In this article by John Dadosky, the connection between ideas from Hildegard and more recent concerns posed by Pope Francis are analyzed. Dadosky explains that much of Hildegard's songs and writings centered around the idea of "viriditas," which is essentially the connection between God and the creation of nature. She writes about the vitality of nature and h0w the greenness of the Earth is a direct symbol of God himself. This idea of connecting nature to the prosperity of people's spirituality was really interesting to me. Hildegard's concern for avoiding an ecological crisis and connecting this concern with the community's faith parallels the ideas recently addressed by Pope Francis.
A letter written by Pope Francis mimics many of these concerns that Hildegard wrote about hundreds of years ago. In this letter, the Pope addresses the church and urges the need to take charge in our current climate crisis. He writes about the connections between taking care of nature and being a true follower of Christ. The connection between the ideas of Pope Francis and Hildegard is interesting to me because of the timeline. Since before Hildegard, religious leaders have urged followers to take care of the Earth and related it to the duties of their religion. By making this a religious issue, Christians may be urged to do more to fight the climate crisis that we find ourselves in today.