Coming soon to a…church…near you

Published June 15, 2015

In case you haven’t heard, Pope Francis is going to be releasing an encylical on the environment soon. Like, this Thursday soon. Titled Laudato Si, the upcoming encyclical has already drawn criticism as being “alarmist,” “naive,” and “a slippery slope toward extremist environmental positions.”

Criticism or no, it is very rare that anything that happens in Catholicism gets this amount of international attention. One environmental nonprofit, the Observatório do Clima, has played on the immense popularity of Pope Francis, the world’s excitement, and the harsh criticism to create a movie trailer promoting the upcoming encyclical.

The trailer is complete with a one-eyed villian, training montages, and inspirational speeches (with quotes from Pope Francis’ actual sermons!). And, of course, Jesus shows up to help the pope prepare for his epic battle against the forces of evil.

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About the author

Emily Sanna

Emily Sanna is an award-winning journalist and editor with more than a decade of experience in Catholic media. As executive editor of U.S. Catholic, she leads the publication’s editorial vision and oversees its print, digital, and multimedia journalism. She joined the staff in 2015 and previously served as digital editor and managing editor. Under her editorial leadership, U.S. Catholic has received numerous honors from the Catholic Media Association and Associated Church Press, including multiple Magazine of the Year awards. She is also one of the writers for Testaments, which received the Catholic Media Association award for Best Scriptural Reflection in 2026.

Emily cohosts Glad You Asked, U.S. Catholic's award-winning podcast exploring questions about Catholicism that don’t have easy answers. She helped develop an organization-wide ethics policy governing the Claretians’ use of artificial intelligence and guided its application at U.S. Catholic. A former member of the Catholic Media Association board, she holds a master of divinity degree from Yale Divinity School, with particular interests in feminist and environmental theology. Her writing explores Catholic identity, gender and sexuality, family life, and justice. She lives in Western New York with her family and an assortment of animals.