Cardinal Tobin: Laudato Si’, giving thanks for all God’s creation

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

On Wednesday, July 9, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the Care of Creation in the Borgo Laudato Si’ — the gardens at Castel Gandolfo established by Pope Francis to continue the important work of caring for creation and our common home.

In the words of his beautiful Canticle of the Sun, St. Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with colored flowers and herbs” (Laudato Si’, #1). Our world, indeed, all of God’s creation, is not an object to be manipulated by us. It is like a sister, our “Mother Earth,” to be treated with reverence, respect and loving care.

I hope you have an opportunity to read, or re-read, Laudato Si’ in its entirety. You’ll discover that the sound bites you’ve read or heard in the news media don’t do it justice. There is so much more there to be savored and reflected upon!

Laudato Si’ is not a political, economic or scientific treatise. It is an encyclical, a “profound letter” addressed by the pope to Church leaders, to the faithful and to all women and men of good will on a matter of great importance to the Church and the world. Specifically, the encyclical speaks to the world community about our responsibility to nurture and protect all that God has made.

This encyclical is deeply rooted in a hymn of praise whose final verse concerning Sister Death was composed by St. Francis of Assisi on his deathbed in 1226. We call this magnificent Franciscan hymn The Canticle of the Sun, and unless we appreciate its significance as an expression of authentic Christian ecology, we cannot grasp the full importance of the profound teaching in Laudato Si’.

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