--- title: Pope Francis Gave Donald Trump Climate Change Encyclical description: Pope Francis gave President Trump a copy of his landmark encyclical on climate change when the two leaders met at the Vatican on Wednesday canonical: https://time.com/4792296/pope-francis-donald-trump-climate-change-encyclical/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-24T15:36:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:05:42.201Z article:section: Politics og:title: Pope Francis Gave Trump a Copy of His Encyclical on Climate Change og:description: A Vatican official also encouraged the U.S. to remain in the Paris Agreement og:url: https://time.com/4792296/pope-francis-donald-trump-climate-change-encyclical/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt822953e2ec06e01e/6988ceb3cf40a87ff2c47d2b/donald-trump-pope-francis-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Pope Francis Meets USA President Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pope Francis Gave Trump a Copy of His Encyclical on Climate Change twitter:description: A Vatican official also encouraged the U.S. to remain in the Paris Agreement twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt822953e2ec06e01e/6988ceb3cf40a87ff2c47d2b/donald-trump-pope-francis-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pope Francis Gave President Trump a Copy of His Encyclical on Climate Change  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 24, 2017 3:36 PM UTC  Pope Francis meets President Donald Trump at the Apostolic Palace on May 24, 2017 in Vatican City, Vatican. Pope Francis meets President Donald Trump at the Apostolic Palace on May 24, 2017 in Vatican City, Vatican.Vatican—Pool/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 24, 2017 3:36 PM UTC [Pope Francis](http://time.com/4788975/pope-francis-donald-trump-meeting-clash/) gave [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4783929/president-trump-loyalty-test/) a copy of his [landmark 2015 encyclical](http://time.com/3925736/pope-francis-climate-change-encyclical-laudato-si/) on [climate change](http://time.com/4766881/paris-agreement-climate-change-trump/) when the two leaders [met at the Vatican](http://time.com/4791969/president-trump-pope-francis-meeting-vatican/?xid=homepage) on Wednesday. The climate encyclical — titled “Laudato Si” or “Praise Be to You” — called for strong action on climate change, which [Pope Francis warned](http://time.com/3925520/pope-francis-climate-change-encyclical/) would disproportionately impact developing countries. His meeting with Trump on Wednesday comes as the White House [considers](http://time.com/4766881/paris-agreement-climate-change-trump/) whether the U.S. should leave the [Paris Agreement](http://time.com/4146764/paris-agreement-climate-cop-21/) on climate change. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said a Vatican official on Wednesday encouraged the U.S. to remain in the Paris Agreement, according to White House pool reports. Tillerson called the discussion a “good exchange.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, urged Trump to pay attention to the encyclical’s message. “If President Trump reads the Pope’s writings, I’m confident he’ll not withdraw the agreement,” Schumer [said Wednesday](https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/867387812005388288). “We gotta get him to read it.” **Read more:** [Read Pope Francis’ Personal Appeal on Climate Change](http://time.com/3925843/pope-francis-encyclical-climate-change-appeal/) Trump has proposed [significant cuts](http://time.com/4688753/donald-trump-epa-budget-cuts-public-health/) to the Environmental Protection Agency and has begun to [roll back environmental regulations](http://time.com/4713731/donald-trump-climate-change-executive-order-president-obama-epa/) implemented under former President Barack Obama. “Regrettably, many efforts to seek concrete solutions to the environmental crisis have proved ineffective, not only because of powerful opposition but also because of a more general lack of interest,” Francis [wrote](http://time.com/3925843/pope-francis-encyclical-climate-change-appeal/) in the 2015 encyclical. “Obstructionist attitudes, even on the part of believers, can range from denial of the problem to indifference, nonchalant resignation or blind confidence in technical solutions. We require a new and universal solidarity.” Pope Francis gave Trump the [encyclical](http://time.com/3925843/pope-francis-encyclical-climate-change-appeal/) along with a few other documents, including his 2017 [World Day of Peace message](https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco%5F20161208%5Fmessaggio-l-giornata-mondiale-pace-2017.html), which he told Trump he had signed personally for him, according to White House pool reports. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4792296/pope-francis-donald-trump-climate-change-encyclical/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4792296/pope-francis-donald-trump-climate-change-encyclical/"},"headline":"Pope Francis Gave President Trump a Copy of His Encyclical on Climate Change","datePublished":"2017-05-24T15:36:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T05:05:42.201Z","description":"A Vatican official also encouraged the U.S. to remain in the Paris Agreement","url":"https://time.com/4792296/pope-francis-donald-trump-climate-change-encyclical/","keywords":["White House","Environment","climate change","Religion","Pope Francis topic","faith","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt822953e2ec06e01e/6988ceb3cf40a87ff2c47d2b/donald-trump-pope-francis-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt822953e2ec06e01e/6988ceb3cf40a87ff2c47d2b/donald-trump-pope-francis-climate-change.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pope Francis Meets USA President Donald Trump","caption":"Pope Francis Meets USA President Donald Trump","creditText":"Vatican—Pool/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4792296/pope-francis-donald-trump-climate-change-encyclical/","name":"Pope Francis Gave President Trump a Copy of His Encyclical on Climate Change"}}]}] ```