EarthBeat Weekly: More than a pope and melting glacier at Laudato Si' 10 conference

More than a pope and melting glacier at Laudato Si' 10 conference EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change October 10, 2025   Pope Leo XIV blesses a chunk of ice from a glacier in Greenland at an international conference Oct. 1 celebrating the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home" in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Oct. 1. The ice block was fished out of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord in Greenland after becoming detached from the ice sheet. (CNS/Vatican Media) The pope blesses an iceberg.  If you scanned media coverage of last week's Vatican conference marking the 10-year anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home," you would think that image was the focal point — or maybe even the only point — of the global Catholic gathering held in Castel Gandolfo, the hillside town outside Rome where popes have summered for centuries. Indeed, it was a powerful moment at the opening of the Laudato Si' anniversary conference, titled "Raising Hope for Climate Justice." It followed Pope Leo XIV's address to more than 1,000 participants, where he stated "the challenges identified in Laudato Si' are in fact even more relevant today than they were 10 years ago" and require widespread ecological conversion, including among political leaders, to truly address them. I was in the room as Pope Leo delivered those words, which offered the latest confirmation of continuity between he and Francis on the issue of the environment, and more specifically climate change. Leo in his speech freely cited both Laudato Si' and Laudate Deum, including one passage from the latter about those who deny climate science and "ridicule those who speak of global warming" — a message some in attendance viewed as a veiled response to President Donald Trump, who in his speech at the United Nations general assembly called climate change "the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world." Leo began his speech first by calling each of those gathered "an action hero" for their environmental work — a nod to the remarks from actor-turned-politician-turned-environmental activist Arnold Schwarzenegger, who sought to rally more of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics to join efforts to "terminate pollution" and with it address climate change. As I spoke with people after Leo had left the building, it wasn't the potentially politically tinged barbs, the celebrity pep talk or the papal blessing of ancient frozen water that most resonated with them. Instead, it was the parting words of Leo's address, where he posed a question — similar to one Francis asked in Laudato Si' — to the all Catholics: "God will ask us if we have cultivated and cared for the world that he created, for the benefit of all and for future generations, and if we have taken care of our brothers and sisters. What will be our answer?" Read more: Pope Leo calls for 'true ecological conversion' from words to action on environment Read more: Schwarzenegger says joint action needed to 'terminate' pollution Read more: Pope Leo embraces Francis' concerns on global warming and the environment That question, in many ways, captured more fully the central focus of the Raising Hope conference. After 10 years of Laudato Si' — a decade in which a flurry of actions, events, conferences, essays, commitments and more have emerged in response to Francis' calls for greater environmental action — what will be the next steps? What will the next decade and beyond look like, especially without Francis to guide and lead through his own words and deeds?  Leo helped answer part of that by demonstrating a continued Vatican commitment to environmental concerns, chief among them the growing threats from climate change. (He did not, however, accept or decline the many invitations extended to him to attend the COP30 U.N. climate summit in November.) For the hundreds of Catholic actors and leaders in attendance — including several cardinals and bishops — the remainder of the conference was a moment to help discern how they would animate and collaborate more robust church responses to the environmental crises facing God's creation today. Across panel discussions and side conversations, two words echoed more than others: heart and hope. Even Leo touched on both in his speech.  Heart, the pope and others said, presented a new opening to reach more Catholics about church teaching on creation and to inspire them toward actions around climate change and other environmental challenges. "It is only by returning to the heart that a true ecological conversion can take place," he said. "We must shift from collecting data to caring; and from environmental discourse to an ecological conversion that transforms both personal and communal lifestyles." With hope, many saw it as a unique contribution Catholics and other people of faith can bring to wider climate efforts in the face of mounting reasons for despair, be it increasing climate impacts and weakening political commitments to action. "Hope will be meaningful if we show what this community and the group of organizations and individuals that have gathered for the Raising Hope conference can do to change the trajectory of the international [climate] conversation, COP30 in particular," said Yeb Sano, board director of the Laudato Si' Movement, which facilitated the conference. Read more: At Laudato Si' conference, Catholics stress hope, heart to animate church on climate The U.N. climate summit next month was a major sub-theme at the Raising Hope conference, which aimed to mobilize Catholic action ahead of and during the international meeting. Numerous participants planned to attend the climate negotiations in Belém, Brazil, a gateway to the Amazon rainforest, while more intend to follow its developments from afar. Nearly every panel referenced COP30 in some way, and several church and political leaders from Brazil addressed the conference about priorities and expectations for the 30th U.N. climate conference.   