Advocate

Advocacy Ideas

1. Advocate first through prayer. In prayer seek God’s guidance and listen. Open your heart to be led in new directions and allow Christ to invite you to lift up the poor as you share their needs based on the impact of climate change.
2. Ask to set up a meeting with the pastor and/or parish leaders of your parish.
   • Bring a copy of the Catholic Climate Covenant brochure—in English ( 950 KB), or in Spanish ( 2.2 MB), to share.
   • Explain that you have taken the St. Francis Pledge and would like to invite the parish to consider doing the same.
   • Detail what you have done to pray, learn, assess and act on that pledge.
   • Explain that your meeting is the beginning of your advocacy to encourage parish leaders to take in the Catholic Climate Covenant.
   • Ask if it would be possible to present the Catholic Climate Covenant to the parish council to seek their input about encouraging the parish to sign on?
3. Present the Catholic Climate Covenant to the parish council.
   • Be prepared, check out the website, CatholicClimateCovenant.org and download a copy of the brochure—in English ( 950 KB), or in Spanish ( 2.2 MB), sent out to all parishes throughout the United States during the Easter season.
   • Let them know that you have taken the pledge and what you have done to pray, learn, assess, and act on the pledge.
   • Propose a plan for the parish to take a pledge using bulletin announcements to help the entire Catholic Community learn about the effects of Climate Change and how it impacts the poor.
   • Highlight that your parish may register your St. Francis Pledge and link up with other Catholics who have done the same.
   • Recommend creating a small assessment team of volunteers in your parish to suggest ways that different ministries in the parish can implement to pledge.
   • Recommend creating a small publicity team of volunteers that helps publicize climate change information to the parish. This can include articles and bulletin announcements ( 950 KB) already posted on the web. It would also help to look at the local impact and changes being made by parish in light of the St. Francis Pledge.
   • For those that want to go deeper recommend starting a Just Faith group and/or a Justice Walking group to invite small groups of adults and teens respectively to pray and reflect upon the experiences of those living on the margins of life around the world and in your neighborhood too.
   • Seek the input of the parish council and inquire about next steps and how you can help invite others to participate in making those next steps a reality.
4. Write or call your local civil leaders to let them know what your parish is doing to care for creation and the poor. Encourage these leaders to implement policies that address environmental stewardship. Explain the details of the covenant and stay up-to-date with public policy efforts in this area. See the CatholicClimateCovenant.org website for more information.
5. Use technology such as blogging as an awareness tool or one-minute You Tube commercials on climate change in your area. Champion the cause of the covenant with daily text messages or tweets.

Advocacy Links

• Catholic Relief Services: Advocacy Network
• Catholic Relief Services: Legislative Network
• Catholic Relief Services: Social Networks
• Find Your Elected Officials
• Franciscan Advocacy Network: Care for Creation
• Jesuit Advocacy
• U.S. House of Representatives
• U.S. Senate
• White House

Resources