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St. Peter's Square before the arrival of Pope Francis.  Photo: Flicker/ BostonCatholic

This is one of those glorious times for all Catholics to celebrate and pray and again fall in love with the Bride of Christ. It is a time to step away from our particular missions, vocations, and ideologies and remember that we are in communion with each other.

While the Body of Christ has many parts, we are one in Him.

And so for Catholic ecologists, we join our brothers and sisters in Christ no matter what their views of the environmental problems of the day, knowing with certainty that Pope Francis will continue the magisterial engagement of ecology. And for this, we give thanks to God.

Here, then, is a wrap of the...

Angelo Cardinal Scola/Wiki Images

With much of the world focused on the Sistine Chapel’s chimney, we wait for white smoke, the tolling of St. Peter’s bells, and news on the second pontiff elected in the twenty-first century. Within this moment, Catholic ecologists are wondering what the next pope will do and say about life on earth.

Certainly, the soon-to-be-elected pontiff will continue his predecessors’ call for a proper understanding of natural and human ecology and for man’s use of energy and all resources. Such matters are too firmly rooted in magisterial teachings and the human condition to be ignored.

But what have cardinals been saying thus far? 

One place to find out is the Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Conservation Center Facebook page. Bill Jacobs of the center has been doing a yeoman’s job posting eco-statements from some of the cardinals. For now, I’d like to focus on one of the cardinals—one who is thought of by many, including me, as rather papabile. 

I’ve been suggesting for the...