Francisco, the Pope who fought against climate change

“Everything is connected,” Pope Francis wrote – until five times – in his encyclical Laudato yes. A text that, since its publication in 2015, became a reference for the protection of the environment and an awkward reminder for many others: the earth is injured and the man with it.

Con Laudato si´: about the care of the common house, Pope Francis echoed the words of San Francisco de Asís, who considered all creation “as a sister, with whom we shared existence, and as a beautiful mother who welcomes us in her arms” (Ls. 1).

The Holy Father considered appropriate to raise his voice in defense of the planet, “for the damage we cause him because of the irresponsible use and abuse of the goods that God has put in it” (Ls. 2). The violence that is in the human heart, injured by sin, also manifests itself in the damage to the earth that, according to the Pope, is told “among the poorest, most abandoned and mistreated” of human reality.

Welcomed by some, and failed by others, inside and outside the Catholic world, the truth is that Laudato yes He was outlined as one of the most important documents of Francisco’s pontificate.

Your detractors They have criticized that the encyclical subtracts value from other concerns for Catholics, such as direct work with the poor. Or have expressed their disagreement with the Pope’s approach to eliminate fossil fuels.

The Catholic Church in Green mode

From its “ecological” teaching, Francisco adopted practical measures to put the Catholic Church in the line of environmental protection and the fight against climate change.

In 2021, platform was launched Laudato yes as a concrete action for Christian communities to apply the teachings of the encyclical. Also, the Vatican promised to reduce contamination in its territory before the year 2050.

In 2023, the Holy Father declared the plastic in the city of the Vatican “prohibited” and stressed that the pollution caused by this material constitutes a threat to life.

More recently, and among many other projects, the Vatican received a series of electric cars to promote sustainable mobility and reduce pollution. Two of them were specially adapted to Pope Francis.

The legacy of Laudato yes In the life of the Catholic Church

“He has permeated not only the speech, but also the praxis of the Christian communities,” said Jesuit priest Jaime Tatay, a doctor of moral theology and professor at the Pontifical University Comillas of Spain.

Although it is the first encyclical on the care of the environment, Laudato SI´ collects, in fact, “many references to other documents and pastoral letters of episcopal conferences, which they had already written on this issue,” says Fr. Tatay, in an interview with ACI Press.

“What should be said, rather, is that Pope Francis collects, compiles, structures and synthesizes all that previous teaching. Then, on the one hand it is true that it is new, but on the other it is also true that it is not so new, in the sense that he simply shapes and elevates it, thanks to the authority with which he speaks of these issues,” said the Jesuit, rewarded by the Vatican for his work on integral ecology and sustainability.

For the Spanish priest, the legacy of Laudato yes It can be broken down into three sections: one ethical dimension, other ascetic and another sacramental. The ethical dimension, according to Fr. Tatay, is revealed in the continuous complaints of Pope Francis about the social crisis that human communities are going through, and which then inevitably derive in environmental crises.

The Holy Father spoke of the voracity of man, a condition that is aggravated as the modern world promotes self -referentiality and collective selfishness, leaving aside the concern for the most vulnerable, among which the common house is told:

“The more empty the person’s heart is, the more it needs objects to buy, possess and consume. In this context, it does not seem possible that someone accepts that reality marks limits. It does not exist on that horizon a true common good” (Ls. 204), Pope Francis wrote.

“Therefore, let’s not think only about the possibility of terrible climatic phenomena or in great natural disasters, but also in catastrophes derived from social crises, because obsession with a consumerist lifestyle, especially when only a few can sustain it, can only cause violence and reciprocal destruction,” (LS. 204), he added.

Fr. Tatay also highlights an ascetic dimension, through which Pope Francis asked to rescue “the sober, simple life, criticism of waste and the culture of discard.”

In addition, the Jesuit speaks of a sacramental dimension, with which the Holy Father has wanted to show “that the created world is not only matter and energy, but it is a gift, it is a gift of God.”

“Typically we approach nature with the typical tools of natural sciences. That is why physics, chemistry, biology are very important, but that theological -salary look of reality is also important: creation is something that we are called to take care of sacramentally. That is a fundamental contribution,” said Fr. Tatay.

Laudato yes and the political conflict of the world

Although many consider that the climatic struggle and environmental activism have historically been linked to the political left, for the Spanish expert it is important to show that this “is not entirely true” and that, on the contrary, these issues “are not right -wing, or left.”

“Drinking clean water, eating quality food, breathing an air without pollutants, having a stable ecosystem, having a predictable climate regime; these are not issues of rights, or left -wing, but issues of any human being who worries about the place where he lives,” said the Jesuit.

For Fr. Tatay, the Catholic Church can help relieve political polarization, “not only in the ecological issue, but in many others”, and be a space in which it is possible to reconcile, “being a meeting place between different positions.”

“I do not say that the Church does not have its tensions and its trends like any human group, because if it was not human, but we must be very cautious the Catholics, and not identify the legitimate currents within our own home, of our tradition, with political parties,” said the Spanish priest.

SI´ laudato and Christian hope

In the middle of the Jubileo de la Esperanza, for Fr. Tatay it is important to remember those concrete actions arising from the ecological teaching of Pope Francis and that are very varied “depending on the place of the world in which we are.”

“There have been episcopal conferences, congregations, diocese, parishes and schools that have taken this issue seriously and have launched, for example, integral ecology units. Diocese and congregations have also opted to introduce all these issues in their education, in the management of their buildings, in the management of resources,” said the Jesuit.

Due to the amplitude of the Catholic Church, the priest considers it difficult to have a clear panorama of the involvement of the encyclical, however he considers that “we are on the right track … we have been becoming increasing that the care of creation, the care of the common house, is part of our mission.”

The ecological action to which Pope Francis invites, considers the expert, becomes much more complicated in those poorest countries and in the most needy regions. This “highlights the obvious: that the human, social and environmental are very connected.”

“The Church has been fighting injustice, poverty, misery for 2000 years and there are still those realities there and therefore hope is not lost. Pope Francis teaches us that we cannot be blind, ignore or flee those realities, but we cannot fall into hopelessness,” said Fr. Tatay.

In this sense, that of the Holy Father “is an important legacy and that will be there forever,” he concluded.