In a keynote speech, Cardinal Jamie Spengler, president of the Brazilian bishops' conference and head of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), decried countries' overdue submissions of new climate plans — called "nationally determined contributions" — saying the delay was "very serious," given that the pledges "mark the path for the next five years and beyond." "The church will not remain silent and is called to raise a prophetic voice that heals the broken socio-environmental fabric," he said. In her own remarks, Marina Silva, Brazil's environment minister, spoke about the COP30 initiative she is heading aimed at overcoming the ethical challenges that stymie people and nations from taking climate action. "Today, we possess in large part the technical solutions, policies and legal regulation to execute that unpostponable agenda," she said. "What we need now is the ethical determination to fulfill those commitments to benefit future generations, and, above all, the most vulnerable and marginalized people."  Read more: Church, government leaders set sights on COP30 at Vatican climate meeting There will be more reporting to come from NCR's coverage of the Raising Hope conference and Catholic mobilization ahead of COP30. Stay tuned.     What else is new on EarthBeat:     800 years later, St. Francis' 'Canticle of Creation' still speaks to us by Jane Marie Bradish Francis' canticle was groundbreaking in its embrace of all creation as equal to humanity. Today, it reads as a call to embrace our fragile universe and earth and all its inhabitants. Read more here »   Lessons from my beloved dog, Charlie, on the feast of St. Francis by Lucy Huh My poodle was sacred, like all creatures born from the loving heart of God. He taught me that animals, too, carry the divine spark of their creator. Read more here »   Developers wanted their land. Instead, sisters are turning it into a rainwater repository. by Dan Stockman The Sisters of St. Joseph's Mirabeau Water Garden in New Orleans is under construction, creating an opportunity to utilize the city's excess rainwater. Read more here »   Sisters turning 25 acres in Kenya into a model for mixed farming by Mourine Achieng "We want to inspire small-scale farmers to maximize their farms' potential," Sr. Flora Nyawira of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Good Shepherd said.  Read more here »   Laudato Si' continues to inspire Bangladesh communities to protect the Earth by Stephan Uttom Rozario The Catholic Church in Bangladesh is working actively in the environmental sector and spreading the message of Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato Si' to protect the environment — even among non-Catholics.  Read more here »   NY grant helps Catholic sisters save the bees by Julian Tiburcio Roughly half the state's pollinators are at risk of going extinct. Women religious in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island are securing safe spaces for them.  Read more here »   Photo essay: New York sisters set on pilgrimage to experience Hudson River as 'a living being' by Chris Herlinger "Our hope was to be with the Hudson River and experience it as a living being, with its own right to exist, flourish and thrive," said Charity Sr. Carol De Angelo. Read more here »   'We have to do something!': Our faith calls us protect creation by Sue Paweski The blessing of combining parishes is the wealth of experience that people share in new ways. At our combined parish, that has reenergized initiatives to restore our common home, Earth, and to act on climate change. Read more here »   'God's Grandeur' shines in our care for creation by Helen Mueting As the Season of Creation draws to a close, I find myself pausing to notice how it invites us to renew our love and care for our world. This season also has been a time to return to a beloved poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Read more here » What's happening in other climate news:   Global renewable energy generation surpasses coal for first time —Jillian Ambrose for the Guardian Chart: Global investment in renewables hits record even as US falters —Dan McCarthy for Canary Media The next phase of Trump's fight against solar energy has begun —Jake Spring for the Washington Post Groups sue EPA over canceled $7 billion solar program intended to help poorer Americans —Alexa St. John and Jennifer Mcdermott for the Associated Press New report examines fossil fuel ties of dozens of Trump administration hires —Aidan Hughes, Martha Pskowski for Inside Climate News Science teachers scramble as U.S. climate resources vanish —Gaea Cabico for Science Magazine Women in Mexico step up to protect ancient Aztec farms and save a vanishing ecosystem —Teresa De Miguel for the Associated Press Final Beat:   On Thursday, Pope Leo XIV issued the first apostolic exhortation (magisterial teaching document) of his papacy. Dilexi Te ("I Have Loved You") is devoted to the topic of poverty and the poor. In another sign of the continuity between Pope Leo and Pope Francis, Leo cites Francis 57 times, including three passages from Laudato Si'. In paragraph 96, Leo writes:    "One structural issue that cannot realistically be resolved from above and needs to be addressed as quickly as possible has to do with the locations, neighborhoods, homes and cities where the poor live and spend their time. All of us appreciate the beauty of "those cities which overcome paralyzing mistrust, integrate those who are different and make this very integration a new factor of development! How attractive are those cities which, even in their architectural design, are full of spaces which connect, relate and favor the recognition of others!" Yet, at the same time, "we cannot fail to consider the effects on people's lives of environmental deterioration, current models of development and the throwaway culture." (Laudato Si', no. 43) For "the deterioration of the environment and of society affects the most vulnerable people on the planet." (Laudato Si', no. 48)   You can read NCR Vatican correspondent Justin McLellan's report on Leo's first apostolic exhortation here. And you can read Dilexi Te in full here. Until next week, thanks for reading EarthBeat.   Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org     Featured Advertisers   Looking to Hire? Offering Retreats? Selling Books? Place an Ad in NCR's Online Classified Section for Only $75 per Month!   Advertisement