Pope Francis the shepherd on the animal kingdom

When Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope in 2013, many liberals had high expectations.

- Peter Singer

Would priests be allowed to marry? Or, more radical still, perhaps he would open a path for women to be ordained? There were even some hints that he might recognise samesex unions.

Given the many studies indicating that a majority of Catholics use either condoms or oral contraception, it was reasonable to hope that a new, more progressive pope would modify the church's teachings on family planning. Such a reform could have happened 60 years ago, had Pope John XXIII lived long enough to receive the report of the Pontifical Commission on Birth Control that he had established.

All these expectations were disappointed.

Among advocates for animals, a different set of expectations was aroused by the name that Bergoglio took: Francis, an obvious reference to Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. It wasn’t long before The New York Times ran the headline: "Dogs in Heaven? Pope Francis Leaves Pearly Gates Open."

That would indeed have been a revolutionary change, for the church has long taught that only humans have immortal souls. Conservative theologians quickly pointed out that the church’s doctrines are not changed by a pope’s casual remarks.

A papal encyclical, however, is a different matter. Without directly changing core church doctrines, it can offer authoritative guidance on how they are to be interpreted. That is the purpose of Francis's encyclical Laudato Si’ (“Praise Be to You”), which deals with the nonhuman environment, and is one of his more significant achievements. The title comes from The Canticle of the Creatures, a song composed by Francis of Assisi around 1224.