From a reader: Songs [suggested in June ZINE post] should absolutely include Barbara Ridge's Litany for the Earth. It is based on Pope Francis's Laudato Sí, a beautiful song, a litany with great harmonies. Thank you, Pam V., for your recommendation. Listen here.
May 2025, marked the 10th Anniversary of “Laudato Sí, On Care for Our Common Home.” That same month Pope Francis, the author and life force of that landmark document, died. What now? Will his successor, Leo XIV, embrace the concern and challenge for the environmental crisis with the same clarity and zeal as Frances?
The many people who are concerned have looked for clues in the statements and actions of Cardinal Robert Provost, OSA, as he served in various positions prior to becoming Pope Leo. They have been reassured.
As missionary and then bishop in Peru, Provost lived near the Amazon rainforest. He had interactions with interfaith environmental networks and organizations that held forest protection at the center of Church concerns. He pastored people whose daily lives were negatively impacted by attitudes and actions that disregarded the needs of the earth.
Laudato Sí Movement (LSM) noted: Pope Leo XIV, as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, has consistently advocated for ecological conversion and peace, aligning with the principles outlined in Laudato Sí. He showed a strong commitment to ecological issues, stressing the importance of moving “from words to action.”
Various sources cite Provost’s X account to offer numerous examples of his sharing information, encouraging actions, and prodding government leaders on behalf of our caring for the earth. In 2015 he posted, “The planet needs us.”
In an interview with living on earth, May 16, 2025, Dr. Erin Lothes from LSM observed: “…as an American, Pope Leo will have an even more intense capacity to engage successfully from within our culture, as someone who not only understands it, but lives it and can’t be dismissed as someone from the global south, from a developing nation, someone influenced by liberation theology. Here’s a person who grew up in our American democratic capitalism in the best sense, and is fully capable of engaging it very directly.”
Vatican News reported on Pope Leo acknowledging the 10th Anniversary of Laudato Sí, sending messages of support and encouragement to various groups. He posted, “Pope Francis’s encyclical calls us to renew the dialogue on how we are building our planet’s future, as we unite in the pursuit of sustainable and integral development, taking care to protect the common home entrusted to us by God.” (@Pontifex account on X) Pope Leo visited the Borgo Laudato Sí in Castel Gandolfo. (See ZINE post, 12-27-24)
It seems we can be assured that Pope Leo will continue to animate the message and meaning of Laudato Sí.
What about us, you and me? As we see nations, industries and businesses, and individuals pull back from their commitments to care for and reverence the earth, what are we doing? Will we embrace the concern and challenge for the environmental crisis presented by Frances — and now Leo — with the same clarity and zeal as they offer?
We must.
Suggested actions:
- Each week send to an environmental group of your choice the equivalent of one day’s purchase of your favorite beverage.
- Clean out your refrigerator once a week and decide how you will use the food you discover there. Do not throw it out!
"'People think they need to do great things,' but small actions make a big difference." —Laura Zoeller
