The encyclical’s title refers to the Canticle of the Sun, St. Francis’s song of praise to God for all creation – the foremost expression of environmental holism within the Roman Catholic tradition. Yet the Canticle’s praise for “Brother Sun” and “Sister Moon”has seemed so close to nature-worship that some have doubted whether it could ever be included in mainstream Catholic thinking.
方济各通谕的标题参考了圣方济各歌颂创建一切的上帝的《太阳颂》（Canticle of the Sun）——这也是罗马天主教传统中最重要的环境整体论表述。但《太阳颂》所歌颂的“太阳兄”（Brother Sun）和“月亮妹”（Sister Moon）似乎过于接近自然崇拜，以至于有人质疑这是否可以包含在主流天主教思想中。