The Call of Creation
The bishops of England and Wales invite Catholic schools to turn care for our common home into education, conversion and sustained action.
Explore the questions Read the bishops’ document ↗The question for governors: How does this teaching enable us to challenge and support our Catholic school more effectively? The Call of Creation asks the whole Church, including schools, to respond to environmental harm in solidarity with people experiencing poverty and with future generations. Governors can help make this response part of the school’s mission, learning, decisions and long-term planning.
What are the bishops asking of schools?
The Call of Creation is a 2022 teaching document of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, updating a text first published in 2002. It offers a particularly direct invitation to Catholic schools alongside the wider Church’s teaching on care for creation.
See the human consequences
The bishops connect harm to creation with the suffering of people in poverty and the prospects of future generations (Introduction and Part II). Ecological choices are therefore also questions of justice and the common good.
Educate the whole person
In “Education towards ecological responsibility” (Part V), the bishops say scientific and technical knowledge needs a moral framework. Schools can form understanding, habits, wonder and a sense of personal responsibility.
Plan for lasting change
The foreword calls Catholic schools to take practical action and develop long-term plans to reduce their carbon footprint and care for the natural environment. A board can connect this aim to the school’s strategic priorities and resources.
Act together in solidarity
Part V calls institutions to work for the common good, reduce emissions, prevent biodiversity loss and cooperate with others. Small actions matter when they grow into shared, sustained practice.
Questions for challenge and support
Select the questions that serve your school’s circumstances. Ask for evidence of learning and action, and help leaders choose a manageable path.
1. Is this part of our mission?
Challenge
Where do care for creation, justice and solidarity appear in the school’s Catholic mission and strategic plan? Can leaders explain what is changing beyond a one-off event?
Support
Agree a few clear priorities and protect time for staff formation, prayer and curriculum planning.
2. What are pupils learning and doing?
Challenge
Do pupils connect scientific understanding with Scripture, Catholic social teaching and responsible choices? How are their views heard and how can they see the results of their contributions?
Support
Encourage well-planned learning, outdoor experience and meaningful pupil participation, appropriate to age and context.
3. Do our plans match our commitments?
Challenge
What do we know about energy use, emissions, waste, water and the condition of our grounds? Which improvements are in the estate and budget plans, and how will progress be reviewed?
Support
Prioritise feasible steps, use reliable baselines and seek diocesan, trust and qualified technical advice for buildings and capital decisions.
4. Are we protecting living things?
Challenge
How do grounds, purchasing, food and daily routines affect biodiversity and waste? Are changes sustained after an initial campaign?
Support
Help leaders choose simple, measurable improvements and give staff and pupils ownership of them.
5. Is our response fair?
Challenge
Could proposed changes add costs or barriers for families? Are we considering people most affected by environmental harm, locally and globally, without placing responsibility on children alone?
Support
Listen to families, budget for participation and consider the effect of decisions on those with the least room to absorb extra costs.
6. Who are our partners?
Challenge
Where could parish, diocese or trust, families and the wider community help the school act? How will the board hear an honest account of progress and obstacles?
Support
Make useful connections, set a proportionate review point and celebrate learning as well as measurable improvement.
A short board meeting reflection
Use these prompts in the context of the school’s own plans and applicable diocesan or trust guidance. Seek qualified advice for technical estate decisions.
A prayer in response to the call of creation
Creator God,
you have given us a beautiful world and entrusted its care to us.
Open our eyes to its wonder
and our hearts to people who suffer when it is harmed.
Teach us to live simply, to act justly
and to think of children yet to come.
Bless the pupils, families and staff of our school.
Help them grow in knowledge, gratitude and hope.
Guide this board in its choices.
Give us wisdom to plan, courage to act
and patience to sustain what is good.
May our care for creation reveal our love for you and our neighbour.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Continue your formation
This bonus unit accompanies Governing with Hope, EducareM’s six-theme series on Church teaching, Catholic school mission and the governor’s role in challenge and support. It also sits naturally alongside Care for Our Common Home, the reflection on Laudato si’.
Return to Governing with Hope →Interested in finding out more or deepening your formation? Explore the programme diary. For training shaped around your own governing board, use the bespoke programmes and training links in the EducareM site menu.
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