The Divine Dignity of Every Created Being -- Pope Francis and Francis of Assisi

(June 2015 encyclical):     

"Laudato Si, " the title Pope Francis chose for his encyclical on the environment, comes from a hymn of praise by St. Francis of Assisi that emphasizes being in harmony with God, with other creatures and with other human beings, said the head of the Franciscan order.
Sitting under towering trees, surrounded by potted flowers and herbs in the garden of the Franciscan headquarters in Rome, U.S. Fr. Michael Perry, minister general of the Order of Friars Minor, sang the medieval Italian words "laudato si'" (praised be you) and recited the English translation of St. Francis' "Canticle of the Creatures."
The hymn praises God and the reflection of God's glory in "Brother Sun" and "Sister Moon," "Brother Fire" and "Sister Water," and "our sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs."
The canticle is incomplete, though, without St. Francis' praise of human beings "who give pardon," bear infirmity and live in peace, Perry told Catholic News Service Friday June 19, 2015. Also essential is St. Francis' embrace of "Sister Bodily Death" as the portal to eternal life.
As airplanes flew overhead, birds chirped, butterflies flitted around the garden, and the occasional ambulance siren sounded, the Franciscan minister general Michael Perry said St. Francis of Assisi, over the course of his life, came to recognize that "God was present everywhere and in everything."
[excerpt of Nat. Catholic Reporter article: June 21, 2015]: http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/franciscan-encyclical-title-affirms-all-creatures-have-common-creator