The Apostolic Exhortation is written simply and plainly and is addressed to everyone. And that's a bonus. This is how Prof. Giorgio Parisi, Nobel Prize for Physics, who spoke at the opening of the presentation, expressed his appreciation for a document that he considers very "necessary". Convinced, like the Pope, that it is the weakest who suffer much more than others from the effects of climate change, the academic welcomed the fact that the Pope underlines the urgency of global involvement and of proceeding in a fair and supportive manner. And he insisted on the importance of a "massive transfer of resources from the most advanced to the least rich countries". He also emphasised the need to improve the educational environment, especially female education, in these latitudes. From there, moreover, the awareness is created that environmental protection is an essential collective issue.
Vandana Shiva, an activist scientist and environmentalist, was connecting remotely and joined the chorus of voices supporting the Pope's document: among other aspects, she hoped that a third of the emissions can be reabsorbed and that we can put an end to the extinction of animals. His thanks to Pope Francis for this Exhortation are explicit: “We must work to preserve the earth. The solutions are before our eyes. Healing the soil is the best economy.”
Gastronomist Carlo Petrini, also connected remotely, praised the emphasis of the text on the drama of the historical moment we are going through. The Pope's position, according to the inventor of Slow Food, is clear and calls for decisive interventions. The other element that he believed is significant in the Pope's text is that it reveals how much the Pontiff is fully aware of the entry on the scene of a new subject: groups and movements and civil society. Without these energies ‘from below ’, said Petrini, we will not succeed. "No one can remain indifferent, everyone must become an active subject".
The intervention of writer Jonathan Safran Foer highlighed the "wisdom and courage of the Pope". Telling of an episode that refers to the tragedy of the Holocaust, he explained how unfortunately human brains are good at calculating the paths of a hurricane, while they have difficulty being empathetic. It is precisely the issue of climate change deniers that he cares about: even if there are clear signs, we do not feel involved. “They seem like abstract, isolated things. They are not a narrative that concerns us." And, as a Jew, he quoted Saint Francis: when we are dead we will not take anything with us, only what we have given.
The interventions of activists Luisa-Marie Neubauer, leader of "Fridays for Future" in Germany, and Benoit Halgand, co-founder of the French youth organisations "For an Ecological Awakening" and "Lutte et Contemplation", were a shock to everyone's commitment. Disappointed by what she now calls "a fairy tale" (the story she heard as a child in her family and in her place of origin, Hamburg, for which the growth of the economy would have brought benefits to everyone), she recounted the experience of a movement that has gradually brought together thousands of people. "This from the Pope is a call for the Church to become a true ally, it must persevere in divesting from fossil fuels".
For his part, the young French Catholic explored the spiritual character of the cause, as the Pope does in the final part of the Exhortation. Halgand also mentioned the commitment made in the fight against exploitation projects in Tanzania and other African regions by oil companies, which, he says, deceive local populations. And he warned of the idolatry of the market that "distances us from God". For this reason, it invites you to stop, to nourish your relationship with God.
Then there was Jubran Ali Mohammed Ali, a young immigrant from Libya, who talked about Cyclone Daniel that destroyed the city of Derna and thanked the Pope for his affection for migrants; and Alessandra Sarmentino, animator of the Laudato Si 'Movement, who told of Sicily where carelessness, inertia and malice last summer inflicted a harsh blow on the landscape and architectural wonders of the territory invaded by flames. That is why you also urge active citizenship and conclude by asking: "Are we really doing everything in our power? Who will pay for the lost beauty?”
The roundup of testimonies ended with the video intervention by photographer Arthus-Bertrand Yann, who specialised in television documentaries on environmental issues, author of a version of Laudato Si 'with his powerful and evocative photos. "I am a simple witness to the beauty of the world, I do not manufacture it, it is in front of me" he says, revealing how life must be protected simply because it is beautiful. “A beauty that transcends reality” he says. He recalled some data, such as the fact, for example, that 80% of insects no longer exist in the European countryside, "a phenomenon that is not noticed but they are the basis of life". Remember the 27 million people forced to leave their countries also because of climate change. And he concluded: ecological conversion will not come from the economic-political world, conversion will be spiritual.
