Pope Francis (1936-2025) Urged Dialogue About "Our Common Home", Earth

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who became Pope Francis (2013-2025), riding the bus in Argentina (Photo from South St. Joseph blog, South Bend, Indiana)

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Pope Francis, 88, who died on the day after Easter, on April 21, in the Vatican took strong stands on migrants, gay marriage and victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy. He did not shirk from speaking out on fiery issues when others might have remained silent. Consequently, both traditionalists and progressives criticized him --a sign that the Jesuit was an independent thinker.

During his 12-year tenure, Pope Francis wrote four encyclicals, which are papal letters originally circulated to all bishops of the Roman Catholic Church, but today, are intended for a global audience. Encyclicals help to elucidate the teachings of sacred scripture and Catholic tradition. They are not infallible statements.

The Argentinian was the first Catholic Church leader to issue an encyclical, Laudato Si', mi Signore (Praise be to you, my Lord), --solely on the environment -- "a dialogue with everyone about our common home". The encyclical was issued on May 24, 2015, and it addresses issues such as pollution and climate change; water; loss of biodiversity; decline in the quality of life; global inequality, the mystery of the universe; technology: creativity and power; environmental, economic and social ecology; justice between the generations; ecological education and spirituality, and dialogue.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the document for its "moral voice", while the Indian novelist Pankaj Mishra called it "arguably the most important piece of intellectual criticism of our time", according to Vatican News (April 21).

Laudato Si' had an impact on policy. It often is credited with helping to build consensus in preparation for the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, at which 196 countries signed a treaty pledging to keep global warming at below 2 degrees Celsius.

The encyclical is published on the Vatican website in Portuguese, English and 15 other languages. A small sample is reproduced here:

Encyclical Letter

Laudato Si'

of the Holy Father

Francis

On Care for Our Common Home

1. Laudato Si', mi Signore -- Praise be to you, my Lord. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. "Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs."

2. This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she "groans in travail" (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.

Nothing in this world is indifferent to us

3. . . . Now, faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every person living on this planet. . . . In this encyclical, I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home.

4. In 1971, . . . Blessed Pope Paul VI referred to the ecological concern as "a tragic consequence" of unchecked human activity: "Due to an ill-considered exploitation of nature, humanity runs the risk of destroying it and becoming in turn a victim of this degradation". He spoke in similar terms to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations about the potential for an "ecological catastrophe under the effective explosion of industrial civilization", and stressed "the urgent need for a radical change in the conduct of humanity", inasmuch as "the extraordinary scientific advances, the most amazing technical abilities, the most astonishing economic growth, unless they are accompanied by authentic social and moral progress, will definitely turn against man".

6. My predecessor Benedict XVI likewise proposed "eliminating the structural causes of the dysfunctions of the world economy and correcting models of growth which have proved incapable of ensuring respect for the environment". . . . Pope Benedict asked us to recognize that the natural environment has been gravely damaged by our irresponsible behavior. The social environment has also suffered damage. Both are ultimately due to the same evil: the notion that there are no indisputable truths to guide our lives, and hence human freedom is limitless. We have forgotten that "man is not only a freedom which he creates for himself. He is spirit and will, but also nature". With paternal concern, Benedict urged us to realize that creation is harmed "where we ourselves have the final word, where everything is simply our property and we use it for ourselves alone. The misuse of creation begins when we no longer recognize any higher instance than ourselves, when we see nothing else but ourselves".

10. I do not want to write this Encyclical without turning to that attractive and compelling figure, whose name I took as my guide and inspiration when I was elected Bishop of Rome. I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. He is the patron saint of all who study and work in the area of ecology, and he is also much loved by non-Christians. He was particularly concerned for God's creation and for the poor and outcast. He loved, and was deeply loved for his joy, his generous self-giving, his openheartedness. He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.

    
    

    14. I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all. . . . We require a new and universal solidarity. As the bishops of Southern Africa have stated: "Everyone's talents and involvement are needed to redress the damage caused by human abuse of God's creation. . . ."