‘Laudato si’ et viriditas’
Humanity. Environment. Sustainability. Laudato si’ (Italian for “Praise Be to You”) is a landmark encyclical letter written by the late Pope Francis, published in June 2015. It is subtitled “On Care for Our Common Home” and is unique because it is the first papal document to focus entirely on the environment and its relationship to human life. Unlike most Church documents addressed only to Catholics, Francis addressed this to every person living on this planet, calling for a global dialogue on how we are shaping the future of the Earth.
The core tenet of the document is the idea of integral ecology. This is the belief that environmental issues cannot be separated from social and human issues. Pope Francis famously argues that: “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.” Ecological damage hurts the most vulnerable people first. Climate change, water scarcity, and pollution are seen as issues of social justice. Humanity is not separate from nature. We are part of a universal family. The Pope criticized the wasteful “take-make-waste” culture and the obsession with technology and profit that views nature as a mere object to be exploited. Laudato si’ is a call for individuals and nations to undergo a change of heart, moving from consumerism to a lifestyle of sobriety and sharing.
The encyclical is organized into six chapters, following a see-judge-act methodology. It begins with a chapter review of the scientific evidence on pollution, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. It is followed by a theological look at how the Bible calls us to till and keep the Earth and not to abuse it. The next section critiques the roots of the ecological crisis: technocracy (through an obsession with modern technology) and misguided anthropocentricism (putting humans at the center of everything).
This is then followed by an exploration of the crucial links between the environment, the economy, and social justice. Practical suggestions on national policies, international agreements, and transparent decision-making are posited in the penultimate section. The final chapter exhorts us to live out a new lifestyle borne out of ecological conversion through education and prayer.
Published just months before the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, it is credited with helping build the moral momentum needed to pass the Paris Agreement. In October 2023, Pope Francis released a follow-up apostolic exhortation called “Laudate Deum” (Praise God), expressing frustration that global action has been insufficient and calling for even more urgent measures.
While Laudato si’ is the modern manifesto for ecology, St. Hildegard* of Bingen, a 12th-century Benedictine abbess, mystic, and composer provided the medieval foundation for it through her concept of viriditas. In many ways, Hildegard was the original green theologian. Derived from the Latin words for green (viridis) and truth (veritas), viriditas is often translated as greening power or freshness.
For Hildegard, this wasn’t just a botanical observation, it was a cosmic force. She saw it as the divine life force that flows through all of creation. It is a concept that involves three dimensions: nature, the human body, and the soul. It advocates for the literal greening of trees, the budding of flowers, and the fertility of the Earth. The human body is in state of dryness when the greening power is blocked as it loses its moisture and vitality. It is spiritual vitality that allows a person to bear fruits of virtue and creativity.
There is a direct spiritual line from Hildegard’s Viriditas to Pope Francis’s Integral Ecology. Hildegard wrote, “All of creation is a song of praise to God.” She believed that if humans mistreat the Earth, the Earth will strike back to purge itself. This is a strikingly modern view of ecological balance. Just as Pope Francis critiqued the desertification of the soul through consumerism, Hildegard warned against ariditas (spiritual dryness). She believed that when we lose our connection to the divine, we become dry and brittle, leading us to harm the world around us. Hildegard taught that the human being is a microcosm of the universe. Whatever happens in the environment happens in us, and vice versa.
Combining Laudato si’ and viriditas creates a powerful bridge between 12th-century mysticism and 21st-century climate science. While separated by 800 years, both Pope Francis and St. Hildegard of Bingen share a green theology that views the Earth not as a resource to be mined, but as a living web of relationships.
*St. Hildegard of Bingen was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath who became one of the most influential figures of the Middle Ages. She was a visionary, composer, writer, and philosopher who broke nearly every social barrier of her time for women. Happy International Women’s Month!
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Dr. Joel Tiu Maquiling may be reached at jmaquiling@ateneo.edu
