The death of Pope Francis: on good practice

As we continue reflecting on the death of Pope Francis, an important legacy to continue nurturing in our memories and action is his practice of linking racism and environmental destruction.

He contended that these harms were part of a single logic: colonialism.

Pope Francis noted numerous times during his pontificate that colonialism still exists today in different forms.

In his encyclical Laudato Si, Francis argued that the “cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor are interlinked.”

The “poor” that he referred to involves marginalized groups that are often defined by race and ethnicity.

Reverend Stan Chu Ilo—the Coordinating Servant of the Pan African Theology and Pastoral Network (provides a space for scholars, church leaders, grassroots pastoral agents and social justice leaders)—stated that “Pope Francis should be remembered as a postcolonial pope.” This is spot on.

Reverend Ilo is a Catholic priest from the Awgu Diocese in Nigeria and research professor at the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology at DePaul University in Chicago.

He holds two doctorates: one in theology (Canada) and one in sociology (South Africa).

Reverend Ilo has written over 17 books and edited the 2022 publication African Ecological Ethics and Spirituality for Cosmic Flourishing: An African Commentary on Laudato Si.

Pope Francis was not the first to make the link between racism and environmental destruction.

Several prominent Black environmentalists in the United States have been doing this since at least the 1970s.

Considered the “Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement,” Hazel Johnson began raising critical questions in the 1970s about why so many people living in the Altgeld Gardens public housing project in Chicago had developed cancer and respiratory illness.

The residents of this housing project were (and still are) predominately Black/African Americans.

Her investigation uncovered the fact that Altgeld Gardens was built on a toxic landfill site contaminated with asbestos and lead, as well as being surrounded by dozens of landfills and hundreds of industrial facilities. The drinking water was also contaminated.

Reverend Benjamin Chavis Muhammad has been credited with coining the term “environmental racism.”

He was involved in activism in North Carolina in the early 1980s that condemned the dumping of industrial toxic wastes near Black communities.

Reverend Muhammadled the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice that published a groundbreaking report in 1987 titled “Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States.”

The report identified a statistical relationship between race and where toxic waste is located.

The majority of toxic waste in the United States was being located near marginalized communities. His research and activism helped change national policy.

If you have not read it already, I encourage you to read Leah Thomas’ book The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet.

During the spring term in 2023, I coordinated a book group that read Leah’s book.

Approximately 15 people participated, including students, staff and faculty.

Her book, like Pope Francis, links environmental advocacy with social justice since marginalized communities—Black, Indigenous and people of color—are disproportionately impacted by ecological harm.