Encountering the Mystic: Pope Francis and the Spirituality of Nature A Reflective Talk on Laudato Si

Join us for a contemplative journey into the heart of Pope Francis’s ecological spirituality. In this talk, we will explore the Pope as a mystic of Nature, drawing insight from his groundbreaking Encyclical Laudato Si’ and his Exhortation Laudate Deum.

Discover how the first Jesuit Pope—an Argentinian deeply rooted in Ignatian tradition—embodies the spirit of his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, the Franciscan saint and mystic who saw creation as a reflection of the divine. Come reflect, learn, and be inspired by a vision of faith that embraces the earth as sacred.

Dr. Cristóbal Serrán-Pagán y Fuentes is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy at Palacky University in Olomouc, the Czech Republic. He is the author of Saint John of the Cross: His Prophetic Mysticism in the Historical Context of Sixteenth Century Spain (Pacem in Terris Press, 2018). He is currently serving as the editor of a special issue entitled “Mysticism and Nature” for Religions, an international academic journal. He has presented papers on the Spanish Carmelites and Thomas Merton at different international conferences, and has published many articles on them. He has collaborated with previous publications on Pope Francis in Salaam. He is co-organizing an international Symposium in Germany to be held in May 2026 on the themes of interfaith dialogue, ekology, and education.

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