Environmental Education by NGOs in Light of Pope Francis’ Teachings

Analysis of the Communication Activities of the ‘Caritas Laudato si’’ Project

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the activities of the third sector in the field of environmental education, inspired by the teachings of the Catholic Church. The research method used is a case study of the Caritas Laudato si’ project, covering communication activities undertaken by the initiators of this initiative in the field of environmental education. As part of this method, content analysis was carried out, focusing in particular on messages posted on the project’s official website. Two main research problems were identified, formulated in the form of the following questions: (1) What communication channels, methods and tools are used in the communication activities of the Caritas Laudato si’ project? (2) What key elements of the message of the encyclical Laudato si’, relating to the climate and ecological crisis, are present in the messages of the broadcasters of the Caritas Laudato si’ project? The first part of the article presents selected issues related to the climate and ecological crisis, as presented in the Pope’s teachings, primarily in the encyclical Laudato si’. The second part describes the communication channels used by the broadcasters of the analysed initiative, as well as the characteristics of the methods and tools used within its framework. It also discusses the values present in Francis’ encyclical, communicated simultaneously by the broadcasters of the Caritas Laudato si’ project.