Pope Francis Bans Plastic From The Vatican To 'Save The Environment'
Pontiff makes announcement during flight from Africa
© press
Pope Francis has placed a ban on plastic in Vatican City State to 'stand in solidarity' with environmentalists, according to reports.
The Pontiff made the announcement while aboard the papal plane during a long-haul flight back from a trip to Africa.
The Catholic leader said he was disturbed by a conversation with chaplains and fishermen who described how they had found six tons of plastic over the course of a few months.
The Pope explained that his prayer intention for September is for “the protection of the oceans that give us the oxygen we breathe.”
© press
“We need to defend ecology and biodiversity — which is our life — and defend oxygen — which is our life,” he said.
“I am comforted by the fact that it is young people who are waging this war. They have a great conscience and are saying: ‘The future is ours. Do what you want with yours but not with ours!’”
The Pope added that he had been “anguished” when he saw a photo of a ship sailing to the North Pole undisturbed by ice.
“And not long ago, we all saw the photograph of the symbolic funeral for an extinct glacier in Greenland,” he said.
The Pope has recently adopted more robust rhetoric on the climate emergency around the globe in recent months.
© press
The Pontiff recently delivered apocalyptic language encouraged by climate alarmists to frighten people into taking action during his speech for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.
Human beings have caused “a climate emergency that gravely threatens nature and life itself,” he said.
“Too many of us act like tyrants with regard to creation,” he declared. “Let us make an effort to change and to adopt more simple and respectful lifestyles!”
“Now is the time to abandon our dependence on fossil fuels and move, quickly and decisively, towards forms of clean energy and a sustainable and circular economy," he said.
"Let us also learn to listen to indigenous peoples, whose age-old wisdom can teach us how to live in a better relationship with the environment,” he said.
In June, the Pontiff warned of disastrous consequences if humanity failed to react to the threat of climate change since the world had reached a “critical moment,” and there is no time to waste.
Speaking to a group of participants in a Vatican-sponsored conference on energy transition on Friday, the Pope said:
“Dear friends, time is running out!" he said.
“We cannot afford the luxury of waiting for others to come forward or of prioritizing short-term economic benefits. The climate crisis requires decisive action from us, here and now.”
