VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Tapping into the spirit and spirituality of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis made care for creation and for all that lives on the earth a pastoral priority.
The importance of respecting and protecting the environment had been heralded by his predecessors: St. John Paul II spoke of human ecology and insisted ecological conversion was integral to supporting human life; and Pope Benedict XVI gained the moniker “the green pope” as the Vatican began to walk the talk with solar panel installations, a fleet of electric vehicles and other environmental initiatives.
But Pope Francis took it to the next level and used his position as a respected global figure to become a leading voice to reinvigorate existing efforts and rally all of humanity to see caring for creation not as a political, social, scientific or ideological battle, but as a moral imperative to hear and respond to the cry of the earth and those most affected by its degradation — the poor.
And he upped the ante on how serious an injury this is by saying abusing the “common home” of the earth, its ecosystems and all forms of life that depend on it, “is a grave sin” that damages, harms and sickens.
Pope Francis insisted the global crises unfolding in the world reflected an interconnectedness and interdependence between human beings and the earth. Social, economic, political and environmental issues are not separate problems, but are the many dimensions of one overarching crisis.
Embracing “integral ecology” recognizes the interconnectedness, he said, and how the values, mindsets and actions people affect all human endeavors — the cultural, social, political, economic, spiritual and theological — and the planet.
An integral ecology goes “to the heart of what it is to be human,” Pope Francis said. The flora and fauna, the heavens and seas and all people are not objects to be used and controlled, but are wondrous reflections of the divine; they are God’s creations and are gifts to be protected, loved and shared.
The core of his teaching on integral ecology, its principles and practical applications were laid out in his landmark 2015 document, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” the first papal encyclical on the environment.
The document’s influence on the international community was evident when world leaders met in Paris for the 2015 U.N. Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as COP21. “Not only had practically every delegate heard of ‘Laudato Si’,’ Pope Francis was cited by more than 30 heads of state or government in their interventions,” Archbishop Bernardito Auza, who represented the Holy See at the United Nations, said in a 2019 speech.
In fact, several experts believed the document had a deep impact on the successful adoption of the landmark Paris Agreement, a binding agreement for nations to fight climate change and mitigate its effects.
Pope Francis, likewise, issued a follow-up document, “Laudate Deum” (“Praise God”) ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in the United Arab Emirates in 2023. The exhortation presented an even stronger critique of global inaction and indifference to climate change.
The pope had planned to attend the conference, which would have made him the first pope ever to go to one of the global gatherings that began in 1995. However, a bronchial infection, which made his breathing very labored, forced him to cancel his planned trip.
Pope Francis was not without his detractors. He had been labeled “naive” for following supposedly trendy notions about climate change; he often was accused of straying beyond his strictly spiritual role; and other critics expressed fear that his denunciation of “an economy that kills” and calls for change would support socialist-leaning positions, especially distrust of the free-market economy.
But for Pope Francis it was never a question of choosing either economic growth or care for the environment, as some detractors claimed. The path the pope pointed out envisioned the promotion of “integral human development,” which gives priority to helping all people thrive by protecting the planet and all its gifts now and for future generations.
In 2016, Pope Francis established the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, based on this understanding that safeguarding creation promotes peace and human rights and benefits economies, communities and present and future generations.
For the pope, the problem was not a single policy or position, but what he called “globalization of indifference,” an economy of exclusion and a throwaway culture.
Pope Francis’ stance, like his predecessors, was always a moral one — not pushing specific policies or programs but laying out the Gospel approach to guide citizens and policymakers so they could respond to problems more ethically.
Changing the world requires first transforming one’s thinking and values, and “we need to see — with the eyes of faith — the beauty of God’s saving plan, the link between the natural environment and the dignity of the human person,” the pope once wrote to young people in the Philippines.
Pope Francis solidly established ecology and safeguarding creation as a pro-life, pro-marginalized, pro-family issue. If people have no problem throwing away reusable resources or edible food when so many people are starving, there is a similar “throwaway” attitude toward people believed to not be useful — including the unborn, the sick and the elderly, he said.
Christianity teaches that God created the world and everything in it with a certain order and proclaimed it good. As stewards of God’s creation, Pope Francis said, people have an absolute obligation to respect that gift.
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