On the Passing of Pope Francis: Do Not Be Afraid.

When the news came to me about the death of Pope Francis, on a morning that was otherwise filled with the newly dawned joys of Easter, the words that came to me were those of another beloved pontiff, Saint John Paul II, who began his pontificate with the divine assurance to be not afraid.

This was, in fact, the same message I offered after his death, when there was concern among Catholic eco-advocates that the Church would veer off John Paul II’s teachings on environmental protection. He did, after all, introduce the topic quite surprisingly in his first encyclical Redemptor Hominus—a document about the human person and the salvific presence of the Son of God Himself. This not only brought eco-issues into the limelight, but it did so within papal pastoral and theological teachings.

Afterwards, John Paul II continued to champion the importance of ecological matters, which is why so many despaired when he died. The fear at the time was palpable among Catholic eco-circles that no successor could or would accept the torch of environmental protection.

But then came Pope Benedict XVI—who would soon be called The Green Pope. And again, after news of his stepping down, the concern returned: would the next pope be so eco-minded?

My answer again was yes, of course.

And then came Pope Francis, who stood on the firm foundation of his successors’ teachings and brought the world his great eco-anthem, the encyclical Laudato Si’. Of course, he had already made major ecological statements, and more would come. Bit at the center of it all was a desire by the pontiff and his closest advisors to keep such teachings from becoming mere teachings. Rather, their hope was to mobilize and activate the Catholic Church—and anyone else listening—that the natural world was in peril and there was work ahead to save it.

And now, as we grieve Pope Francis, we begin to look forward and wonder. Who will be our next pope? Who will be that next Successor of Saint Peter, Bishop of Rome, and how will they continue the teachings about lifestyles that protect God’s great gift of creation?

What has struck me these past few hours is how few of my fellow Catholic eco-advocates are expressing concern about if Pope Francis’s successor will be appropriately eco-minded. It seems, at least in these early hours, that we’ve grown past all that. Many of us seem to simply assume, and rightly so, that Catholic eco-engagement is here to stay, at all levels of the Church.

Yes, certainly, each pontiff brings their own experiences, strengths, and agendas to the Petrine Office. And world events shape the greater focus of each pope’s reign.

But fear not.

As I wrote in 2013 in my tribute to Pope Benedict XVI, when worries swirled that no successor could continue his eco-work:

We can be certain that the next Successor of Peter will continue on the path that Bl. [now Saint] John Paul II and Benedict XVI has taken the Church—a path that leads to an awareness of the ecological crises that now envelope the globe and a path that leads to the answer to these crises—to Christ, who alone can take away the sins of the world.