1. What is Laudato Si?

The title is taken from the first line of the encyclical, “Laudato Si’, mi Signore,” or “Praise be to you, my Lord.” In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us.

An “encyclical” is a letter that is a teaching document by the Holy Father. A “social encyclical” applies the consistent, traditional moral teachings of the Church to the social and economic challenges of the current day.

MACS have developed numerous resources about Laudato Si for educators and students.

On October 4, 2022, the grand documentary film, The Letter, was released which tells the story of Laudato Si and the unfolding ecological emergency. The Letter was produced by Off the Fence and Laudato Si’ Movement. The Vatican’s Dicastery of Communication and Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development also collaborated in the making of thefilm. Pope Francis is the film’s star. In the film, Pope Francis brings together science and faith and he shares that today you could never practise theology without dialogue with science. He reminds us that God gave us capacity for investigation and the intellectual capacity to look for truths and that the biblical story of creation is a mythical form of expression to explain our history. In this film, he urges us to look at the present.

The film brings together four of the different voices that Pope Francis has called specifically for in Laudato Si: The Voice of the Poor; The Voice of the Indigenous Peoples; The Voice of the Youth; The Voice of Wildlife.

The trailer for this documentary is shown below but you can access the full documentary is available to view online.

This document provides a summary of common FAQ’s related to Laudato Si.