Pope Francis wants it clear that his first encyclical is to be appreciated as an addition to the church’s 124 year tradition of Catholic Social Teaching. How do we know? He tells us so right there at the beginning in number 15: “It is my hope that this Encyclical Letter, which is now added to the body of the Church’s social teaching, can help us to acknowledge the appeal, immensity and urgency of the challenge we face.”

Perhaps it is no accident that, after opening his encyclical letter "Laudato Si’" with a quote from St. Francis of Assisi’s famous Canticle of the Creatures, Pope Francis cites Pope St. John XXIII’s encyclical "Pacem in Terris" (1963) as the model for his audien

In many ways, Pope Francis’ long-awaited "Laudato Si'" continues and develops the tradition that St. John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI established, yet in significant ways it also marks a bold and fresh direction for Catholic social teaching on ecology. On the one hand,

"Laudato Si’" brings a new spiritual depth to the tradition of papal social encyclicals. Extensive quotes from Christian mystical writers such as Therese of Liseux, John of the Cross and St. Bonaventure, and even the Sufi ‘Ali al-Khawas make clear something new is in play

In the lead-up to the encyclical a number of friends, colleagues, and pundits have wondered what place teaching on gender and sexuality would occupy in Pope Francis’ treatment of faith and ecology. If the question seems a strange one it is not without warrant. Building on John Paul II’s

In addition to the use of gender-inclusive language, a first in official Catholic social encyclicals, one of the most amazing aspects of “Laudato Si’” are the footnotes. To be honest it was one of the very first things I looked at. Francis departs from the tradition of Catholic soc