Monday, July 12, 2021

Covalent Logic handling US messaging for Vatican environmental cause


By Stephanie Riegel

- July 12, 2021



The Vatican (stock photo)

Baton Rouge-based Covalent Logic has been retained by an arm of the Vatican to handle all the U.S. media and messaging for the Catholic Church’s “Laudato Si” campaign, which will kick off in October and urge Catholics and non-Catholics alike to be better stewards of the planet.

The seven-year, global campaign was created by the Vatican in response to a papal letter, or encyclical, that Pope Francis issued in 2015 entitled ‘Laudato Si,” a Medieval Umbrian phrase meaning “Praise God.”

In that 184-page encyclical, Pope Francis challenges people and institutions to recognize humanity’s role in the earth’s worsening environmental crisis and to make conscientious choices that will help mitigate the destruction.

In the U.S., the Catholic Climate Covenant, an arm of the Vatican, is spearheading the campaign. In March, a CCC official reached out to Covalent founder and owner Stafford Wood and asked if she’d be interested in working on the campaign.

“I was so humbled,” says Wood, who is Catholic and has done work for Our Lady of Mercy in Baton Rouge other Catholic organizations. “They were looking for a firm that could handle all facets of the campaign—branding, social media and public relations. So, we had a first call, submitted a proposal and a few weeks later we were honored and humbled when they let us know we had been selected.”

Wood will unveil the campaign, its theme and the logo her firm designed Wednesday at the CCC’s second annual Laudato Si conference, which will be held virtually.


Stafford Wood (File photo)

“This is an amazing opportunity because we’re going to be able to work with health care institutions, educational institutions, higher ed, parishes and dioceses around the country, as well as direct outreach to individuals,” she says. “When you have all the audiences of the campaign, you’re able to break into various segments with targeted messaging and tools to make the campaign successful across all sectors.”

Covalent Logic will handle the U.S. campaign for the entirety of its seven years. Wood says it’s a once-in-a-lifetime project that enables her firm to serve.

“It is absolutely not about money,” she says. “For everyone in my company, this is an opportunity to serve both the church and the planet and what I have found is that each individual, who has been working on our team cares very much about one or both of those.”

The Laudato Si campaign kicks off Oct. 4, which is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, who founded the Franciscan order in the 14th century and is considered the patron saint of ecology.

The Catholic Climate Covenant’s annual conference runs Tuesday-Thursday.



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