Dear listeners, we have all been struck by the very sad news that Pope Francis has died.

He has left an indelible legacy of leadership.

Listeners will remember that Pope Francis wrote the encyclical Laudato C in the run-up to the Paris Agreement.

And I was so honored to be able to thank him in person in 2015.

Showing the interconnections between poverty, justice, and climate responsibility,

to this day, Laudato Ci continues to be the Christian beacon that illuminates

the path toward collective responsibility for this planet, our common home. I would like to

share with listeners some short excerpts from the Pope's writing for Profiles of Paris,

a collection of writings written after the adoption of the Paris Agreement

by 100 thought leaders who personally contributed to the process of the Paris Agreement.

The Pope's piece was written in May 2018.

And I quote,

When it became evident on the evening of March 13th, five years ago,

that my brother Cardinals had chosen me to succeed Pope Benedict the 16th,

my close friend Cardinal Claudu Humes,

who sat beside me in the conclave,

embraced me and said,

don't forget the poor.

These words brought to my mind,

St. Francis of Assisi,

and in that moment I understood that as Pope, I wanted to adopt his name.

By his own life, an example, the Povello of Assisi, as St. Francis is commonly called,

...