Castel Gandolfo, Italy — The lilies were in bloom, the reflecting pool untroubled, and somewhere amidst the birdsong and gently murmuring journalists, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV took a stand — or rather a kneel — on climate change. The occasion? A new eco-Mass. The vibe? Ethically sourced solemnity with compostable guilt.
Draped in vestments that practically shouted “Photosynthesize me!”, the pontiff delivered what can only be described as a homily-cum-weather-report, warning that the Earth was “burning” — though mercifully not as a result of divine wrath but of, well, us. Specifically: fossil fuels, multinational corporations, and people who still use plastic cutlery.
“We must pray for the conversion of so many people, inside and out of the Church,” the Pope intoned, before presumably throwing shade at a few cardinals who drive V12s.
This was no ordinary sermon. This was a liturgical debut of a new Mass “for the care of creation” — a phrase that evokes equal parts spiritual awakening and corporate responsibility memo. Drafted with all the solemnity of a papal decree and the mood of a TED Talk delivered under low-glare LED lighting, it’s the Vatican’s latest attempt to show that God is, in fact, green.
It is also, pointedly, a continuation of Pope Francis’s eco-crusade. Leo XIV, history’s first American pontiff (and an ex-missionary who has actually smelled the ozone), seems determined to pick up the papal walking stick and march straight into battle — armed with scripture, solar panels, and a passive-aggressive encyclical or two.
Let us not forget the venue. Castel Gandolfo — the papal bolt-hole in the hills, once beloved by pontiffs in need of a break from infallibility — now houses an “ecological education centre”. The garden, once used for quiet reflection and the occasional discreet puff of cigar smoke, is now a “natural cathedral”. The Pope said so. So it must be.
“We hear the cry of the earth,” he declared, above the chirrup of sustainably sourced crickets. “We hear the cry of the poor.” A brief pause. “And possibly also the cry of the Italian parliament, who we now require to approve a €100 million solar farm on Vatican land.”
Ah yes, the solar farm. Santa Maria di Galeria — once infamous for belching Vatican Radio waves that allegedly scrambled local TV signals and minor pacemakers — may soon be reborn as the glowing solar halo atop Rome’s eternal head. The irony that divine broadcasting will now be powered by divine sunshine was, mercifully, left unspoken.
Leo’s ambition? For the Vatican to become the world’s first carbon-neutral state. It’s a bold move, especially for a city-state that still hands out plastic rosaries and air-conditions the Sistine Chapel. But this is a Pope who has prayed with Indigenous leaders, clapped back at climate deniers, and shown a worrying familiarity with the phrase “climate justice”.
Meanwhile, the faithful — and the press — are left to wonder: is this Mass a turning point, or just a well-lit pageant in the long papal tradition of looking very concerned while asking others to do something?
For now, at least, the Holy See appears to be seeing green. Whether the world follows suit remains to be seen. But as the solar panels go up and the ecological incense wafts gently into the Roman hills, one thing is clear: this Pope means business. Renewable, guilt-inducing, heavenly business.
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