Irish episcopal conference recalls Laudato Si’ Week, calls for transition from fossil fuels

May 18, 2026

Bishop Martin Hayes of Kilmore, the episcopal coordinator of Laudato Si’ for the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, issued a statement yesterday for Laudato Si’ Week, named after Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical letter on care for our common home.

“Hope in Laudato Si’ is not passive optimism but an active, faith-filled commitment to ecological conversion and action, affirming that ‘much can be done’ to repair our common home,” said Bishop Hayes.

Ireland’s bishops, he continued, “encourage parishes to engage with returning 30% of church grounds to nature. This practical care for biodiversity is a response to the invitation of Laudato Si’ to hear the cry of the earth and also to hear creation’s song.”

“The recent fossil fuel crisis has highlighted just how dependent the global economy is on the supply of oil and gas in particular,” he added. “Our current crisis gives more urgency to the need to transition away from fossil fuels and to embrace renewable sources of energy.”

 

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Further information:

• Bishop Hayes welcomes Ireland to co-host conference on transitioning from fossil fuels (Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, 5/17/26)
• Laudato Si' Week