Pope Francis announced he will celebrate a Mass of canonization for 14 people, including the 11 “Martyrs of Damascus,” on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, the Vatican announced after the College of Cardinals voted to approve the canonizations of 15 people… […]
As Catholic Americans prepare to mark Independence Day, we naturally look not only to the well-known “founding fathers” such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington but also to our Catholic forbears who were […]
On the last day of June, a month that the Catholic Church dedicates to the Sacred Heart, the pope asked people to continue praying for Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and other parts of the world where there is much suffering caused by war…. […]
Pope Francis presides over Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Jun 29, 2024 / 09:45 am (CNA).
On the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis invited t… […]
When Pope Francis surprised the Catholic world on October 7, 2021, announcing that he was about to make Saint Irenaeus of Lyon a Doctor of the Church, the reasons he gave weren’t that surprising. After […]
Pope Francis meets with priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Dehonians) on June 27, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 27, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).
During an audience with Pope Francis on June 27, the priests of … […]
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CNA Staff, Jun 27, 2024 / 14:20 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis this week called on the faithful to a conversion of heart that extends Christian charity to all of God’s creation and urged them to commit themselves t… […]
Pilgrims shield themselves from the sun at Pope Francis’ general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Vatican City, Jun 26, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis has announced measures to transition Vatican City to using solar energy as its main source of electricity, as outlined in his latest motu proprio titled Fratello Sole, or “Brother Sun.”
The Holy Father has tasked the relevant Vatican governing bodies to collaborate with Italian authorities and build an “agrivoltaic system,” which would use land in Santa Maria di Galeria, an extra-territory of Vatican City situated outside of Rome, for farming and solar energy production.
“We need to make a transition toward a sustainable development model that reduces greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere,” reads the motu proprio, a decree authorized by the pope.
“Humanity has the technological means necessary to face this environmental transformation and its pernicious ethical, social, economic, and political consequences and, among these, solar energy plays a fundamental role,” the document reads.
In “Brother Sun,” the Holy Father expressed his desire to “contribute to efforts of all states” to abide by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, which came into effect in Vatican City in 2022 on the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4) to combat the challenges of climate change on our “common home.”
Though the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reports the Vatican’s global emissions were around 0.0000443% in 2022, it recognized the state is “committed to achieving a reduction in emissions in line with the goal of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, as well as to pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels as foreseen in the Art. 2 of Paris Agreements.”
The transition to solar energy as the main power source is the latest initiative of the Vatican to become more “green” and ecologically sustainable. But solar energy has already been in the sight of the Holy See for nearly two decades.
During his pontificate, Benedict XVI encouraged the international community “to respect and encourage a ‘Green Culture’ characterized by ethical values,” according to Cardinal Paul Poupard, the former head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, in a 2007 statement.
In 2008, Benedict XVI also approved the installation of 2,400 solar panels on the roofs of the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall “to power the lighting, heating, and cooling of a portion of the entire country” according to a National Geographic report.
Under Pope Francis, the Vatican partnered with Volkswagen to introduce an all-electric car fleet to reduce the state’s carbon footprint in 2023. One year after the release of the encyclical Laudato Si’, the Vatican innovated its recycling system in 2016 to reduce waste and pollution.
Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his General Audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 26, 2024 / Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Vatican City, Jun 26, 2024 / 07:48 am (CNA).
Pope Francis called drug traffickers criminals, murderers, and “traffickers of death” during his general audience on Wednesday.
“We cannot ignore the evil intentions and actions of drug dealers and traffickers. They are murderers!” Pope Francis said in St. Peter’s Square on June 26.
“Drug traffickers are traffickers of death driven by the logic of power and money at any cost,” he added.
The pope dedicated the entirety of his last Wednesday audience before taking a break for the summer to mark the World Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The United Nations’ annual report on drug trafficking, released on June 26, reports that drug use worldwide has increased to 292 million people in the past decade, with cocaine production trafficking reaching an all-time high in 2022.
The UN report also details the increase in overdose deaths due to the emergence of nitazenes – a group of synthetic opioids it describes as “potentially more dangerous than fentanyl.”
Pope Francis lamented the “plague” of drug addiction in many countries, saying that “drugs trample on human dignity.”
“Having known many tragic stories of drug addicts and their families, I am convinced that it is morally necessary to put an end to the production and trafficking of these dangerous substances,” he said.
The pope underlined that “a reduction in drug addiction is not achieved by liberalizing their consumption,” calling the idea “a fantasy.”
Pope Francis also applauded efforts by Catholic ministries around the world who offer assistance and recovery programs to those struggling with addictions, as well as bishops’ conferences who have advocated “just legislation and policies.”
He highlighted the efforts of the Latin American Pastoral Accompaniment and Prevention of Addictions organization known as PLAPA for their work to address alcoholism, drug abuse, and other forms of addiction, such as pornography.
“Let us remember … that every drug addict brings with him a different personal story, which must be listened to, understood, loved and, as far as possible, healed and purified. … They continue to have, more than ever, a dignity, as people who are children of God. Everyone has dignity,” Francis said.
The U.N. established the World Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in 1987. The theme for this year is “The evidence is clear: invest in prevention.”
Quoting St. John Paul II’s 1987 speech against drug trafficking, Francis said, “‘Drug abuse impoverishes every community in which it is present. It diminishes human strength and moral fiber. It undermines estimated values. It destroys the desire to live and contribute to a better society.’”
After his strong words about how drug traffickers “sow violence and death,” Pope Francis offered a prayer for their conversion.
“Let us pray for these criminals who give drugs to young people. They are criminals, they are murderers. We pray for their conversion,” Francis said.
Monsignor Gilles Wach (center), prior general of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, is received in private audience by Pope Francis on June 24, 2024. He is accompanied by Monsignor Rudolf Michael Schmitz, vicar general of the ins… […]
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