Boston (April 21, 2025) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement on the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis, on Easter Monday. In May 2014, Senator Markey traveled to the Vatican and met with Pope Francis and high-level Vatican leaders and Cardinals to discuss the importance to act on climate change and to encourage the Catholic Church to continue to use their moral authority to elevate the issue. Senator Markey lauded Pope Francis’s 2015 Joint Meeting of Congress Address as a “Sermon on the Hill.” 

“I join the world in mourning the loss of the People’s Pope, His Holiness Pope Francis, who reminded us that no matter our faith, we are all caretakers of creation,” said Senator Markey. “It should be no surprise that a Jesuit trained in chemistry who was devoted to the poor and ensuring a just and better future for all mankind was the only pope to devote an entire encyclical to humanity’s relationship with the environment. Pope Francis delivered a powerful message in his encyclical Laudato Si’, or ‘Praise Be’: Mankind created this problem of climate change, and now mankind must fix it. With the world’s poorest and most vulnerable suffering the worst consequences of climate change – extreme poverty, famine, disease, displacement – Pope Francis challenged us in our actions to embody the moral obligation to act. 

“He led with a vision of inclusion, compassion, and humility, calling on us to act boldly on the world’s most pressing issues and take up a mission centered around justice for the most vulnerable. He embraced the world’s sick, poor, and hungry with open arms. In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis wrote: ‘Today, in the view of the common good, there is an urgent need for politics and economics to enter into a frank dialogue in the service of life, especially human life.’ In his passing and every day forward, Pope Francis would want us to be in service of life and to embrace the moments and opportunities to be part of a global movement that protects our people and our planet.”

###