Pope Leads Church's First Eco-Friendly Rally
Date: 03-Sep-07
Country: ITALY
Author: Philip Pullella
The 80-year-old Pope told the young people, estimated by
organisers at some 300,000, to dare to change the world and
search for lasting, meaningful relationships.
The two-day rally, which coincides with the Italian Catholic
Church's "Day for Safeguarding Creation," saw young people
sprawled on a vast hillside near the central Adriatic shrine
city of Loreto.
Italy's Catholic Church, which organised the event, said it
was the first environmentally friendly youth rally, a break from
past gatherings that left tonnes of garbage and scars on the
earth.
A participants' kit included backpacks made of recyclable
material, a flashlight operated by a crank instead of batteries,
and colour-coded trash bags so their personal garbage could be
easily recycled. Meals were served on biodegradable plates.
Tens of thousands of prayerbooks for Sunday's mass were
printed on recycled paper and an adequate number of trees would
be planted to compensate for the carbon produced at the event,
many in areas of southern Italy devastated by recent brushfires.
In his speech to the young people, who listened to music and
heard inspirational stories before the Pope arrived, Benedict
told them not only to dream of a better world but build it by
helping others and seeking true love.
"Discover the beauty of love, but not disposable love, that
is here today and gone tomorrow, that is deceitful and prisoner
of an egoistic and materialistic mentality but a love that is
real and deep," he told the crowd.
"The beauty of creation is proof that God exists," he said.
The Vatican has become progressively "green". It has
installed photovoltaic cells on buildings to produce electricity
and hosted a scientific conference on climate change.
Last month Benedict said the human race must listen to "the
voice of the Earth" or risk destroying its very existence.
Loreto is famous in the Catholic world for the "holy house
of the Madonna" a small stone structure purported to be where
Mary grew up in the Holy Land and where she was told by an angel
she would give birth to Jesus although a virgin.
According to popular legend, it was "flown" by angels from
the Holy Land in the 13th century to save it from Muslim armies.
Modern scholars have said parts of the walls may have been
brought in pieces from the Middle East by defeated Crusaders or
that the entire structure may have been built on the site where
it now stands in order to draw pilgrims to the city.