Simone Weil and the Love for the World

The emergence of ecological consciousness has brought a profound transformation in cultural paradigms, particularly in the West. It is now a constitutive element of the public agenda calling the attention of politicians, scholars and other areas of complex thinking. The encyclical of the recently deceased Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, published in 2015, brings some insights on that issue. The pontifical document proposes the inseparability of social justice and ecological justice. This article reflects on the ecological conversion proposed in Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si in dialog with the thought of Simone Weil. Focusing on four key categories in Weil’s philosophy—beauty of the world, order of the world, necessity, and love for the world—the article argues that her reflections anticipate key elements of contemporary ecological theology. It further explores how Weil’s thought illuminates the inseparable relationship between social justice and environmental justice, offering a spiritual and ethical framework for ecological conversion.