With the passing of Pope Francis, the Earth has lost one of its greatest advocates. The Pope’s encyclical, “Laudato Sí,” framed the climate crisis as a moral and spiritual crisis and called out the human hubris that exploits the earth and its resources without thought for the consequences. He was not reticent in naming the excesses of capitalism and the greedy pursuit of wealth as the culprit. For him, the earth’s condition and our care for the our common home was not a political issue or a question of science. Fundamentally, our mistreatment of the planet and our disregard for our symbiotic relationship with the rest of creation is rooted in the sin of idolatry. We act as if we are God. And the earth and its creatures groan. And the poorest among us suffer. And–in the end–we destroy ourselves.

On this Earth Day, let us be reminded of our proper role–not as owners, but as caretakers; not as creators, but fellow creatures. We are inextricably linked to our environment. What happens to the earth ultimately happens to us. If we love our children and grandchildren, we must love the planet and do all we can to protect it.

There is no “Planet B.”