Laudato Si is Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the environment or more formally – On Care for Our Common Home. Laudato Si means “Praise be to you” which is the first line of a canticle of St. Francis of Assisi, his namesake, that praises God with all of his creation. 

Indeed, the spiritual tradition of “creation care” has run through our Roman Catholic tradition from its earliest years and begins with the Book of Genesis. The Old Testament is filled with beautiful images of nature and the revelation of God in nature.

From the outset, Pope Francis states the goal of the document: “In this Encyclical, I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home” (#3 - refers to paragraph in encyclical).

Normally, papal documents are addressed to the bishops of the Church or the lay faithful. But, similar to Pope Saint John XXIII’s Pacem in Terris, Pope Francis address his message to all people.

Citing the Book of Wisdom, the Holy Father observes that: “Creation is of the order of love. God’s love is the fundamental moving force in all created things: “For you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things that you have made; for you would not have made anything if you had hated it” (Wis 11:24). He notes that Jesus used nature as a teaching tool many times, describing clouds, planting and harvest, floods, flowering trees, wind, and water. Now, Pope Francis, in the face of global environmental degradation, raises the care of creation to a central part of our Catholic faith.

The goal of the dialogue: “I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation that includes everyone, since the environment challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all” (#14).

The above is at the heart of the document, but Pope Francis also has a very striking call to conversion for those in the Church as well.

“The ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion. It must be said that some committed and prayerful Christians, with the excuse of realism and pragmatism, tend to ridicule expressions of concern for the environment. Others are passive; they choose not to change their habits and thus become inconsistent. So what they all need is an ‘ecological conversion’, whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them. Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience” (#217) 

No matter who you are or where you find yourself in relation to protecting the environment, Pope Francis has this message for you: “I invite all to embrace with open hearts this Encyclical which is in line with the Church’s social doctrine” (General Audience, June 17, 2015).<sup>1 

 1</sup> Portions of this summary are reproduced from Focus on America