On May 24, 2015, Pope Francis signed his encyclical Laudato Si’ – “Praise be to you” in medieval Italian. This letter to Roman Catholic bishops was no half measure: it took many Catholics by surprise with its uncompromising conclusions and call for an in-depth transformation of our lifestyles. In France, it managed to bring together both conservative currents – such as the Courant pour une écologie humaine (Movement for a Human Ecology), created in 2013 – and more open-minded Catholic intellectuals such as Gaël Giraud, a Jesuit and author of Produire plus, polluer moins : l’impossible découplage ? (Produce more, Pollute Less: the Impossible Decoupling?).
The Pope was taking a cue from his predecessors. Benedict XVI, John Paul II and Paul VI had also expressed concern about the dramatic effects of an abusive exploitation of nature on humanity:
