Pope Francis's Environmental Encyclical: A Guide for the Perplexed

2015

Laudato si’ has been billed by many as Pope Francis’ intervention in the climate change debate, but it is so much more than that. In this detailed analysis of the Pope’s first encyclical, Damian Howard sets the text in its cultural and political context, and asks how it fits into the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching. How does this ‘exciting new synthesis’ of Catholic theology and the ecological movement have the potential to change our civilisation?

Social Sciences, 2023

With the 2015 publication of his encyclical letter Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis emerged as a leading religious voice (alongside Patriarch Bartholomew) advocating for ecological justice and environmental sustainability. This remarkable exercise of global leadership has demonstrably influenced subsequent discourse, activism and deliberations on the environment, including the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in December 2015. In order to advance the collective understanding of the diagnosis of the environmental crisis and the prescriptions for change presented by Pope Francis in this teaching document, this essay examines key terms, claims and conceptual tools presented in its pages. This essay opens with a pointed analysis of the historical context within which this particular religious contribution to environmental justice proceeds. It closes by tracing certain key outcomes and ongoing impacts of the contribution of Pope Francis to this area of social concern.

In this paper an attempt has been made to contextualize ecological dimension of the contemporary Catholic social teaching. With this aim in mind, the authors discuss the merits of several theories and approaches (political economy approaches, ecological modernization theory, environmental justice theory, and social constructionism) coming from environmental sociology and other disciplinary traditions in the social sciences. After an analysis of relevant historical documents of the Catholic social teaching with respect to the environmental issues covered by them, the authors discuss main lines of argument present in the recent (2015) encyclical Laudato Si' (Pope Francis) and interpret them in the aforementioned theoretical framework. In conclusion, the usefulness of the Catholic social teaching for the public dialog between science and other relevant stakeholders, as well as its main strengths and weaknesses have been discussed.

2016

In this paper an attempt has been made to contextualize the ecological dimension of contemporary Catholic social teaching. With this aim in mind, the authors discuss the merits of several theories and approaches (political economy approaches, ecological modernization theory, environmental justice theory, and social constructionism) coming from environmental sociology and other disciplinary traditions in the social sciences. After an analysis of relevant historical documents of Catholic social teaching with respect to the environmental issues covered by them, the authors discuss the main lines of argument present in the recent (2015) encyclical Laudato Si’ (Pope Francis) and interpret them in the aforementioned theoretical framework. In conclusion, the usefulness of Catholic social teaching for the public dialogue between science and other relevant stakeholders, as well as its main strengths and weaknesses have been discussed. Keywords: Catholic social teaching, Laudato Si’, environm...

Biological conservation, 2019

Environmental issues are strongly influenced by their human dimensions, so understanding this relationship is important for effective conservation. This study investigates changes in public interest in the environment after the release of Laudato Si'. Comparisons between searches for church-related and environmental topics before and after its release demonstrate significantly raised public interest in both areas, especially in Catholic countries. There were important differences between developed countries and countries with other economic classifica- tions. After decades of declining interest in the environment, Laudato Si' may be catalyzing societal transfor- mation similar to that performed by the 1969 encyclical Humanae Vitae. Regulation of abortion in the U.S.A. went from a non-political issue in 1969 to a primary dividing line between the political parties in 1976. Two years after release of Laudato Si', the Catholic Church had implemented a long-term sustainability plan for what could grow into a major Catholic environmental movement, similar to the anti-abortion movement. The results within suggest public interest in the environment may already be growing as a result. No previous environmental movement has benefitted from this kind of support, and this provides reason for hope that environmental progress is just around the corner.

2018

This study investigates changes in public interest in the environment after the release of Laudato Si’. Comparisons between searches for church-related and environmental topics before and after its release demonstrate significantly raised public interest in both areas. There were important differences between developed countries and countries with other economic classifications. After decades of declining interest in the environment, Laudato Si’ may be catalyzing societal transformation similar to that performed by the 1969 encyclical Humanae Vitae. Regulation of abortion went from a non-political issue in 1969 to a primary dividing line between the political parties in 1976. Two years after release of Laudato Si’, public interest in the environment may be growing. With a long-term sustainability plan for a likely growing Catholic environmental movement, there is reason for hope that environmental progress is just around the corner.

Religions, 2025

The question of a possible discontinuity between the papacies of Benedict XVI and Francis are broadly discussed in the Catholic public square, as well as in the literature. This paper aims at demonstrating the continuity of the two papal magisteria in a special area, the assessment of the ecological crisis. While Benedict XVI approached the issue from a theological and theoretical point of view, he was not indifferent to the practical consequences, which were then highlighted in a sometimes harsh and passionate manner by Francis. I argue that Francis' alarmist claims about the ecological situation are partly based on the theological imagination of Benedict XVI (while, of course, having other sources, as well). Continuity between the two Popes can also be observed in their relation to Orthodox ecological thought, a relation deserving careful attention.

The objective of this write up is to take the Paris Agreement on climate change and sustainable development, Dec 2005, as a pivot for analyzing the Message of the Pope Francis on Care of Creation and Sustainable Development, September 1, 2016. The frame of reference used is Spandan (Heartbeat) approach and Respect for nature and mother earth as a human value comprising of the approach. An attempt is made in understanding the extent to which adherence of respect for nature and mother earth can contribute in translating the proposal of Pope Francis into a reality in the form of sustainable development.

Kristu Jyoti, 2024

Pope Francis published his 2nd encyclical entitled Laudato si: Praise be to you - On Care For Our Common Home on the 24th of May 2015. He critiques unbridled consumerism and inauthentic human and economic development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls everyone to take “swift and unified global action”. We have seen for ourselves that with unbridled economic progress at the expense of the environment; technological advancements at the expense of human rights and authentic development; problems with pollution and destruction and even the depletion of our human and cultural resources that we are reaping the seeds of our overuse and misuse of these natural and God given gifts. There is a lot of urgency in this call for action and thus this paper would like to dig deeper into insights from Pope Francis’s latest encyclical on the care of the environment and natural resources by making a profound reflection on rethinking our old and dangerous ways about the world; and the way we do things in society to bring about human flourishing. We thus have to address this through a proposed way of life – an Ecological Citizenship proposed by Pope Francis that will help in shaping a better world.