Overview

• Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, 2025, placed environmental stewardship at the core of his papacy, beginning with his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si.
• Laudato Si and the 2023 exhortation Laudate Deum framed the climate crisis as a moral and social justice issue, linking ecological degradation to global poverty and displacement.
• His teachings influenced key global agreements, including the 2015 Paris Agreement, and emphasized the need for urgent, collective action to combat climate change.
• Experts argue that the Church must simplify and disseminate his complex environmental writings to reach broader audiences and mobilize change effectively.
• Francis’s evolution from discussing 'climate change' to a 'climate emergency' reflected his alignment with scientific evidence and urgency for action.