May 11, 2025 Essay: The Message of Laudato Si
Pope Francis was clearly one of the most popular religious leaders of our time. With his love for the poor, his embrace of the outcaste, and his genuine humility, he captured the hearts of millions—Christian and non-Christian alike. He inspired many by his willingness to address difficult issues such as ecology, economy, and equity, which he saw as inextricably linked. Indeed, these three interwoven issues are at the heart of his Papal encyclical, Laudato Si, which is the first encyclical on the environment in the history of the Church.
First, the encyclical addresses ecology. Pope Francis, following in the tradition of Francis of Assisi, celebrates the natural world as a sacred gift. He does this with his reference to St. Francis’ “Canticle of Brother Sun, Sister Moon” in the title of the encyclical “Praised Be”. The kinship with all creation that St Francis intuited we now understand as complex ecological relationships that have evolved over billions of years. For Pope Francis, these relationships have a natural order or “grammar” that needs to be understood, respected, and valued.
Second, the encyclical speaks about the economy. Within this valuing of nature, the Pope encourages us to see the human economy as a subsystem of nature’s economy, namely the dynamic interaction of life in ecosystems. Without a healthy natural ecology, there is not a sustainable economy and vice versa. They are inevitably interdependent. Moreover, we cannot ignore pollution or greenhouse gases as externalities that are not factored into full cost accounting. This is because, for Pope Francis, profit over people or at the expense of the planet is not genuine profit. This is what has happened with fossil fuels, causing a climate emergency with droughts, fire, flooding, and rising seas.
Third, the encyclical highlights equity. From this perspective, working within the limits of nature’s economy can lead to thriving human societies. In contrast, exploiting the Earth and using fossil fuels without limits has led to increased human inequities. Ecosystems are being undermined by climate disruption, and the poor are the most likely to suffer. The Pope recognizes that such a distorted economic system results in impoverished and unjust social systems. Thus he speaks of the interlinked “cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor.”
The encyclical is not anti-modernity but hopes to reconfigure the idea of progress. “Not blind opposition to progress but opposition to blind progress” as the environmentalist, John Muir, said. The Pope critiques a throwaway economy where humans are saturated in materialism. He calls for genuine progress where the health of both people and the planet are fostered. As the former head of the Pontifical Academy of Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson, said, “We need to learn to work together in a framework that links economic prosperity with both social inclusion and protection of the natural world.” This linkage of ecology, economy, and equity is what is being called an “integral ecology” and is central to the encyclical.
Such an integral ecology clearly requires interdisciplinary cooperation as we find our path forward on a planet of more than 8 billion people. We need to understand more fully the challenges the world is facing in terms of economic development and environmental protection. These are not easy to reconcile. Indeed, the international community has been seeking answers since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 set forth a framework for sustainable development. The world is ever more in need of an integral ecology that brings together a fresh understanding that people and the planet are part of one interdependent life community. Such an integral ecology affirms the cooperation of science and values, knowing that our problems will not be solved without both. Climate change is requiring moral change. Laudato Si will continue to be an inspiration for worldwide efforts that are bringing together ecology and ethics for the flourishing of the Earth community.
— Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology