The ceremony will feature various authorities and leaders, including the Secretary General of the Conference of Bishops of Brazil, Bishop Ricardo Hoepers; the Apostolic Nuncio of Brazil, Bishop Giambattista Diquattro; the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Ms. Marina Silva; the Minister of Racial Equality, Ms. Anielle Franco; and Chief Dadá Borari, from the Maró Indigenous People, and one of the protagonists of the film “The Letter”.

The National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB, as per its acronym in Portuguese), through its Special Episcopal Commissions for the Amazon and for Integral Ecology and Mining, the Laudato Si’ Movement, and the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM-Brasil), will host the official opening of Laudato Si’ Week this Monday, May 22. The ceremony will be held at 10 am at the Dom Helder Câmara Auditorium, at the CNBB headquarters in Brasília.

The ceremony will feature the Bishop of Rio Grande (RS) and CNBB Secretary General, Ricardo Hoepers; the Apostolic Nuncio of Brazil, Bishop Giambattista Diquattro; the Bishop of Livramento de Nossa Senhora (BA) and CNBB Secretary of the Episcopal Commission of Integral Ecology and Mining, Vicente Ferreira; the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Ms. Marina Silva; the Minister of Racial Equality, Ms. Anielle Franco; Laudato Si’ Movement’s Senior Manager for Ibero-America, Igor Bastos; and REPAM-Brasil’s Executive Secretary, Sister Maria Irene Lopes. Chief Dadá Borari, from the Maró Indigenous People, in the State of Pará, and one of the protagonists of the documentary The Letter (inspired by the Encyclical Laudato Si’), will also participate in the event.

The launch will be broadcast live on CNBB’s and their partners’ social media (Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter).

Schedule

Laudato Si’ Week activities begin on Sunday (21st) and continue until May 28th. With the theme “Hope for Earth. Hope for Humanity”, the event celebrates the eighth anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the care of creation.

The program includes a series of activities at the national, regional, and local levels, in addition to promoting a series of screenings of the film The Letter: A Message for Our Earth, inspired by Laudato Si’, in all regions of Brazil. Meetings with religious, political, and social movement leaders, a public hearing, workshops aimed at the youth, and an inter-religious service are among the proposed activities. 

Check out the Laudato Si’ Week schedule at https://laudatosi.my.canva.site/ 

The activities are part of the Laudato Si’ Campaign, launched in March, to promote the film The Letter as a strategy for raising awareness and mobilizing the religious community towards issues that are connected to the Encyclical Laudato Si’, which draws attention to the care of our Common Home.

The film amplifies the voices of social poets – as Pope Francis calls them – in a dialogue about their perceptions on climate and socio-environmental conditions. The protagonists establish a real connection with each other and the Pope. The dialogue among them creates the opportunity to trigger a reflection on Integral Ecology and the care for our Common Home. 

SERVICE 

Event: Laudato Si’ Week Opening Ceremony
Date: May 22, 2023
Time: 10 am (Brasília time)
Location: Dom Helder Câmara Auditorium at the CNBB headquarters  – Setor de Embaixadas Sul, QD 801 Conjunto B – Asa Sul, Brasília-DF.