Pope Francis, who used faith and science to call out the climate crisis, dies at 88
Pope Francis died this morning at the age of 88. He spent his papacy urging world leaders and everyday Catholics to treat climate change as both a scientific fact and a moral emergency.
In short:
- Pope Francis made climate justice a pillar of his legacy, calling for urgent action on global warming and spotlighting its disproportionate impact on the poor.
- His 2015 encyclical Laudato si’ was a watershed moment, aligning Catholic doctrine with climate science and influencing key international talks like the Paris Agreement.
- Even as his health declined, he continued to challenge wealthy nations’ responsibility, framing fossil fuel dependence and environmental destruction as “structural sin.”
Key quote:
“The wealthier nations, around one billion people, produce more than half of the heat-trapping pollutants. On the contrary, the three billion poorer people contribute less than 10 percent, yet they suffer 75 percent of the resulting damage.”
— Pope Francis
Why this matters:
Pope Francis helped elevate climate change to an urgent moral imperative, linking it to poverty, inequality, and global health. His framing was radical in its simplicity: Protecting the Earth is not just about survival; it’s about love, justice, and human dignity. Even as the pope's health faltered, he made it clear that environmental collapse isn’t just a policy failure, but a spiritual failure. And while not everyone accepted his message, Pope Francis helped galvanize climate movements around the world and gave environmental justice a pulpit few could ignore.
Read more: At the Vatican, a call to avoid 'biological extinction'
