Today is the Feast Day of St. Francis, friend of the animal kingdom.
The day following our most recent gathering of the Order of the Sacred Earth on Zoom, the world and I heard the news that Jane Goodall died at 91 years of age. She was on tour in California, still carrying on the good fight on behalf of Mother Earth and her marvelous creatures.
It was my privilege to attend a conference several years ago, where about 14 of us gathered together, and she was among us. What I remember best was her humility. She listened intently and spoke quite sparingly. No doubt that was her practice among chimpanzees with whom she actually lived for a number of years in her life.
I was also struck by her calmness and her joy—she seemed to be a deep lover of life, and others have spoken to that dimension to her as well.
She has been called a “hero” among fellow naturalists for her contributions to our understanding of wildlife. While living among the chimpanzees in Tanzania, she discovered that they used tools and created complex societies and could be aggressive to the point of even killing one another. In other words, chimps and humans hold a lot in common.
Her work helped inspire the issues of animal rights and raised questions about what it means to be human.
At her death, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that “she is leaving an extraordinary legacy for humanity and our planet.” He thanked her for her lifelong commitment to environmental protection efforts and her support of the UN in that regard. President Biden, late in his administration, bestowed on her the Medal of Freedom, and in the UK, she received the honor of damehood.
The International Animal Welfare Protection Coalition (IAWPC) described her as one of “the world’s most inspiring voices for animals” whose “message was always rooted in hope, that even the smallest actions, when multiplied, can bring about great change.” The organization’s chairman said, “Jane was more than a conservationist; she was a beacon for compassion for all life.”
She has been called “an inspiration to generations of women” who, because of her, pursued vocations as scientists. Toy companies Lego and Barbie created dolls of her wearing khaki and binoculars and paired with chimpanzee David Greybeard, one of her beloved chimpanzee companions in the wild. The Lego doll was released in 2022 in commemoration of International Women’s Day.
When I think of Jane Goodall, I think of Rachel Carson, who also was a woman pioneer who effectively launched the environmental movement with her book, The Silent Spring. And also of Rupert Sheldrake who laid bare the many powers of animals that we often neglect in his groundbreaking study, Dogs Who Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home.
Goodall first worked among chimps in the wild in the 1950s and ’60s and had no college degree. She was brave enough and bold enough to report on the things that she knew and came to understand because of that close proximity to them, naturalist Chris Packham reports. She was “revolutionary,” and “remarkable,” and “immersed right in the heart of these animals.” Her love of life was an “enormous motivating force” for her work, which included advocating strongly about climate change.
She eventually earned a PhD in ethnology in the 1960s from Cambridge University, enrolling without an undergraduate degree. She received almost 50 honorary degrees in her lifetime.
In 2024, she warned of the “sixth great extinction” that is happening and spoke about protecting the forests. She herself planted over 2 million trees. She said, If we don’t get together and impose tough regulations on what people are able to do to the environment…move away from fossil fuel,…industrial farming, that’s destroying the environment and killing the soil,…the future ultimately is doomed.*
God bless this saint on behalf of the animals and the environment, and the truth about climate change. May we all heed her call to compassion for Holy Mother Earth.
See Jenna Moon, ” ‘An extraordinary legacy’: Tributes after chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall dies at age 91,” BBC News, October 1, 2025
Banner Image: Jane Goodall speaks in front of an image of herself in the field with a chimp, during the World Economic Forum session “Close Encounters with Jane Goodall and Skye Meaker” in Davos, 2019. Photo by the World Economic Forum, 2019.
Queries for Contemplation
How does Jane Goodall inspire you to speak truth to power? And to stand up for the rights of animals and trees and soil and resist those forces killing the planet as we know it?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
Order of the Sacred Earth: An Intergenerational Vision of Love and Action (By Matthew Fox, Skylar Wilson, and Jennifer Listug)
In the Beginning There Was Joy: A Cosmic Celebration for Kids of All Ages
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Matthew Fox: Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality
5 thoughts on “Jane Goodall, A Creation Spirituality Saint for Our Times, Dies at 91”
It’s funny how I got here, but I want to share something I read about her, and it leaves me reflecting: “I have no idea who or what God is. But I do believe in a greater spiritual power. I feel it especially when I’m in nature. It’s something bigger and stronger than me or anyone else. I feel it. That’s enough for me.” This reveals to me what we as human beings do when we intellectualize God, and the lack of humility that surrounds us. What a great challenge we have to be able to feel the great mystery of life, and with this feeling, to be able to be.
Jane Goodall is definitely another spiritual warrior in Heaven, along with St. Francis, inspiring and supporting Us from the spiritual realms to be open in our heats, bodies, minds, and spirits to Our Beautiful Sacred Mother Earth and All Her Living Sacred creatures, both big and small, among Us as part of a LOVING Diverse Web of ONENESS in the Divine Eternal Flow of the SACRED PRESENT MOMENT…. Recently the traditions of the Indigenous and Incarnational Spiritualities (revived by the books of David Spangler) have also been sensitizing my awareness/consciousness to the Presence of a variety of spiritual beings (such as Angels, Devas, and Sidhe) from the subtle spiritual realms who are All part of Our sacred environment in communion with Mother Earth/Her living physical creatures and Humanity. Two interesting and fascinating books from this Incarnational Spirituality tradition are: 1) “The Wild Alliance: Awakening Your Inner Angel & Sidhe” by Soren Hauge, and 2) “The Wonderful~Full World of the Home” by Timothy Hass. See lorian.org for more information and spiritual support groups about Incarnational Spirituality.
Thank-you for remembering Jane Goodall, she was my greatest hero. All the years I taught, at the front of my class I posted this rule: Respect, courtesy and kindness to people, animals and the earth. She inspired me. She also embodied the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And as Christ said, you will know them by their fruits. A daughter of light indeed.
Thank you for celebrating Jane Goodall’s exemplary life of service to the Earth Community. She was not only Goodall, but so obviously All Good.
Thank you for honoring Jane Goodall. She was truly noble.
I met her one day, about 10 years ago, when she came through the airport where I worked. I was graciously allowed to intrude upon her solitude, while she slipped tea at a restaurant opposite our store upstairs. I bought a monkey from our store (I chose a brilliant green one, of our colorful choices, to honor the little monkey who recently had glow-in-the-dark green infused into its genetics…) and asked her if she would sign the sweater it wore. She was kind enough to do so, and I thanked her profusely. This monkey was a very special gift for my youngest daughter who adores monkeys.
Jane Goodall was someone who lived her message. I was honored to meet her (although I’m not sure she felt the same about me…). She was a brilliant, wonderful woman.