The Publishing House of the Conventual Franciscans, Reliġjon u Ħajja (RuĦ), has published Pope Francis’s document, Laudate Deum, in Maltese.

The translation was done by Francesco Pio Attard and the 48-page booklet has the same format as the Encyclical Laudato Si’, which was published in 2015. The book with the Encyclical Laudato Si’ in Maltese was sold out and RuĦ has released a new edition together with the new document Laudate Deum.

The environment and the damage it is suffering through man-made development are subjects that Pope Francis has often spoken about and regularly makes references to these in his speeches and writings. It was for this reason that on October 4, 2023, on the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, he signed the Apostolic Exhortation Laudate Deum (Praise God) on the climate crisis.

This document, as the pope himself states in its introduction, is a continuation of his Encyclical Laudato Si’ because “we are not reacting enough”.

The world that welcomes us is crumbling, says the pope, and it is perhaps moving towards the point at which it may break. This is why Pope Francis has delivered another document to help us realise we can save our own world by working hard to protect the environment and climate.

For the title of the document, as he did with Laudato Si’, the pope quotes the words of St Francis: “Praise God for all his creatures”. The document is divided into six chapters in which the pope deals with the global climate crisis, arguing that in the world there is resistance and confusion on this theme.

He continues with how this crisis is happening and how humans are causing it, saying that there are many harms occurring in the social, physical and psychological life and the risks of further aggravating them are great.

The Maltese edition of the document contains a short index by Monsignor Prof. Hector Scerri.

Both books are currently being sold at special offer (€8 instead of €10) from Emmaus shops in Birkirkara and Victoria Gozo or online ruhmalta.com.