Laudato Si’ And The Limits Of Law: Reflections On The Vocation To Protect Integral Ecology

Abstract
In 2015, Pope Francis’s widely anticipated encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, was released. It was a wide-ranging commentary on the state of the world, with much to say to economists, ecologists, farmers, theologians, educators, architects, artists, and pastors. It may, however, have been of particular interest to lawyers eager to see what Pope Francis had to say about law’s particular role.

On this question, Laudato Si’ painted an inconsistent portrait of law’s suitability to this task. Pope Francis spoke passionately about the need for law at all levels to tackle the complexities of caring for our “common home” —the expansive term he consistently used to describe all that is at stake. Yet, throughout Laudato Si,’ Pope Francis also expressed recognition of and, indeed, deep frustration with, law’s inability to accomplish this in a meaningful way. Laudato Si’s tenth anniversary is an opportune time to consider whether its ambivalence about law’s capacity reflects reality and contemplate why this might be the case. In addition, Pope Francis’s death on April 21, 2025 sparked worldwide commentary on his legacy. It is also time to consider whether there can be a new ethical framework for law to be a more productive tool to protect our common home.

This paper addresses the ambivalent perspective on law that is expressed in Laudato Si,’ a document that appears both optimistic about, and frustrated with, law’s capacity. It theorizes that part of the reason for the limits of law is ambiguity as to what “care for our common home” entails and how broadly it should be construed. Laudato Si’ used many different terms to describe the focus of its concern. All of these terms have distinct meanings and are, in many contexts, used interchangeably, resulting in confusing definitional sprawl. This paper argues that law may be more effective in addressing narrow, discretely defined problems, but less capable of addressing the broader questions that Pope Francis raises under his preferred rubric of “integral ecology.” This expansive approach to ecology has a breadth and depth that may lie well beyond the capacity of mere law.

This paper explains what those limitations may be. Most importantly, this paper proposes that a theory, borrowed from other branches of law, may offer a perspective on how law may contribute in a meaningful way. In other areas of law, a “duty to protect” is the obligation to prevent harm and to take action to prevent injury to other parties. In the context of the broad mandate demanded by integral ecology, a broad summons to a “vocation to protect” may be the most useful lens for contemplating how law may contribute to protecting integral ecology. The paper offers both the theoretical proposal and a practical checklist to evaluate decisions that may impact our common home. The paper concludes with a call for lawyers to take on this challenge with hope and with a humility that recognizes that legal approaches are merely one part of the response to Pope Francis’s appeal.

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