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1. INTRODUCTION
most recently at Castel Gandolfo at the conference on the Tenth Anniversary
of the Encyclical Laudato Si’.”
The Message of Laudato Si’ on the Care for Creation”?
Laudato Si’ Encyclical (On Care for Our Common Home) by Pope Francis
in 2015,” is a landmark encyclical addressing the ecological crisis and the
intimate relationship between humankind and nature. Rooted in Catholic
social teaching, it builds on earlier papal teachings (e.g., Paul VI’s 1972
Stockholm message and John Paul II’s 1990 World Day of Peace message)
and emphasizes an “integral ecology” that links environmental care with
human dignity, social justice, and the common good.
Pope Francis teaches that humans are deeply connected to nature as part
of God’s creation. He describes the Earth as “our common home” ($1) and
stresses that “everything is interconnected” (§16, §138). The degradation of
the environment harms both nature and humanity, particularly the poor, who
suffer most from ecological crises (§25-26). Drawing on Genesis, the encyclical
calls humans to be responsible stewards of creation, not exploiters. Pope
Francis critiques the “throwaway culture” and consumerism that lead to
environmental destruction, urging a moral responsibility to “till and keep”
the Earth. He writes that “(t)his implies a relationship of mutual responsibility
between human beings and nature. Each community can take from the bounty
of the earth whatever it needs for subsistence, but it also has the duty to protect
the Earth and to ensure its fruitfulness for coming generations.” (§67).
The encyclical links environmental protection to human dignity, asserting
that the right to a healthy environment is inseparable from human rights.
Environmental degradation violates the dignity of the poor and future
generations, necessitating global solidarity. “Today, however, we have to realize
that a true ecological approach a/ways becomes a social approach; it must
integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both
the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor.” ($49).
His Holiness goes on to write that “(t)he notion of the common good also
extends to future generations. The global economic crises have made painfully
obvious the detrimental effects of disregarding our common destiny, which
cannot exclude those who come after us. We can no longer speak of sustainable
development apart from intergenerational solidarity. Once we start to think
2? Pope Leo XIV, Address to the Participants in the “Raising Hope” Conference on the Tenth
Anniversary of the Encyclical Laudato Si’ (Mariapolis Center, Castel Gandolfo, 1 October
2025), https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/speeches/2025/october/
documents/20251001-conferenza-mariapoli.html.
3 Francis: 2015. Laudato si’, 887-945.
7 Ibid.
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