On May 24, 2025, we will mark the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’, the first papal document dedicated entirely to ecology. An encyclical refers to a letter circulated by the Pope, with Laudato Si’ being one of the seventeen encyclicals describing Catholic Social Teaching.
Although Pope Francis signed the encyclical Lumen Fidei less than four months after his election, the document was primarily authored by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Consequently, Laudato Si’ is regarded as the first encyclical fully written by Pope Francis.
Typically, papal documents are directed towards either the bishops of the Church or the laity. However, akin to Pope Saint John XXIII’s Pacem in Terris, Pope Francis directs his message to a broader audience encompassing every human being irrespective of religion or denomination.
In a groundbreaking departure from tradition, Pope Francis wrote Laudato Si’ in Italian rather than Latin, the customary language for magisterial documents of the Church primarily to reach a wider audience for pastoral reasons.
ST FRANCIS’ ECOLOGICAL VISION
Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ derives its title from Saint Francis’ Canticle of the Creatures which begins with the phrase, “Praise be to you, my Lord”.
Br Sunil Britto CFC
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