What Precisely Did Pope Francis Contribute? Parsing Key Terms and Claims in <i>Laudato Si’</i>

Abstract

With the 2015 publication of his encyclical letter Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, Pope Francis emerged as a leading religious voice (alongside Patriarch Bartholomew) advocating for ecological justice and environmental sustainability. This remarkable exercise of global leadership has demonstrably influenced subsequent discourse, activism and deliberations on the environment, including the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in December 2015. In order to advance the collective understanding of the diagnosis of the environmental crisis and the prescriptions for change presented by Pope Francis in this teaching document, this essay examines key terms, claims and conceptual tools presented in its pages. This essay opens with a pointed analysis of the historical context within which this particular religious contribution to environmental justice proceeds. It closes by tracing certain key outcomes and ongoing impacts of the contribution of Pope Francis to this area of social concern.

Keywords

• Pope Francis
• <i>Laudato Si’</i>
• Roman Catholic Church
• climate change
• structural analysis