There is much more material available than just a few years ago on what they call Integral Theology and many of us think of as ecotheology. The Laudato Si’ Research Institute is responding to a global need for such materials by launching on 3 March (this week) the Laudato Si’ Integral Ecology Collection.

In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis emphasised the importance of a united, global response to the current ecological crisis. Yet dialogue and learning on integral ecology is often hindered by limited access to the academic publications on the subject, which are not affordable for many individuals and institutions in lower-income countries.

The Laudato Si’ Integral Ecology collection seeks to address this problem by making open access a selection of key texts on integral ecology. The collection will provide a valuable resource for lay readers, students, and those undertaking more advanced academic study. Publications in the collection could also be read as part of a book reading group, or an online course.

It appears that the list will include some titles familiar to many, and others that are new, including a selection of authors from the Global South. Here is a sampling:

• Eco-theology by Celia Deane-Drummond (Darton, Longman and Todd, 2008)
• Creation in crisis: science, ethics, theology by Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam (Orbis Books, 2014)
• Bible and ecology: rediscovering the community of creation by Richard Bauckham (Darton, Longman and Todd, 2010)
• An ecological theology of liberation: salvation and political ecology by Daniel Patrick Castillo (Orbis Books, 2019)

[LWCCN does not necessarily endorse the theological viewpoints represented in these volumes…]