Quote from America Magazine, "Why Pope Leo’s new encyclical quotes Gandalf: Literary images of hope and faith in ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ ", by James T. Keane, May 26, 2026, https://www.americamagazine.org/catholic-book-club/2026/05/26/why-pope-leos-new-encyclical-quotes-gandalf-literary-images-of-hope-and-faith-in-magnifica-humanitas/ as of 5/28/2026:
Of all the startling things one might find in a papal encyclical, a quote from J. R. R. Tolkien might take the cake. It’s not the first time a novel has made an appearance in such a format, as The Brothers Karamazov showed up in Pope Francis’ “Dilexit Nos,” but who would ever have thought The Lord of the Rings would appear in a magisterial document?
But there it is—a quote from Gandalf right smack in the middle of the text:
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.
As for the horrifically mixed metaphor, blame Tolkien, not the pope.
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