Easter and Earth Day: The Francis Connection
As a child, Easter was among my favorite holidays. The culmination of the Lenten season, Jesus Christ’s triumph over death, coupled with candy and gifts was a combo that I couldn’t deny.
As an adult, Earth Day has replaced Easter. As my “The Stewardship Creed” back from 2023 illustrates, I am ‘a spiritual but not religious’ person. My drift away from Christianity and Catholicism was due in part to a perceived lack of environmental ethics and emphasis on them.
Nevertheless, the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday has led me to reflect about my relationship with the Catholic Church and Christianity more generally, along with the environment. Francis was quite the environmentalist. In his 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si’, Francis urged the world to ‘protect our common home’ in all aspects, ranging from human favorites like mammals and birds to lesser known creatures like fungi and microorganisms. When speaking about Saint Francis of Assisi, his papal namesake, Pope Francis writes:
“He (Saint Francis) was a mystic and pilgrim who lived in simplicity and wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior pace.”
Pope Francis consistently argued in this encyclical and elsewhere that caring about the environment is in humanity’s interest. As Earth Day 2025 has come and gone, a pair of stories reminds us of this basic fact.
About 146 million Americans, 46% of our population, is now exposed to ‘unhealthy air pollution’ according to the American Lung Association. In other words, 1 out of 2 Americans. The Lung Association states that a combination of ‘extreme heat, wildfires and drought’ is worsening air across the country. This kind of pollution is insidious, as half the population is becoming. As the climate worsens, it’s harder to clean up the air. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is currently reviewing EPA regulations governing the air.
Between January 2023 and April 2025, 84% of the world’s coral have been affected by ‘bleaching.’ Bleaching occurs when the algae within coral dies, turning the animals white. It’s not a death sentence, but certainly not a clean bill of health. As this National Geographic video reveals, an incredible amount of marine life is dependent on healthy coral reefs: “though they cover less than 1% of the ocean floor, coral reefs are home to 25% of all marine creatures.” That’s a biodiversity level rivaling the rainforests. Considering how little we know of the ocean, it’s possible that coral reefs are the most biodiverse region on the planet. Bleaching is a huge warning sign for the health of our oceans and our planet.
As anyone familiar with ecology knows, no species is on an island. You start reducing or removing their numbers and it’s only a matter of time until the rest fall. Naturalist and documentary stud David Attenborough would know better than most. On his 99th birthday, Ocean with David Attenborough will release in select theaters, coming to streaming platforms later this year. Francis would be pleased with Attenborough’s efforts to protect ‘our common home.’
These two stories shows us how modern society can negatively impact the environment. I find the Seven Deadly Sins helpful as to how we got here. I will apply them to myself only.
1. Pride: I find it especially easy to think of myself as above other life forms in a 21st century, industrialized society. With a single click, I can order food, drink video games or other items from my city or around the world and get them in less time than it took to get to market in the Middle Ages. That level of convenience can breed overbearing pride if not monitored. As the Devil stated in The Devil’s Advocate, “vanity is definitely my favorite sin.”
2. Lust/Greed: The constant bombardment of ads and connection made possible by the Internet and social media make me focus on wants, rather than needs. For instance, I have tons of video games that I haven’t beaten or even started, yet I am salivating over the Nintendo Switch 2 which will be released on June 5th. This console, like many others, is composed of rare earth minerals. Once it reaches my home, it will guzzle a fair amount of electricity over its lifespan. Compare gaming to reading and it’s clear that reading is more sustainable. Why isn’t a book good enough entertainment?
3. Gluttony/Sloth: The same conditions make it hard to resist overconsumption: why not have another drink or snack, when it’s so easy to get them? Why bother to do anything difficult, when there’s plenty of diversion at your fingertips? Why should I write this blog to combat environmental problems if I can play Oblivion: Remastered? Why should I research how to game more sustainably? Isn’t that the company’s job?
4. Anger/envy: If others get the Switch 2 or Oblivion: Remastered, I want them too. Why should they have them and I shouldn’t? That feeling of envy can morph itself into anger, over time. A video game or console isn’t enough on their own to for these sins to take root, but throw in a house, car, vacations….and the mind screams: why them and not me? I deserve it, environmental consequences be damned.
For me, Seven Deadly Sins and the environment tell a tragic tale.
Pope Francis is no longer with us, but we can continue his work by caring for ‘our common home’ and applying the Golden Rule to the environment as much as we can as we do to humanity.
That’s something Pope Francis, Saint Francis, Attenborough and myself agree on.
Perhaps you too.