Newsletter for January 2026, No. 12

Laudato Si’ Action Plan Newsletter for January 2026, No. 12

Welcome to the twelfth 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.

Note from the Laudato Si’ Action Plan Coordinator: Laudato Si’ is typically referenced as the “environmental encyclical.” This is understandable, since it is unique in Church history for its powerful and comprehensive message advocating for actions on climate change and other environmental challenges. However, the encyclical is about more than ecological concerns. It is about creation care writ large. We are to care for each other, as well as for our common home. We are to hear the cries of the earth and the cries of the poor. This is why these newsletters address a range of social and environmental concerns. This issue of the newsletter is no different. This month includes information about the recent international climate change conference known as “COP 30,” but it features the topic of migration, the harsh political response we are witnessing, and our Church’s call for compassion and accompaniment. I invite you to read these pages, reflect and pray, and then act in whatever way you can to further the cause of justice, peace, and love. Thank you. – Dennis Kalob

“You have in your hands a very great task, to accompany those who need a sign that God never abandons anyone—not the smallest, not the poorest, not the foreigner, not anyone.” –Pope Leo XIV

You Are Not Alone

In November, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released a “special message” on immigration and launched the “You Are Not Alone” initiative. This effort that expresses opposition to mass detention and deportations and solidarity with immigrants and refugees is firmly grounded in Christian theology and Catholic Social Teaching. We are to welcome the stranger and to show compassion and love for all people, particularly those on the margins of society.

Below are excerpts from the Bishops’ message.

As pastors, we, the bishops of the United States, are bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.

We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care. We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status. We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools. We are grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones.

Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation. We as Catholic bishops love our country and pray for its peace and prosperity. For this very reason, we feel compelled now in this environment to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity.

Catholic teaching exhorts nations to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants. We bishops advocate for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures. Human dignity and national security are not in conflict. Both are possible if people of good will work together.

The Church’s teaching rests on the foundational concern for the human person, as created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27). As pastors, we look to Sacred Scripture and the example of the Lord himself, where we find the wisdom of God’s compassion. The priority of the Lord, as the Prophets remind us, is for those who are most vulnerable: the widow, the orphan, the poor and the stranger (Zechariah 7:10).

In the Lord Jesus, we see the One who became poor for our sake (2 Corinthians 8:9), we see the Good Samaritan who lifts us from the dust (Luke 10:30–37), and we see the One who is found in the least of these (Matthew 25). The Church’s concern for neighbor and our concern here for immigrants is a response to the Lord’s command to love as he has loved us (John 13:34).

To our immigrant brothers and sisters, we stand with you in your suffering, since, when one member suffers, all suffer (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26). You are not alone!

We note with gratitude that so many of our clergy, consecrated religious and lay faithful already accompany and assist immigrants in meeting their basic human needs. We urge all people of good will to continue and expand such efforts.

We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement. We pray that the Lord may guide the leaders of our nation, and we are grateful for past and present opportunities to dialogue with the public and elected officials. In this dialogue, we will continue to advocate for meaningful immigration reform.

As disciples of the Lord, we remain men and women of hope, and hope does not disappoint! (cf. Romans 5:5). May the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe enfold us all in her maternal and loving care and draw us ever closer to the heart of Christ…

“You Are Not Alone” is a parish-based initiative of the USCCB to offer ideas, resources and toolkits for parishes to accompany our sisters and brothers. This initiative from the USCCB provides ideas and models from across the country in Catholic parishes for consideration.

For details on how you, your community and ministry can participate in this initiative, go to the website of Justice for Immigrants, a Catholic coalition working to raise awareness and promote action on issues related to migration. Their website provides excellent resources for Catholics committed to a humane, truly Christian, response to the plight of the immigrant and refugee. Here is a good place to start.

Also, click here for a short article from Catholic News Agency on the You Are Not Alone initiative.

The Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking. Where the world sees threats, she sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges. She knows that her proclamation of the Gospel is credible only when it is translated into gestures of closeness and welcome. And she knows that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.

—Pope Leo XVI

Of course, our own Carmelite province issued a statement on migration last August. Below is an excerpt.

This faith-based solidarity requires us to oppose recent US federal policies of mass deportations, ending birthright citizenship and DACA protections, militarized hardening of borders, removal of DEI initiatives, increased limits to legal migration pathways including asylum bans, ending of sanctuary sites, defunding of humanitarian organizations, and illegal deportations (i.e., deportations without due process).

On March 24, 2025, in El Paso Texas, a march in support of migrants ended in Sacred Heart church, a Jesuit parish a short distance from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. In the standing room only church, with regional bishops and Cardinal Fabio Baggio from the Vatican at the altar, El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz said: “This is a war on the poor. If we do not speak up, if we do not act, the war will have no end. We will act non-violently under the sign of the cross. We belong to one another, brothers and sisters; you are my people: documented, undocumented, people of faith, people of different faiths, people seeking refuge and hospitality… To all who live in fear, understand the church’s commitment in this hour of darkness.”

RECOMMENDED: “Making Life Unbearable”: The Impact of Immigration Enforcement on Families and Communities. This is a webinar from The Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University.

From Matthew, Chapter 25

…I was a stranger and you welcomed me…

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ 41Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ 45Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Note: Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition

COP 30

The global climate change conference known as COP 30 was held in Brazil this past November. It was, as has often been the case, a mixed bag. Positive movement and verbal support for action, but not nearly enough genuine progress. The Carmelite NGO provides us with a good summary with links for further reading. Below is an excerpt from their December 2 issue of One Page.

Two members of the team traveled to Belem, Brazil to take part in COP30, the UN Climate

Control Conference, held November 10-21, 2025. The conference was the 30th session of

the Conference of Parties (COP30), the 20th meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol

(CMP 20), and the 7th meeting of the parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA 7). That is a lot of

meetings! Renato Rallo wrote about his first impressions—including his belief that

expectations were low going into the gathering. But interestingly, the lacks that delegates

experienced at the site gave them an opportunity to experience what people who live in the

area experience daily. You can read more of Renato’s reflection here.

In an article he authored in Vida Nueva prior to the conference, Carmelite NGO vice

president Eduardo Agosto Scarel suggested integral ecology as formulated in Pope Francis’

encyclical Laudato Si’ replace the “technological paradigm” which so often dominates

negotiations. Fr. Eduardo proposes a relational approach linking social justice with

environmental sustainability, international solidarity with historical responsibility, and

political urgency with the need for profound personal and communal conversion. The full

article is available here.

Finally, Eduardo sums up the COP30 conference at its conclusion. Describing it as leaving

behind a “bittersweet taste,” he describes the positives and the looming negatives. He gives

some ideas about what the Santa Marta Conference in Colombia next April will deal with—

especially the fossil fuel blockade. The article can be read here.

NOTE: If you are not on the Carmelite NGO email list, but would like to be, send a message to that effect to LSCoordinator@Carmelites.net.

JPIC Grant Applications Due

A reminder that the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Grant applications are due by January 31. If you are a PCM O.Carm. member and would like to sponsor a JPIC Grant, check for the JPIC Grant Application email containing the link to the online JPIC Grant application form. Note that the grant application form includes the following question: “Discuss how your project aligns with one or more of the Laudato Si goals.” Descriptions of the Laudato Si Action Platform’s Laudato Si Goals can be found here.