capacities, an ecological conversion can inspire us to greater creativity and
enthusiasm".
 As proposed in Evangelii Gaudium: "sobriety, when lived freely and
consciously,
is liberating", just as "happiness means knowing how to limit some needs which
only diminish us, and being open to the many different possibilities which life
can offer". In this way "we must regain the conviction that we need one
another,
that we have a shared responsibility for others and the world, and that being
good and decent are worth it".
 The saints accompany us on this journey. St. Francis, cited several times, is
"the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral
ecology lived out joyfully and authentically". He is the model of "the
inseparable bond between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment
to
society, and interior peace". The Encyclical also mentions St. Benedict, St.
Teresa di Lisieux and Blessed Charles de Foucauld.
 After Laudato si', the regular practice of an examination of conscience, the
means that the Church has always recommended to orient one's life in light of
the relationship with the Lord, should include a new dimension, considering not
only how one has lived communion with God, with others and with oneself, but
also with all creatures and with nature.
 The full text of the encyclical in English can be consulted at:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/
apa-francesco_20
150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html
___________________________________________________________

 Press conference for the presentation of the Encyclical Laudato si'
 Vatican City, 18 June 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the New Synod Hall Cardinal
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council "Justice and
Peace", introduced Pope Francis' Encyclical "Laudato si'", on care for our
common home.
 The cardinal welcomed the presenters of the document: the Metropolitan of
Pergamon, John Zizioulas, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the
Orthodox Church, who spoke on theology and spirituality, the opening and
closing
themes of the encyclical; Professor John Schellnhuber, founder and director of
the Institute for Climate Impact in Potsdam, Federal Republic of Germany,
representing the field of natural sciences, with which the encyclical enters
into profound dialogue, and who was recently appointed as an ordinary member of
the Pontifical Academy of the Sciences; Carolyn Woo, president of Catholic
Relief Services and former dean of the Mendoza College of Business of the
University of Notre Dame, U.S.A., representing the sectors of economy, finance,
trade and commerce, whose responses to the great environmental challenges are
crucial; and Valeria Martano, a teacher for 20 years in the outskirts of Rome
and witness to human and environmental degradation, as well as to some examples
of "best practice", a sign of hope.
 The speakers demonstrated that the Encyclical, from the very beginning, seeks
to establish a dialogue with all, both individuals as well as the organisations
and institutions that share the same concerns as the Pope, approached from
different perspectives, in a global situation that renders them increasingly
intertwined and complementary. "This type of dialogue was also employed as the
method of preparation that the Holy Father embraced in the writing of the
Encyclical", said Cardinal Turkson. "He relied on a wide range of
contributions.
Some, in particular those from many Episcopal Conferences from all the
continents, are mentioned. ... Others who participated in the various phases of
this work ... remain unnamed. The Lord knows well how to reward their
generosity
and dedication".
 The Encyclical takes its name from the invocation of St Francis of Assisi:
"Laudato si' mi' Signore" "Praise be to you, my Lord". "The reference to St.
Francis also indicates the attitude upon which the entire encyclical is based,
that of prayerful contemplation, which invites us to look towards the 'poor one
of Assisi" as a source of inspiration" and as the quintessential example of
"care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and
authentically".
 Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon devoted a large part of his
intervention to the ecumenism in "Laudato si'", and mentioned that in 1989 the
Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios published an encyclical addressed to all
Christians and persons of good will warning of the seriousness of the
ecological
problem and its theological and spiritual implications, and in the same year he
proposed the dedication of 1 September every year to prayer for the
environment.
This date, according to the Orthodox calendar, is the first day of the
ecclesiastical year and now devoted to the environment. The Metropolitan
proposed the adoption by all Christians of this day for prayer for the
environment.
 "I believe that the significance of the papal Encyclical Laudato si' is not
limited to the subject of ecology as such. I see in it an important ecumenical
dimension in that it brings the divided Christians before a common task which
they must face together. We live at a time when fundamental existential
problems
overwhelm our traditional divisions and relativise them almost to the point of
extinction. Look, for example, at what is happening today in the Middle East:
do
those who persecute the Christians ask them to which Church or Confession they
belong? Christian unity in such cases is de facto realised by persecution and
blood - an ecumenism of martyrdom".
 "The threat posed to us by the ecological crisis similarly bypasses or
transcends our traditional divisions. The danger facing our common home, the
planet on which we live, is described in the Encyclical in a way leaving no
