, human rights, it’s because of that work that I got involved, and Father Carl asked me to help out the Province.

As I understand it, the Provincial Council was really interested in hoping that communities, Carmelite communities and ministries, would do even more to live the values and vision of Laudato Si, the Papal Encyclical from Pope Francis in 2015.

And it wasn’t because the Carmelites were not doing things. They were doing a lot. And that was one of the first things that I learned, that the Carmelites are very impressive in a lot of ways, but certainly in terms of living Laudato Si.

So I’ve been the Action Plan Coordinator now for about two and a half years.

One of the things I do is I put out a newsletter that comes out every other month, sometimes more frequently, informing the Province of what’s going on in the area of Laudato Si.

Laudato Si, the key piece of Laudato Si, is hearing the cries of the earth and the cries of the poor.

It’s been said that this is the first environmental encyclical, and there is a lot of truth in that, but it’s not exactly accurate. Other popes have addressed in encyclicals and elsewhere the values that we find in Laudato Si.

And Laudato Si is not just about the environment. Again, hearing the cries of the earth and the cries of the poor.

And so social justice, environmental justice, and I think the judgment was made by the Province that, as all the good work that was being done, we just needed to do even more, see what can be done to spur greater action, to really, as much as possible, live the values and vision of Laudato Si. And so that’s been my work.

As I mentioned, the newsletter I put out, I’ve traveled to many different communities and ministries over the last couple of years. I’ve gotten to know folks and have learned about the work that they’ve been doing, and I’ve encouraged them to articulate to me and to the rest of the Province what they hope to accomplish in the future.

And it’s been very impressive.

I guess close to a year ago, we published the Action Plan, a full Action Plan for the Province, which is essentially many pieces of action plans, action plans of this community or that parish or that school.

But together it is the Action Plan of the Province.

We’re going to be, in the coming months, reaching out to the folks who have submitted their plans and they’re a part of the larger overall plan, and to see what has been happening, right? How much progress they’ve been making.

But I should say, to go back to how it started with this, the Action Plan includes what many communities and ministries have already done. That’s an important thing to know, and I didn’t want to forget that.

And so, we learned from this document now all the rich work that has been done and plans for the coming year and beyond. And so, we’re going to be revising it later this year with updates on how things have been coming along and new plans for next year and so forth.

Ken Pino: I guess an important point to touch on, just as I was thinking of it, as you mentioned that, not that there aren’t initiatives that require an investment, solar panels and that, but a lot of these initiatives that are taking place and that can be done by others are not so much a financial investment as they are just a commitment to doing something.

So, you don’t have to have a huge financial input to just start doing some of these things.

So maybe you can talk about some of the things that the schools and parishes and those were doing. I mean, everybody’s going to think solar panels and that kind of thing, but some of the other types of initiatives that they’ve been taking.

Dennis Kalob: Sure.

Yeah, well, one thing that I’ve, you know, when I first got this position, folks have asked me when I would meet with them, what is it we’re supposed to do? Are we supposed to have solar panels? Are we supposed to do this?

And what I tell everyone is that you do what you can do, right?

Ken Pino: Yes.

Dennis Kalob: Learn as much as you can. I can help in various ways. And you figure out what are steps that you can take to live Laudato Si.

And maybe there’s a large financial investment that people can make. Maybe some schools, and especially if they get certain donations, maybe they can allow them to, you know, grants and that kind of thing, can allow folks to do that.

But maybe, you know, a community of two Carmelites or something, they may have limited resources, and what can they do?

So first off, I say that we all can do something. And let’s just challenge ourselves to do more.

And it might mean doing a better job of recycling or getting rid of single-use plastics. And when you go grocery shopping, you take the cloth bags as opposed to the plastic.

Dennis Kalob: You take public transportation or a bike instead of always jumping into a car, maybe, if that’s appropriate. You know, some people need to drive everywhere because they live out in the country. It’s all fine.

But you think about just living a little more consciously, purposefully, and with care for our common home in mind.

And so, like I said, you can do little things, turning out the lights and preserving, having a rain barrel to collect water for your garden or whatever so you don’t have to run the faucet all the time, and not using plastic bottles. Use glass or metal water bottles. Reuse them.

Ken Pino: So really, the first step is just being conscious of it.

Yes. And being aware and looking for opportunities.

Dennis Kalob: Absolutely.

And that can be difficult. You know, some of us are fortunate in our positions to sort of know what some options are. A lot of people haven’t given a lot of detail thought to some of these things.

So it might take a little thought to come up with not just ideas, but ideas that can work for you where you happen to be.

Ken Pino: Excellent.

So on some of the ministries, particularly the schools, I know we’re a huge starting point. What are some of the things that some of our schools have been doing in this effort?

Dennis Kalob: Yes. Many of them have solar panels.

They have vehicles that are maybe hybrid or electric. They’ve installed lights that are LED lights and lights also that turn off in a room when the room is not being used.

They’ve created some beautiful gardens that some of the schools have created which have multipurpose. I mean, it’s a beautiful garden. You’re growing plants and this is good for the environment, right? Absorbing carbon and so on.

