Hearing the Cry of the Earth, Preface to the Second Edition by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

When we first published Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth in the autumn of 2013, the understanding that there was a spiritual dimension to our ecological crisis was still a fringe idea. The mainstream of environmental discussion and activity was focused on science and technology, politics and economics. But then in the spring of 2015 a remarkable document was published that compellingly reframed the issue for millions of people across the world. Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, calls for us all to see that the “unprecedented destruction of ecosystems” we are visiting upon the Earth is rooted in urgent spiritual and moral questions, and requires from us a spiritual and moral response.