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He
made the surprise announcement in a brief, unprepared addition
in a speech to a group of lawyers from Council of Europe
countries.
In 2015, Francis wrote Laudato Si (Praised Be), a major document
on the need to protect the environment, face the dangers and
challenges of climate change and reduce the use of fossil fuels.
An encyclical is the highest form of papal writing.
"I am writing a second part to Laudato Si to bring it up to date
with current problems," Francis told the group, without
elaborating.
The encyclical, which made Francis a hero to many climate
activists, was seen to have influenced the decisions taken later
that year at the Paris climate conference that set goals to
limit global warming.
At the time it was issued, some conservative Catholics allied
with conservative political movements and corporate interests
fiercely criticized the pope for backing the opinion of a
majority of scientists who said global warming was at least
partly due to human activity.
U.S. climate envoy and former secretary of state John Kerry told
Reuters in an interview in June after meeting the pope that the
encyclical had a "profound impact" on the Paris conference.
In his comments on Monday, Francis did not specify what form the
second part of Laudato Si would take, when it would be released
or how it would elaborate on the original.
In the eight years since the document was published, the world
has seen an increase in extreme weather events such as more
intense and prolonged heat waves, more frequent wildfires and
more severe hurricanes.
Last year, a senior Vatican official whose brief includes the
environment said such events had become the "new normal" and had
shown that the time for climate change denial and skepticism was
over.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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