But besides the environmental aspect of it, gardens can be just a place of rest and comfort.

I know some of the schools, folks have talked to me about how they’ve created these garden spaces because of Laudato Si and wanting to do something good for the earth. But they were also very concerned about the well-being of students, their health, including their mental health, and having a quiet garden for reflection and to rest a little bit.

That’s good for students and, for that matter, staff mental health.

I was very touched by how school leaders have talked about the well-being of students and being able to find things that are helpful to students, that help them with their mental health, or just help them become better stewards of our earth.

The schools have done some great work, and I don’t want to single any particular school out. I don’t want to do that. But they all have done some amazing, amazing things.

Ken Pino: I’ll take some of the heat here for this because I just visited Mundelein, and they have a beautiful new central garden area in the middle of the school.

And one of the things they specifically mentioned was that mental health aspect, aside from all the other benefits.

Dennis Kalob: That was certainly one of the schools I was thinking about.

Ken Pino: Yes. And Joliet Catholic, I was just speaking to Brother Conlisk about their community garden and their natural flower prairie section that they’ve done.

And we were discussing part of it is just the kids learning to care for something and understand what that is.

Yes. And everything that goes into a flower becoming a flower, from a seed to be a flower and the care that that takes.

So all of those things, I’ve heard them talk about directly when they’re talking about those things.

Dennis Kalob: It’s wonderful to see.

And the important thing, and you basically hit on it, is that when schools do something for the environment, okay, they’re saving electricity and they’re having a nice garden, but they’re also teaching lessons.

And when students go through four years of school, however many years they might go to a particular school, they are absorbing lessons.

And not just the lessons that are in the book that teachers specifically, today’s lesson is, but just by how the school is, the culture of the school.

And if the culture is about caring for each other and for creation, that’s going to have an impact on these young people, their families, and that’s going to continue in the future in their lives.

And so it has a real multiplier effect when schools can do this kind of work and be sensitive to these things.

Ken Pino: Excellent.

And I know we’ve talked about a couple of things, so things have been going on. The Province has been doing a lot of things that have been successful efforts, and I’ve seen them.

And Dennis is going to be traveling around this week, actually, visiting many of the locations here in Illinois, kind of talking about what they have accomplished and what they’re looking forward to.

Are there any set, this is the impact we’d like to have by this date, or just keep building and building and building?

Dennis Kalob: Yes.

It is that, just building.

I mean, ultimately, what we want to do, what this is about, not just this project in the Province, but just in the bigger picture, we want to work toward building a culture where we’re not necessarily purposefully acting to preserve the environment.

We just do that anyway.

That we’re not saying, “Okay, this week we’re going to do something for Laudato Si.”

You just end up living that life, right?

Ken Pino: Yes.

Dennis Kalob: And that’s where we’re trying to get to that point.

And I think there are probably a lot of families in the parishes and schools that I think are already living that kind of lifestyle.

They don’t necessarily, maybe they did think consciously about buying a hybrid car or recycling or something like that, but they’re doing now a lot of things just naturally, and that’s what we’re hoping for.

Now, we’re going to be revisiting the Laudato Si Action Plan.

So in terms of a date to watch, hoping that by September, that the various communities and ministries, the schools, the parishes and so forth, will inform me of how things have been going since last year’s plan, and I’ll be following up with them as well directly.

So hoping that we’ll have the second iteration of this Province-wide plan ready by October.

But it is an ongoing thing and, yeah, it’s exciting.

Ken Pino: Yes, yes.

It’s kind of, and I’m going to relate it from a Carmelite perspective, it’s like moving from, I say my prayers every morning because I’m supposed to, into that contemplative prayer, this is just who I am.

Getting to that point with Laudato Si.

Dennis Kalob: Exactly.

Ken Pino: And I know, of course, as you mentioned, Laudato Si, the encyclical focuses on not only care for the earth, but also hearing the cry of the poor.

And obviously, the Carmelites do that too, but the Laudato Si Commission Group is primarily focused because it’s the easiest place to make some big impact is on the environmental side.

And probably Justice and Peace and Integrity of Creation is focused more on the hearing the cry of the poor side.

Dennis Kalob: Yeah, you know, my role is really connected with JPIC.

Ken Pino: Okay.

Dennis Kalob: And I see us as kind of working together, and I certainly inform that commission about my work.

And, you know, one of the things that they do is fund projects. And certainly that relates because, you know, some things do require money.

Ken Pino: Yes.

Dennis Kalob: People need money.

And, you know, if they’re doing something that they can articulate as part of living Laudato Si, then that I think helps probably in getting the funding.

So we have this, I think, a good relationship.

It’s connected.

Ken Pino: Yes. I mean, a lot of overlap.

Dennis Kalob: Yeah. Yeah.

Well, Francis, in integral ecology, talked about, you know, Pope Francis talked about how everything is connected.

Ken Pino: Yes.

Dennis Kalob: And certainly JPIC, Laudato Si, it is connected.

Social justice is connected to the environment.

Ken Pino: Excellent.

