Pope Francis is urging people to do their part to take care of the environment as the Church celebrates Laudato Si Week.

“Yesterday, [Laudato Si Week]  began,” the pontiff said on Twitter Monday. “I invite everyone to collaborate in the care of our common home. There is such a need to put our capabilities and creativity together!” 

Laudato Si Week 2023 is celebrated May 21-28 this year. It has been eight years since Pope Francis released his encyclical "Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home.” The encyclical discusses some pressing environmental concerns and builds solutions upon the Church's long-standing teachings on creation, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) said in a release. 

In the encyclical, Pope Francis urges everyone in the world to recognize the environmental threats – including global warming – and to come together and do their part in a shared effort to preserve the planet. The encyclical is divided into six chapters and it addresses themes such as "The State of Our Common Home," "The Gospel of Creation," and "The Human Causes of the Ecological Crisis," the USCCB said in its release.

“Both the science community and the faith community are very clear: the planet is in crisis and its life support system [is] in peril," Hoesung Lee, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said in a Catholic News Agency report. "The stakes have never been higher, and we should be the source of the solution to this crisis.” 

During Laudato Si Week this year, Catholic organizations worldwide will screen a film called "The Letter,” which focuses on the journey of frontline leaders to Rome. The film includes discussions with Pope Francis about his encyclical and offers a glimpse into his personal history, uncovering untold stories that shed light on his experiences, a write-up on The Letter Film’s website said. 

Cardinal Michael F. Czerny spoke about the significance of the film.

“The film and the personal stories powerfully show that the ecological crisis has arrived and is happening now,” Czerny told the Catholic News Agency. “The time is over for speculation, for skepticism and denial, for irresponsible populism. Apocalyptic floods, mega-droughts, disastrous heatwaves, and catastrophic cyclones and hurricanes have become the new normal in recent years; they continue today; tomorrow, they will get worse.”