The Best of Pope Francis: Thirteen important eco-comments by the Holy Father

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio was introduced to the world with the name of Francis, we all knew that this would be a Successor of Saint Peter eager to carry on his predecessors' work for the care of creation. Now twelve years later, we can look back on a pontiff who added to the corpus of papal statements on ecological protection with candor, inspiration, and abundance.

Below are just some of the more important ones. They range from the soaring theology of Catholic Ecology to the political and prudential. In choosing them, I hope to capture the essence of Pope Francis's immense contributions to the Church in her understanding and witnessing to the caring for, nurturing, and, yes, the proper use of the very creation given to us by God in the beginning.

“The vocation of being a 'protector' ... has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. [...] Be protectors of God’s gifts!” (Inaugural Homily, Solemnity of Saint Joseph, 2013)

“…[C]reation can only be understood as a gift from the outstretched hand of the Father of all, and as a reality illuminated by the love which calls us together into universal communion.” (Laudato Si’ 74)

“The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, his boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God.” (Laudato Si’ 84)

“Once the human being declares independence from reality and behaves with absolute dominion, the very foundations of our life begin to crumble.” (Laudato Si’ 117)

“When we fail to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a poor person, a human embryo, a person with disabilities—to offer just a few examples—it becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature itself.” (Laudato Si’ 117)

“It is in the Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation.” (Laudato Si’ 236)

“Everything is interconnected, and this invites us to develop a spirituality of that global solidarity which flows from the mystery of the Trinity.” (Laudato Si’ 240)

"We received the earth as a garden-home from the Creator. Let us not pass it on to future generations as a wilderness.” (Address to Oil Executives, June 2018)

“In considering the fundamental role of water in creation and in human development, I feel the need to give thanks to God for 'Sister Water', simple and useful for life like nothing else on our planet. Precisely for this reason, care for water sources and water basins is an urgent imperative.” (Message for World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, September 2018)

“(Since the publication of Laudator Si’ eight years prior) “I have realized that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point (Laudate Deum, 2)

“It is not a matter of replacing politics, but of recognizing that the emerging forces are becoming increasingly relevant and are in fact capable of obtaining important results in the resolution of concrete problems, as some of them demonstrated during the pandemic. The very fact that answers to problems can come from any country, however little, ends up presenting multilateralism as an inevitable process.” (Laudate Deum, 40)

“Once and for all, let us put an end to the irresponsible derision that would present this issue as something purely ecological, 'green', romantic, frequently subject to ridicule by economic interests. Let us finally admit that it is a human and social problem on any number of levels.” (Laudate Deum, 58)“

“The protection of creation, then, is not only an ethical issue, but one that is eminently theological, for it is the point where the mystery of man and the mystery of God intersect. This intersection can be called 'creative', since it originates in the act of love by which God created human beings in Christ.” (Message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, September 2024)

Do you have a favorite eco-quote (or any other) from Pope Francis? If so, add them to the comments below!

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