For area parishes, going solar has been an answer to Pope Francis’ call to action and a contribution to peace of mind afforded by cost savings.

The sign outside the church proclaimed, “St. Alphonsus is powered by the sun.”

Under the leadership of then-pastor Father Thomas Houle OFM Cap., the Pittsford parish had taken its call for stewardship of the earth to heart, and together with St. Peter Parish in Rutland, had embraced solar energy.

The decision came on the heels of the release of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si,’ On Care for Our Common Home,” in which the Pope Francis wrote, “Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last two hundred years. Yet, we are called to be instruments of God our Father so that our planet might be what he desired when he created it and correspond with His plan for peace, beauty, and fullness.”

At the time, Father Houle had reflected, “He is getting this focus from St. Francis, and I, as a Franciscan, adhere to that.”

The environmental encyclical serves as a moral and ethical guide, urging individuals, communities, and nations to take concrete steps to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change through a shift toward renewable energy and sustainable resources.

St. Peter parishioner and coordinator of the solar panel project for the Rutland Parish, Joseph Barbagallo, recalled an initial move to conserve energy in line with Pope Francis’ call, when he and a friend replaced all the light bulbs in the church, including those illuminating the 45-foot ceiling, with LED bulbs, which in addition to having a positive impact on the environment, saved the parish thousands of dollars in one year.

Among the next steps was consideration of the installation of a solar array on the property behind the church.

According to Same Sun of Vermont, who installed the panels, it was with the help of Barbagallo and other knowledgeable parishioners that Father Houle secured nonprofit grants for each church, undertook fundraising, and raised matching funds for both installations.

The result at St. Peter’s was a 30-panel array installed in 2016 which produces approximately $3,000 a year in electricity, enough to run the parish rectory for a year, Barbagallo said.

At. St. Alphonsus, with the help of parishioner John Carrara, a solar array was installed behind the church’s hall, which provides power for both the hall and the church.

In 2017, St. Peter Parish in Vergennes also took advantage of solar energy, installing 87 solar modules with micro inverters on the parish hall roof. At the time, the energy credits from this array were being split between the four Green Mountain Power accounts on the property, according to installer, Bristol Electronics.

With his 2023 follow-up to “Laudato Si’,” entitled “Laudato Deum: Praise God,” efforts by households, and in this case parishes, “to reduce pollution and waste, and to consume with prudence, are creating a new culture” … and “helping to bring about large processes of transformation rising from deep within society.”

—Originally published in the Summer 2024 issue of  Vermont Catholic magazine.