Pope Leo calls for ‘true ecological conversion’ from words to action on environment
By Brian Roewe
National Catholic Reporter
October 1, 2025
Catholics and all people committed to protecting the planet must keep climate action from slipping into trends or tribalism, Pope Leo XIV said as he opened a global church summit on climate change aimed at advancing his predecessor's advocacy on environmental issues.
While the world has become increasingly engaged in understanding the ecological and spiritual crisis of climate change thanks to Pope Francis and his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si', Leo asked a packed audience hall on the grounds of the papal summer residence outside Rome “what must be done now to ensure that caring for our common home and listening to the cry of the earth and the poor do not appear as mere passing trends or, worse still, are seen and felt as divisive issues?”