From Laudato Si' to Laudate Deum to Pope Leo: A Path Toward Net Zero
Ten years ago, Pope Francis gave the Church something it hadn't quite had before: a clear, sweeping call to see care for creation not as an optional interest, but as central to our faith. Laudato Si' asked us to listen — to the earth, to the poor, to each other — and to recognize that how we use energy, water, and resources is a moral question, not just a practical one.
That call didn't end with one encyclical.
1. Laudate Deum: Turning Urgency into Action
In 2023, Pope Francis returned to these themes in Laudate Deum, and the tone had shifted. Where Laudato Si' invited reflection, Laudate Deum pressed for action. The climate crisis, Pope Francis wrote, is moving faster than our response to it. He challenged institutions, including the Church itself, to move beyond good intentions and toward real, measurable change.
That's a hard word to hear. It's also a clarifying one. For Catholic institutions managing aging buildings, tight budgets, and deferred maintenance, "measurable change" can feel like one more thing on an already full plate. But it doesn't have to be overwhelming. It can start small, and it can start now.
2. Pope Leo XIV: Continuing the Call
Pope Leo XIV has carried this thread forward, continuing to lift up care for creation, human dignity, and an economy that serves the common good. The message hasn't softened. If anything, it's grown more urgent. What's asked of us today is the same as what was asked a decade ago: to treat our stewardship of creation as inseparable from our mission. In 2025, Pope Leo took the mantle of his predecessor, to turn a 430-hectare (1,000-acre) field north of Rome, into a vast solar farm expected to generate enough electricity to turn Vatican City into the world’s first carbon-neutral state.
3. What This Looks Like in Practice: Net Zero
So where does an encyclical meet a boiler room? Right here, in net zero planning.
Net zero isn't a slogan - it's a roadmap. It's the practical work of understanding where an institution's energy comes from, where it's wasted, and how to chart a realistic path toward reducing that footprint over time. For a diocese, parish, or school, that might mean starting with an energy assessment, tackling the easiest efficiency wins first, and then building toward bigger investments like renewables and storage as resources allow.
This is where faith and stewardship meet strategy. Net zero planning takes the sweeping vision of Laudato Si', the urgency of Laudate Deum, and Pope Leo XIV's continued call, and turns them into something concrete: a plan your institution can actually follow, with realistic ways to pay for it.
4. You Don't Have to Chart This Path Alone
No parish or diocese needs to figure this out from scratch. The good news is that the path from encyclical to action doesn't require perfect knowledge of HVAC systems or utility contracts. It requires a starting point and a partner willing to walk the road with you.
That's the heart of net zero planning: not a single dramatic overhaul, but a clear, realistic sequence of steps that moves your institution forward, one decision at a time. It's stewardship in the most literal sense: caring well for what's been entrusted to us, so that it can serve the mission for generations to come.
Ready to see what a net zero path could look like for your institution? Let's start the conversation.