Brothers Conclude Two Year Study of Laudato Sí

The defining gospel story of the Saint John of God Brothers is the parable of the Good Samaritan.  They share the widely held view that humanity is inflicting serious damage on what Pope Francis frequently refers to as “the Earth, our home”.  The Brothers see the environment today as being in a similar situation to the wounded traveler lying by the side of the Jericho road.  They see themselves as called by their charism of hospitality to be Good Samaritans who do whatever they can to heal the wounds of suffering Earth at the organizational and individual levels.

​On 5 December 2019 members of the Order living in Australia and New Zealand completed a six sessions course over a period of two years on Pope Francis’s teaching on ecological matters as outlined in his encyclical letter Laudato Sí.  Their guide in studying and discussing the topic was Mrs Jacqui Remond, Co-founder of the Global Catholic Climate Movement.  The result of the Brothers’ sustained attention to demands of today’s environment was a decision to form a Steering Group to develop strategies and plans for action as a Brotherhood and as individual Brothers. Such action will be reviewed from time to time by the application of an Integral Ecology Index Survey.