Sister Water

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water,
who is very useful and humble and precious
and chaste.


+ The Columbia River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the Common Good
An International Pastoral Letter by the Catholic Bishops of the Watershed Region

The Catholic bishops of the Columbia River Watershed offer a pastoral reflection spoken with a voice of faith and compassion, offering insights drawn from the teachings of Jesus Christ and from the Christian tradition through the ages, particularly the developing Catholic social ethical thought of the past century. They teach with the late Pope John Paul II that "Christians, in particular, realize that their responsibility within creation and their duty towared nature and the Creator are an essential part of their faith." (The Ecological Crisis: A Common Responsibility.)

+ Catholic Rural Life: Water A Sacramental Commons for All

+ Streamflow: Natural Variability and Human-Caused Changes
        From the Southwest Climate Change Network:
"Current observations suggest that climate change is altering streamflows in ways that negatively impact water supply for southwestern populations. Many climate models suggest that these changes will worsen as the climate warms, accentuating the natural variability inherent in river flows. Since water is one of the most vital resources in the arid Southwest, the consequences of reduced streamflows and changes in the timing of peak river flows will impact water consumption, agriculture production, economic growth, recreation opportunities, and electricity generation, among other vital services. "

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More Water-related links and information to be added . . . .

Why This Site Was Initiated

In 2009, Bishop Skylstad, on behalf of the U.S.Conference of Catholic Bishops shared with each U.S. parish the "The Catholic Climate Covenant", http://catholicclimatecovenant.org/ and invited all of us to take the St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor.

He also asked to help spread the good news and to encourage others to join and do the same. This is not an isolated initiative, but a concrete follow-up to the significant documentation issued over the years by the U.S. Catholic Bishop and the Vatican inviting us to reflect and to take action on caring for God’s creation in its various aspects and in caring for the “least of these,” in response to the challenges of environmental justice and global climate change.

In response to this invitation  a small group of us from different parishes began a conversation about how to promote the call to "Care of Creation and Care for the Poor" in the Tucson area.  We concluded that one way to do this might be to provide a variety of resources for parishes in the diocese with information on the issues from a faith perspective. This blog was developed to do just that and to foster an awareness that caring for God's creation is an important part of  living our faith.

We hope those who visit here will find these resources useful! We are eager to know what you are doing in your parishes on care for creation!   If you have items and information to share or would like to join in furthering the mission of this blog, please visit the ABOUT US link for contact information: 

About us

About Us

We welcome input from Catholics in parishes throughout the Tucson Diocese about individual or parish-based care-for-creation efforts.  If you would like to share your information on the blog, CONTACT KATIE via email.

WHO ARE THE TUCSON CATHOLICS WHO ORIGINATED THIS SITE?

Katie Hirschboeck (Our Mother of Sorrows Parish) — Katie is chair of the Care for Creation Initiative at OMOS, which she and Hank Krzysik co-founded in 2008. She also chairs the parish's Consistent Ethic of Life Committee.  An emeritus faculty member of the University of Arizona’s Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, Katie has over 30 years of experience teaching and doing research on the environment and global climate change.  She has a PhD in geosciences and holds joint faculty appointments in atmospheric sciences and hydrology.  Katie is also a national "Catholic Climate Ambassador" for the Catholic Climate Covenant. She is deeply committed to what our faith teaches about the consistent ethic of life, care for creation, care for the poor – and how these areas are interrelated. Katie started this blog and has kept it going through the years (albeit intermittently at times due to the work demands of her faculty position).  Now that she is retired, she would like to get the blog more active -- so please send input! 

Giulio and Joan Grecchi (St Cyril of Alexandria) — Giulio and Joan co-founded the New Jersey Catholic Coalition for Environmental Justice in 2002 (sponsored by the five NJ dioceses). They also organized Statewide Environmental Conferences on "A Vision for Environmental Justice: Our Responsibility for God’s Creation" April 25-27, 2003 at Princeton University; “Creating an Environment for Life” October 15, 2005 at Georgian Court University, Lakewood, NJ and several other events. They returned to Tucson in 2005 and are now a driving force in Tucson's Voice of the Poor program.

Mike and Theresa Crimmins (St. Pius X) — Mike and Theresa are PhD. research specialists at the University of the Arizona. Mike is a professor and Climate Science Extension Specialist in the UA’s Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science. In this position he supports resource managers by increasing climate science literacy as well as developing strategies to adapt to a changing climate. Theresa is an ecologist and Assistant Director of the USA National Phenology Network where shes supports "Nature's Notebook" a national program in which professional and citizen scientists record long-term observations of plant and animal life stages.