Pope Leo XIV has quoted Lord of the Rings in his first encyclical, and it’s a reference to maintaining the land.

“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.”

The quote, from Gandalf the wizard, is both a metaphor for doing good and a literal reference to keeping the land in good fettle.

The Pope highlights the “small and steadfast acts of fidelity” over “single or spectacular gestures”.

We may all keep picking stones and topping thistles so.