Green Saints For A Green Generation

Young scientists, sisters, and theologians of the “green generation” reflect on “saints”―canonized and not―who offer hope and inspire us towards ecological action.

“In the community of saints, all together are companions in memory and hope. Together, all together, they are becoming something strange and growing and great, instruments of change. Green Saints for a Green Generation taps beautifully into this dynamic for the sake of our suffering Earth, which cries out for no less.”―From the Foreword by Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ

In Laudato Si’ Pope Francis established care for creation as one of the central themes of Catholic social teaching. Yet that ecological consciousness has yet to take root en masse among the Catholic faithful. In Green Saints for a Green Generation young Catholic women on “saints”―canonized and not―who connected their faith to concern for the earth.

The writers include a wide range of figures, from the traditional, such as Sts. Clare of Assisi, Ignatius of Loyola, and Marguerite Bourgeoys, to contemporary figures like Thomas Merton, author Toni Morrison, and the Martyrs of the Amazon. By connecting these key figures to environmental responsibility, the contributors encourage the not-yet informed to become active, inviting younger generations to join the ecological movement, to take taking on the responsibility from their elders, and to shoulder the ecological burden for themselves.

Libby (Elizabeth) Osgood, CND, PhD, PEng, is co-editor with Kathleen Deignan of Teilhard de Chardin: A Book of Hours (Orbis, 2023). An Aerospace Engineer who teaches sustainable design engineering at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada, her research is on the intersection of science and faith, engineering education, and design pedagogy. She is a religious sister of the Congregation of Notre Dame de Montreal.