Faith & Food TheAccentOnline.org 1

Caring For OurCaring For Our Common Home Common Home

THE FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF LAUDATO SI’

2020 is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and the fifth anniversary of Laudato si’, a letter from Pope Francis to the world about caring for our common home. To mark the anniversaries, the Diocese of Greensburg is undertaking project Energy Smart 2020.

A massive outreach to young people in the Diocese of Greensburg is being led by the Office of Communications and Evangelization in an effort to educate and raise awareness about the care of God’s creations.

HARNESS YOUR ENERGY Young people in our parishes and Catholic schools will be encouraged to harness their own energy to do God’s work, in the classroom or anywhere in their faith community, to limit their reliance on natural resources and save energy where they can. Finding scientific solutions to environmental problems can help all young people become Energy Smart. When he was younger, Pope Francis himself was a scientist.

POWER DOWN Energy Smart also means taking the time to power down. Sometimes the only way we can hear God’s voice is to tune out all the other noise. Turning off cell phones, computers and other electronics enables us to spend some quiet time in prayer. Pope Francis speaks often about listening to God’s call to our vocation. During his first year as a priest, the world saw its very first Earth Day, April 22, 1970.  

CLEAN UP Our land, air and water are all affected by pollution. Smoky exhaust from cars, chemicals in oceans and streams, and growing piles of garbage can be detrimental to all of God’s creations. In Laudato si’, Pope Francis discusses a “throwaway” culture that wastes food that could feed the hungry and clothes that could warm the poor. He adds that sometimes people and relationships are also treated as being disposable. He encourages us all to clean up not just our world, but our relationship with God and all his creation.

“”

God made the world and called it good, entrusting humans

to care for it and give it as a gift to future

generations.

BISHOP EDWARD C. MALESIC

2 Faith & Food TheAccentOnline.org

2020 is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and it’s also the fifth anniversary of Laudato si’, a letter from Pope Francis to the world about caring for our common home. Students are asked to create a poster, video or essay about what they can do to take care of God’s creations.

POSTER, VIDEO AND ESSAY CONTEST

DioceseofGreensburg.org/EnergySmart

The Diocese of Greensburg is pleased to announce the Energy Smart 2020 Poster, Video and Essay Contest. The contest is open to students, youth groups and student clubs, Catholic and non-Catholic, in Armstrong, Fayette, Indiana and Westmoreland counties (grades K-12). The contest provides an important educational opportunity to raise awareness about caring for the environment.

POSTER SPECIFICATIONS • 16-inch-by-18-inch poster board (or smaller)• Original artwork only; color and/or black and white artwork accepted• Photographed or scanned and uploaded as a PDF or JPEG

VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS• 30 seconds to 3 minutes in length• Uploaded to a private YouTube link• Must be the entrant’s original, previously unpublished work and must notviolate a third party’s copyright or trademarks, privacy or other intellectualproperty rights, including images and music

ESSAY SPECIFICATIONS • Between 100 and 1,000 words depending on age• Typed, double spaced in Times New Roman font• Saved and uploaded as a PDF• Writing should be in entrant’s own words with sources cited in endnotesor footnotes

• Wikipedia may not be used as the primary reference material

ENTRIES With parental supervision, please register at DioceseofGreensburg.org/EnergySmart

CRITERIA FOR JUDGING • Integration of theme/originality/creativity/vivid imagery/evangelical components

RULES One entry per category per student/group/club

CONTEST DATES March 1 - July 1, 2020

WINNERS Each participant will receive a Certificate of Participation from Bishop Malesic. Winners will be recognized in The Catholic Accent newspaper/magazine and on WTAE-TV during “The Accent On-Air” in August 2020.

PRIZES Individual winners will receive a family four-pack of tickets to the Carnegie Science Center.

Youth group/club winners will receive up to a $500 donation.

THEACCENTONLINE.ORG

DEADLINE FOR ENTRY JULY 1, 2020