doubt about the existential risk we are confronted with. This risk is common to
all of us regardless of our ecclesiastical or confessional identities. Equally
common must be our effort to prevent the catastrophic consequences of the
present situation. Pope Francis' Encyclical is a call to unity - unity in
prayer
for the environment, in the same Gospel of Creation, in the conversion of our
hearts and our lifestyles to respect and love everyone and everything given to
us by God".
 Professor John Schellnhuber went on to note that, from a technological
perspective, the deployment of clean energy for all is feasible and is, in
fact,
"available in abundance. All we have to do is develop the means to properly
harvest it and responsibly manage our consumption. While we have been working
decade after decade on developing an incredibly expensive fusion reactor, we
are
already blessed with one that works perfectly well and is free to all of us:
the
Sun. Photovoltaics, wind and energy from biomass are ultimately all powered by
sunlight. These new technologies could unfold potential in poor countries where
no grid exists to distribute electricity produced by centralised power plants
and where settlements may be too distantly located from one another to make
such
as system feasible. Just like the evolving use of mobile phones without the
previous establishment of landlines, developing countries could leapfrog the
fossil episode and enter the age of decentralised renewable energy production
without detour".
 "The care for our planet therefore does not have to evolve into a tragedy of
the commons. It may well turn into a story of great transformation in which the
opportunity was seized to overcome profound inequalities. These disparities
arose from the geological coincidence of regional fossil fuel distribution
controlled by the few and the concomitant exploitation. Today, the implications
of our actions and the pathways are clear. It is solely a question of what
future we choose to believe in and to pursue".
 Carolyn Woo, the president of Catholic Relief Services and former dean of the
Mendoza College of Business of the University of Notre Dame, U.S.A., as an
expert in economics and finance, affirmed that investing in sustainability is
"another win-win opportunity for business", given that "numerous studies have
provided estimates of astronomical costs associated with coastal disasters as
water levels rise, drought and storms that devastate agricultural production,
or
loss in productivity due to growing days of extreme heat and health crises due
to pollution. ... Business can play a role to assist customers to become
responsible consumers. Design and production that minimises waste by utilising
renewable energy sources, improving efficiencies, enabling recycling,
reclamation and re-use provides new opportunities for businesses as these
enable
consumers to do their part".
 "This Encyclical certainly affirms the important role that business will need
to play, but Pope Francis is clear that we need partnerships between public and
private sectors - as he puts it, 'politics and economics in dialogue for human
fulfilment'. Since both public and private sectors have the same goal, and are
integrated into the same interconnected web of life, they need to work together
in harmony. Sometimes that means business being more accepting of stronger
forms
of regulation, especially in the financial sector. It also means business
getting fully on board with the new Sustainable Development Goals and the need
to take action to combat climate change. At the end of the day, business is a
human enterprise and must strive for true human development and the common
good".
 Finally, the teacher Valeria Martano talked about urban ecology, endangered by
pollution, inadequate services and generalised individualism, as a challenge
for
Christians. The quality of life in the suburbs is poor, she emphasised: "there
is a build-up of rage and a sense of exclusion. Too many people are denied the
dignity of a house, such as the Roma community, and often we witness the
destruction of precarious dwellings without the offer of an alternative. The
elderly are 'expelled' from the social fabric and located in peripheral
institutions. ... We encounter violence in some quarters. But we can help live
better if we reject this resignation to individualism. ... For years, with the
Sant'Egidio Community, we have worked to save spaces from pollution. ...
Starting
with the weakest - children, the elderly, the disabled - we reconstruct a human
fabric. ... Around the weak, it is possible to renew the face of the suburbs,
discovering energies that renew human ecology".
 "The Encyclical invites us to put into practice the common good", she
concluded. "The city and the environment are our common home. We often live
according to human itineraries: fragmented and contradictory. Each person tries
to save himself, in his own corner. Everyone follows his own interest. But
there
is a 'community salvation' that starts from the inclusion of the weak, a
valuable resource for an integral ecology".

___________________________________________________________

 The Pope continues his visits to the dicasteries of the Roman Curia
 Vatican City, 18 June 2015 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father visited the
dicasteries of the Roman Curia located in Via della Conciliazione, 5.

___________________________________________________________

 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 18 June 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Msgr. Franco
Piva of the diocese of Rimini to the College of Apostolic Pronotaries "de
numero
participantium".

___________________________________________________________

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