Ecology is the new name for peace

Lorna Gold
23 April 2026, The Tablet

Pope Leo XIV inaugurating the Borgo Laudato Si', inside the papal villas of Castel Gandolfo in September 2025.

ALAMY/SOPA Images Limited

If Francis’ environmental legacy can be distilled into one idea, it is integral ecology: the inseparable link between care for the Earth and care for the poor.

On the first anniversary of the death of Pope Francis, the question is no longer whether his legacy will endure, but how it is already unfolding. It is becoming harder to draw a clear line between the end of his pontificate and the beginning of that of Pope Leo XIV. The continuity is striking – and intentional.

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