CARING FOR OUR COMMON HOME

Three members of the Australian Jesuit Province are deepening their commitment to ecological leadership through the Mercy Integral Ecology Fellowship.

This year, three of our staff members have participated and contributed to the ISMAPNG Mercy Integral Ecology fellowship level 2 leadership course ‘Dancing with Disruption’. Sue Martin from JISA helped to facilitate the first immersion experience with Sally Neaves, Margie Abbot and Pat Long.

Care for our Common Home project officer Alice Carwardine, and teacher and sustainability coordinator Catherine Holmes from Xavier College were among the 8 participants.

The program is a mixture of permaculture training and spiritual facilitation and leadership. The participants are working on a site owned by the Sisters of Mercy at Apollo Bay to propose a plan for the site that focuses on long–term sustainability using permaculture design principles.

The first immersion took place in early July and the second immersion program will take place in September when the design process will begin. The July experience involved undertaking a site analysis to explore the soil quality, understand the capacity for water capture and storage, and explore the biodiversity on the site in various microclimates.

“It’s a pleasure to have the Jesuit province be able to support the Mercy community and learn skills that can be applied in our own Province relating to how to best care for our common home” – Alice Carwardine.

Both Alice and Catherine are past participants in the initial Integral Ecology fellowship program. Throughout the program each had to pursue a project in their local context. Catherine’s project in 2024 resulted in a staff Eco spirituality formation day for Xavier College. Alice’s work in 2023 explored ecological ministry, mission and vocation, which involved her designing an eco-pilgrimage along the East Coast of Australia.

Their formation included three retreat programs, online meetings with the fellows to explore a range of resources and regular catchups with a mentor throughout the program.

Find out more on how to engage in the ISMAPNG fellowship program.