When our ancestors looked at the natural world, they saw their faith in its wonder and glory. Could Pope Francis’ encyclical inspire us to recover our sense of nature as sacred?It was two o’clock in the morning on an uninhabited island off the north-west coast of Scotland, Priest Island, which I learnt was a one-time remote haven for “Popish priests” escaping persecution. Barely remembered history is sometimes kept alive in place names, just as the religious beliefs of the past can often be traced in the names of birds and animals. Even though it was mid-June, a cold wind blew from the north. The sky was cloudless and the bright moon painted the sea and heather with a silvery hue. All around me, the shingle beach seemed to vibrate with the churring call of thousand