Global Catholic Climate Movement turned six earlier this month. (Happy anniversary to the hundreds of thousands of passionate people and communities who make up this movement!)

And Amy Woolam Echeverria has been with this movement since the start.

She was GCCM’s founding Board President and the organization where she works was part of the foundational group of 17 organizations and 12 individuals that came together to form GCCM.

In the latest episode of the Global Catholic Climate Movement podcast, Amy talks about how GCCM came to be and her memories from that special time.

“What I remember when I reflect on those early days was a great spark of light and energy and love. When I first read Laudato Si’, it felt like reading a love letter, a love letter from the Pope to the world, and much of it was already written on my heart,” she said.

Amy is the International Coordinator for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) for the Missionary Society of St. Columban (Columban Missionaries).

In the podcast, she also shares how she started her career by working with refugees, the stamina that all who work for justice must have, and why creation’s beauty, such as the mountains and the desert, are often among the first friends she has when she moves to a new place.