[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo XIV needs to correct the many errors of Laudato Si’: Here’s why

Pope Leo XIV is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ with a whole series of events in the coming months.

Already, on September 5, 2025, he announced that the historic papal residence in Castel Gandolfo is henceforth to be known the “village” of “Borgo Laudato Si’,” supposedly bringing the encyclical’s vision of integral ecology to life by uniting faith, sustainability, and community life. A “Laudato Si’ Garden” has also made an appearance in Vatican City.

Then, on October 1–3, he will open the Raising Hope Conference in Rome. The theme of the conference is the supposed ecological crisis, and how to achieve the U.N.’s goals laid out in COP30. This promises to be a largely secular event bringing together spiritual leaders, scientists, activists, and indigenous representatives.

Pope Leo XIV has apparently bought into the notion that social justice requires ecological justice, and vice versa. This was the point of the video message to the Network of Universities for the Care of Our Common Home in Rio de Janeiro (May 21–24), encouraging synodal reflection on the interconnectedness of all things.

He also celebrated the first Mass for the Care of Creation at Castel Gandolfo in July, urging Christians to take action to address the ecological crisis. The Pope said, in part, “We ask that you consider coming alongside us as we seek to honor Him with the gifts He has given us in the furtherance of a Biblical model of Earth stewardship, which glorifies Him and lifts His people out of both physical and spiritual poverty.”

But in order to get there, you can’t fudge the numbers, exaggerate the problem, and set up huge, wasteful, government programs that often perpetuate the very problems that you want to solve. There are endless examples of this, among them California Governor Gavin Newsom’s generously funded program to eliminate homelessness. Money was shoveled to leftist NGOs who – predictably – made the problem worse. They didn’t want the gravy train to end.

The encyclical that Pope Leo is using as a guidebook is chock full of the kind of exaggerated claims that environmental radicals specialize in. This gives Laudato Si’ a dismal tone of environmental “apocalypse now,” as when it asserts that future generations will experience “debris, desolation and filth” (para. 161).

Sections of the encyclical read like the discredited 1972 Club of Rome report The Limits to Growth, which predicted ecological, economic and societal collapse in the coming years. None of these doomsday scenarios have actually materialized, and there is little evidence that they will. Human ingenuity has historically averted resource collapses.

All this is to say, Laudato Si’ contains numerous factual errors about the state of humanity and the state of the planet. These errors were already apparent when the encyclical was first issued, and are even more glaring now.

The encyclical asserts (para. 46) that economic growth over the past two centuries “has not always led to … an improvement in the quality of life.”

In fact, lifespans have more than doubled and incomes have risen well over a hundredfold. In 1815, humanity numbered about 1 billion and lived on average to the age of 30 on a meager per capita income of $100. Today we number 8.3 billion and enjoy an average lifespan of 73 and per capita GDP is $14,000.

Laudato Si’ claims (paras. 29-30) that “the quality of available water is constantly diminishing” and poses a serious problem for the poor.

But this is simply not true. The Millennium Development Goals 2014 Report states that access to improved drinking water sources reached 2.3 billion more people between 1990 and 2012, with 89 percent of the global population having access by 2012 (up from 76 percent in 1990), achieving the target five years early.

And the progress continues. According to the most recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene, 74 percent of the global population used safely managed drinking water services in 2024, an improvement from 68 percent in 2015, with 961 million additional people gaining access to safely managed drinking water between 2015 and 2024. And 90 percent of the global population used at least basic drinking water services in 2022, up from 89 percent in 2012, as reported in the 2014 MDG report.

The encyclical claims (para. 33) that “thousands of plant and animal species” are lost annually, mostly due to humans, and that future generations will never see them.

But there is simply no evidence of massive extinctions. The Red List reports 150–200 extinctions since 2006, with approximately 10–15 extinctions annually in recent years for assessed species. This is a tiny fraction of the “thousands” claimed, which is based on radical environmentalist fabrications intended to alarm the public.

While some species do face reduced habitats, the Convention on Biological Diversity – which is intended to create planetary nature preserves – has already met its goals. By 2020, 17.08 percent of terrestrial and inland water areas were protected, and thus the plant and animal species which live there are also protected.

The encyclical describes the poor and vulnerable as “the majority of the planet’s population, billions of people” (para. 49).

This claim also is not backed up by the evidence. The Millennium Development Goals 2014 Report showed extreme poverty in developing regions dropped from nearly half the population in 1990 to 22 percent by 2010, with the number of people in extreme poverty falling from 1.9 billion to 1.2 billion – achieving the U.N. target ahead of schedule.

And the progress continues. By 2022, only 9.2 percent of the global population (729 million people) lived below the $2.15 per day poverty line, according to the World Bank’s Poverty and Inequality Platform (2023). Why exaggerate global inequality and poverty when extreme poverty is a fraction of what it once was?

For all its faults, Laudato Si’ does get some things right. The Earth is our “common home” that we have an obligation to care for (para. 1), even though it is only our temporary home (para. 2). Few would disagree that humanity has a moral duty to protect God’s creation for current and future generations (para. 76).

I applaud Laudato Si’’s clear rejection of pantheistic or purely naturalistic views that divinize the Earth (para. 90), as many radical environmentalists do. Care for creation should be an act of worship to God, the encyclical rightly reasons, and not in any way an elevation of the Earth above human primacy and eternal purpose.

But these important points are all but lost in a maze of ominous assertions about environmental devastation, rampant poverty, and declining quality of life, which sound like they were copied from the writings of Earth First or the Sierra Club. All of these cry out to be corrected.

The larger point is this: you can’t align yourself with radical environmentalists and their ideas and expect prosperity and a reduction in poverty. It doesn’t work that way.

Pope Leo XIV is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ with a whole series of events in the coming months.

The Nicene Creed
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

“Our profession of faith begins with God, for God is the First and the Last, the beginning and the end of everything. The Credo begins with God the Father, for the Father is the first divine person of the Most Holy Trinity; our Creed begins with the creation of heaven and earth, for creation is the beginning and the foundation of all God’s works.”

-—the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 198

The prayer I find online of the Nicene Creed isn’t exactly what I learned many years ago, but close. I think God’s creation, Pontif, the Earth, will be OK if mankind doesn’t muck it up too bad before He says that’s it. Do you suppose, Pontif, the Creator has only a certain level of benevolence to Him?

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[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo XIV needs to correct the many errors of Laudato Si’: Here’s why

The facts of human progress simply don’t support the flawed encyclical’s claims of increased environmental devastation and human misery.

The larger point is this: you can’t align yourself with radical environmentalists and their ideas and expect prosperity and a reduction in poverty. It doesn’t work that way.