Creatio Continua in Missio Dei

Framing his study with an unexpected comparison between J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth and Pope Francis' Laudato Si', the author examines what the Pope means by 'spirituality' and how this grounds the ecological spirituality proposed in the encyclical's final chapter. Tracing spirituality as an 'interior impulse' from Evangelii Gaudium and Lumen Fidei through to Laudato Si's call for ecological conversion, the paper argues that authentic care for creation is inseparable from care for human relationships and social justice. Using Mark Hathaway and Leonardo Boff's transformative learning theory as a pedagogical lens, the study proposes that Francis' vision of creatio continua within the missio Dei can be taught and embodied through disorientation, reframing, and incarnating action, ultimately inviting believers and non-believers alike into a lived ecological spirituality.