If there was, and we may have already talked about this in the broader sense, but if you could condense that down into one message you’d like to convey to everyone on this topic, what would that little message be?

And that’s a big question. So if you take a minute to think about it, that’s absolutely fine.

I always have a question I throw at everybody that’s here. You totally weren’t expecting this one. Might need a few minutes and that’s fine.

Dennis Kalob: Yes.

Yeah. I think for me it always comes down to hearing the cries of the earth and cries of the poor.

And I always, I mean, that’s how it’s stated. But I like to also add a little something.

Hear and respond to the cries of the earth and the cries of the poor.

And I think that says it all to me.

I mean, that’s Laudato Si.

That’s being a good person.

That’s being a good Catholic.

If you really want to live your faith fully, I think it’s really important that you hear the cries and respond to the cries of the earth, God’s creation, hear and respond to the cries of the poor.

And everybody’s going to have different ideas on how exactly that can be done.

People are in positions to do a lot, maybe in positions not to do so much.

Some people can devote some time, some people could devote some money.

Some people can do A and B and others can do C and D.

And that’s all good.

That’s another important message. We all can do something.

And don’t feel like, there’s a saying that I think everybody’s familiar with, don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

A lot of people do not do important, meaningful work because they feel it’s not going to be enough.

None of us can live perfectly in this world. It’s an imperfect world.

We just have to try to do our best.

And you do what you can do.

It’s important just to reflect on the suffering that exists in this world, the environmental damage that has been done, and our moral responsibility, each of our responsibilities, to do something about that.

That’s how living our faith, that’s what you do.

You see the suffering and you get involved somehow.

Prayer, action, and whatever you can do.

I’d just like to leave folks with that thought.

We all can do something.

And even small things can mean a lot.

If we just all did small things, we could really transform this world.

Ken Pino: I’m going to tie that back to the Pillars of Carmel.

Contemplative prayer to recognize and understand what is and what you can do, to look out into the community and see where and how you can help, and ministry to go out and do it, to actually serve.

Dennis Kalob: This isn’t new.

It’s been around for 800 years.

But we all always have to be reminded of these things.

So that’s one of my main jobs, is to remind folks and encourage folks.

And certainly people can contact me if they have any questions, concerns. They need some resources somehow or information.

And if I can’t answer a question, I’ll find the answer or I’ll direct people where they can find the answer.

Ken Pino: Excellent.

And that’s on Carmelites.net and I’ll put these links and connections.

But of course, there’s the Laudato Si Action Plan. There’s contact information for Dennis.

And there’s actually, within the Action Plan from each of the ministries, then you can find each of our ministries.

If you’re near one of them or part of one of them and want to learn more detail of actually what they’re doing, that you could contact them directly.

Dennis Kalob: And if you’re involved in any parish, school, and maybe are moved to take action, greater action, maybe you haven’t been involved in your particular parish work or something like that, and maybe you are moved to get involved, that would be lovely.

That would be wonderful.

Ken Pino: And the other thing we’d love is your story.

If you are involved, we’d love to hear your stories to share with others of how you became involved, what you’re involved in, what you’re doing and how it’s going.

Dennis Kalob: Oh, absolutely.

Ken Pino: Loving it. Yes.

All right. I think that’s it.

Unless you have any other things else you’d like to share?

Dennis Kalob: No, it’s just, it’s been a great privilege for me to work with the Carmelites.

As I said, Sister Jane, over a decade ago now, got me involved with the Carmelites.

So my history, in some sense, goes back when I was a child.

My father graduated from Mount Carmel High School in Chicago many decades ago.

And he always spoke fondly of his experience.

It meant a lot to him.

And he had a prayer book that was Carmelite.

And as a child, I wasn’t sure what a lot of this meant.

I had never had the privilege of going to a Carmelite school or parish, even.

But it’s my dad’s connection that I always have carried with me.

And then I’m grateful for Sister Jane and now the Province for inviting me in.

And it’s been a real joy.

And I consider it a great honor to be a part of this Province and to do this kind of work.

Ken Pino: Excellent.

I’m going to give you a little homework because when you go to Mount Carmel High School, one of the first things I noticed the first time I ever toured there is, if you go in the original entrance, which is not the main entrance anymore, but the original entrance, there’s a threshold stone there that is very worn down.

And I asked if they could somehow make it a recorded rule that they never replace that stone because that is a visible, tangible record of all the lives that have crossed that threshold.

All the students, all the teachers, everybody who’s crossed it.

So I said, that stone needs to never be replaced.

Dennis Kalob: Great idea.

Absolutely.

Ken Pino: So your father will have been part of the history of that stone as it has worn down over the years.

So anyway, well, thank you very much.

I appreciate you taking the time to stop in.

I know you have a lot of places to get this week.

Dennis Kalob: It’s been great.

Great talking with you.

Ken Pino: And appreciate the work.

And thank you, everyone, for watching.

And again, any stories related to anything you’re doing at any of the ministries or anything related to the Laudato Si, let us know.

We’d love to share those.

So all right.

Thank you.