SAN DIEGO — Christina Bagaglio Slentz, who leads the diocesan Creation Care Ministry, reflected on the passion for environmental stewardship that Bishop Pham has demonstrated in his first year leading the diocese.
She said that the bishop, who came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam, brings to his office firsthand experience with subsistence farming. This, she said, has given him an understanding of “creation as a gift and a life source.”
Over the past year, the Creation Care Ministry held two pilgrimages.
Three parishes collaborated on a Pilgrimage of Hope for Creation on Oct. 18, 2025. Participants walked the 2.5 miles between from St. Charles Borromeo and Immaculate Conception churches, along the way handing out food and water to homeless individuals and picking up trash.
Another pilgrimage was held Nov. 14 to 16 in Imperial Valley, with more than 100 people from the dioceses of San Diego and San Bernardino participating. The weekend event began with a visit to the Catholic Charities Day Center in El Centro and concluded with a blessing of the Salton Sea.
In late fall of 2025, the diocese prepared its Laudato Si’ Action Platform plan for the year. It was the diocese’s third
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