WASHINGTON - Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, offered teasing bits of insider information about Pope Francis' upcoming encyclical on the environment, on what he might say in the United States in the fall, and on what it was like to be in the conclave that elected Francis.

Fr. John McCarthy has a love of nature that goes back to his early childhood. When he joined the Jesuits, his novice master recognized that his interest in the natural world was profound and encouraged him to make time for it in his priestly life. He has and on a grand scale.