Sister Damien Marie Savino, FSE completes book on integral ecology

LOWELL, MI (06-01-2025) – The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist are happy to announce the completion and upcoming publication of a new book by Sister Damien Marie Savino, FSE. Entitled Learning the Language of Creation: Catholic Social Teaching and Integral Ecology, the book is part of a series with Liturgical Press on Catholic social teaching and contemporary issues. Integral ecology is the central concept in Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ encyclical on “care  for our common home.” Integral ecology is grounded in the idea that caring for creation involves restoring both natural and human ecologies.

The book will be published by Liturgical Press in January 2026, and can be pre-ordered now in paperback and e-book. Hard copy edition will be available in January. Liturgical Press summarizes the content:

In his landmark encyclical Laudato Si’ on care for creation, Pope Francis connected contemporary ecological concerns and other issues tackled by Catholic social thought by popularizing the idea of integral ecology. In Learning the Language of Creation, professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences, Franciscan Sister Damien Marie Savino, provides a vision for integral ecology grounded in the conviction that the healing of ecosystems and of human communities goes hand in hand, and that “the external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast” (LS 217).

By engaging her expertise in science and theology, Sister Damien Marie frames integral ecology as a pilgrimage guided by a process of listening and learning the language of creation. In this book, she offers a new way of thinking about creation, human beings, and the relationship between them to realize the promise of integral ecology and put it into practice.

The University of Notre Dame supported Sister Damien Marie’s writing through generous fellowships. She serves as the Melchor Visiting Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University as well as a Life Fellow of the McGrath Institute for Church Life.