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In Nov. 29, 1979, Pope John Paul II issued a papal bull that declared St. Francis of Assisi the patron of ecology and of those who promote ecology.

John Paul II wrote, “Among the holy and admirable men who have revered nature as a wonderful gift of God to the human race, St Francis of Assisi deserves special consideration.”

The pope went on to note Francis’ deep sense of the Creator at work in the world, and through it, the presence of the divine spirit. John Paul II mentioned too the “Canticle of the Creatures,” Francis’ famous prayer poem that is one of the cornerstones of Franciscan spirituality.

(The canticle’s recurring refrain “Praised be you, my Lord,” or in Umbrian dialect of early Italian, “Laudato Si’, mi signore,” inspired the name of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on the environment and human ecology, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home.” And it was Pope Francis who was the first to tap the Assisi saint as his papal namesake.)

Naming Francis of Assisi as the patron saint of ecology came at the end of the 1970s, a decade that witnessed the birth of the modern environmental movement and began with the celebration of the first Earth Day, held in the United States.

Laudato Si

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