**4. Pope Francis and his social teaching: integral ecology and dialogues**

*God of love […] Enlighten those who possess power and money, that they may avoid the sin of indifference, that they may love the common good, advance the weak, and care for this world in which we live. (LS, 246).*

<sup>11</sup> With the title *Ecologia Integral: Abordagens [im] pertinentes* (*Integral Ecology: [Not] Relevant approaches*), a collection in three volumes was published in 2020 and 2021 (Vol. I and II, 2020; Vo. III, 2021), organized by José Ivo Follmann, containing 27 selected original chapters [30–32].

#### *Integral Ecology and Spiritual Dialogues DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.105126*

I want to start this item by evoking this passage from the Christian Prayer with Creation, with which the Holy Father Francis closes the text of Laudato Si′ [9]. It is a controversial phrase that demonstrates a deep belief in the possibility of conversion. As we will see in the sequence of this reflection*, spiritual dialogues* can perhaps be one of the most fruitful paths to this conversion.

In my perception and of many others, the person who is better able to mobilize world opinion concerning this whole issue at hand is, without a doubt, Pope Francis. I present here a key to reading, on which I rely, and is the same key to reading cultivated today in the Social Teaching of the Church12 itself. I do so, relying on the two most recent social encyclical letters: Laudato Si′ [9] and Fratelli Tutti [34].

In Laudato Si′, referring to an "*integral ecology, one which clearly respects its human and social dimensions*" (LS, 137), Pope Francis is accurate and precise in his assertion:

*We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature. (LS, 139).*

As I have already pointed out, Holy Father Francis obviously is not a pioneer in this assertion. However, the novelty is in the way he engages today in mobilizing human minds and hearts about this crisis of humanity, which is a unique crisis, underlying and permeating the social and environmental crisis. Its origin is the very way in which human beings have been led to use and abuse their fellow human beings and the gifts of creation, or the riches of the Earth.

In 2020, with the encyclical letter *Fratelli Tutti (FT),* Pope Francis sought to address the human and social dimensions as if drawing a new chapter of the previous encyclical. In presenting this new encyclical letter, the Pope expressed himself by saying that: *"Human fraternity and care of creation form the sole way toward integral development and peace, already indicated by the Popes Saints John XXIII, Paul VI*, *and John Paul II*" [35]. It is important to note that the Pope does not say "two ways," but "the sole way." There, behind this care with the language, resides undoubtedly, a very clear message regarding the proposition already explained in the LS, which points to the need for an *integral ecology*. It seems that the Pope is signaling that the FT content must be deepened in an integrated way with the content of the LS. The two encyclical letters, as a whole, add within our reading and perception, a great current synthesis of the Social Teaching of the Church.

According to Pope Francis, *"An integral ecology is also made up of simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation, and selfishness"* (LS, 230). In a previous document, in the Apostolic Orientation *Evangelii Gaudium* ([36], EG), Holy

<sup>12</sup> Certainly, not all readers are followers of the Catholic Church, but I believe that the proposal is consistent with the entire Christian proposal and, above all, the proposal of humanity. In the Social Teaching of the Church, the ecological issue and its relationship with the social issue have been matured since Pope John XXIII, in the Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris (1963) and Pope Paul VI, in the Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio (1967), passing, posteriorly, by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, until today. The innovative differential of Pope Francis lies in the strong insistence on considering social and environmental challenges in an integrated and interrelated way, proposing reflection from an integral ecology and the cultivation of fraternal dialog, as the necessary path for peace and sustainability. The title of this essay "Integral Ecology and Spiritual Dialogues" is strongly inspired by this.

Father Francis had already strongly signaled the importance of sobriety and freedom in the use of things, with care for everything and everyone (EG, 223 and 229).

Long before the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti was made public, the Brazilian theologian Elio Gasda [37], when reflecting on the social texts of the Pope, already advanced an in-depth and coherent reading of what would be expressed in the new Encyclical two years later. He then expressed:

*For a change in mentality and lifestyles, it is necessary to form a conscience to give importance to the integral meaning of the Common Home. […] The moment urgently needs alternative proposals. Capitalism presents serious challenges to the principles of social justice, the common good, and human dignity. Reality demands a new look that integrates the advances of the economy with critical dialogue and the new actors involved in alternative practices. ([37], p. 46–47).*

Within this line of reasoning, the author makes relevant references to practices, which we can call testimonials within history, pointing out the path of "well-living" that characterizes the culture of many peoples, especially Latin Americans. He recalls a small excerpt from Pope Francis's speech at the Meeting with the People of the Amazon in Puerto Maldonado, January 15–22, 2018:

*For some, you are considered an obstacle or a hindrance. In fact, you, with your lives, are a cry to the conscience of a lifestyle that cannot measure its own costs. (Apud [37], p.57).*

Pope Francis highlights, above all, the importance of dialogue today. In Fratelli Tutti, he devotes an entire chapter (chap. VI) to the theme of "dialogue and social friendship." This chapter begins with a list of some tremendously expressive verbs:

*Approaching, speaking, listening, looking at, coming to know and understand one another, and to find common ground: all these things are summed up in the one word "dialogue" (FT, 198).*

According to the pontiff, persevering and courageous dialogue will help the world to live better. When we talk about the need for *spiritual dialogues*, we focus on the urgency of this ongoing educational exercise in our lives and societies, in the search for a culture of sustainability.
