The entire text of Pope Francis’ encyclical can be found here. This is the English version.

News outlets said, 248 pages. No. There are 246 paragraphs plus two prayers.

While not Catholic, I found many interesting things in this writing. For example, this quote:

In various countries, we see an expansion of oligopolies for the production of cereals and other products needed for their cultivation. This dependency would be aggravated were the production of infertile seeds to be considered; the effect would be to force farmers to purchase them from larger producers.

Emphasis mine. This is my main beef with GM crops: you will have to buy seeds from a monopoly, forever.

On the environment, this:

Doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain. We may well be leaving to coming generations debris, desolation and filth. The pace of consumption, waste and environmental change has so stretched the planet’s capacity that our contemporary lifestyle, unsustainable as it is, can only precipitate catastrophes, such as those which even now periodically occur in different areas of the world. The effects of the present imbalance can only be reduced by our decisive action, here and now. We need to reflect on our accountability before those who will have to endure the dire consequences.

On loss of national integrity and control, this:

The twenty-first century, while maintaining systems of governance inherited from the past, is witnessing a weakening of the power of nation states, chiefly because the economic and financial sectors, being transnational, tends to prevail over the political.

Overall, the encyclical is a call to all humanity to wake up, love each other and our planet, and behave accordingly.

I strongly suggest you read it all. It takes a while. I know, I did.