Pope Leo XIV inaugurated a new “zero environmental impact” complex devoted to promoting Pope Francis’s teachings on caring for creation at the papal gardens in Castel Gandolfo outside of Rome. Source: CNS.
A newly built circular greenhouse, reminiscent of Bernini’s curved colonnade in St Peter’s Square, and two new buildings, all topped with solar panels, make up the heart of Borgo Laudato Si’ – a project dedicated to promoting integral ecology, sustainability and a circular and generative economy.
Caring for creation “represents a true vocation for every human being, a commitment to be carried out within creation itself, without ever forgetting that we are creatures among creatures and not creators”, Pope Leo said in his homily during a prayer service in the greenhouse on Friday.
Employees and their families, members of the Roman Curia, representatives of partner companies and organisations supporting the project and other special guests attended the opening of the Borgio Laudato Si’.
“Borgo Laudato Si’, which we are inaugurating today, is one of the Church’s initiatives aimed at fulfilling this vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork: a demanding but beautiful and fascinating task, which represents a major aspect of the Christian experience,” Pope Leo said.
The initiative, which seeks to make concrete the Church’s teaching about integral ecology, “is a seed of hope that Pope Francis has left us as his legacy,” he said, and it represents “a synthesis of extraordinary beauty, where spirituality, nature, history, art, work and technology coexist in harmony.”
After the Pope blessed the centre, Andrea Bocelli and his son, Matteo, sang Dolce Sentire, which was inspired by St Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of Creation.
The ecumenical Season of Creation runs from September 1 to October 4, the feast of St Francis.
The Borgo, which means “village” or “hamlet” in Italian, extends over 34.4 hectares of gardens and 20 hecatres of farmland, and is home to cows, horses, donkeys, chickens and other small animals.
During his two-hour visit, Pope Leo greeted a few of the furry residents, including a white Andalusian horse, named “Sale Rosso” (Italian for “Red Salt”), that was gifted to him as a reminder of the horses he used to ride to reach rural areas when he was bishop of Chiclayo, Peru.
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Pope inaugurates center, farm dedicated to zero-waste, inclusive economy (By Carol Glaz, CNS)
