A meeting for global theologians, scientists and economists to analyze Benedict XVI and Pope Francis' ecological proposals was just presented in the Vatican. It is the conference on Human Ecology, organized by the Ratzinger Foundation and the Catholic University of Costa Rica from November 29-December 1.
FR. FEDERICO LOMBARDI
President, Ratzinger Foundation
'We wanted to do the congress in Costa Rica, in Latin America, because Ecology is a part of their culture and they have a great sensitivity to this issue.'
Federico Lombardi stressed that one of the fruits of the congress will be the creation of an evaluation scale for 'Laudato si'.' It will measure how countries can apply Pope Francis' proposals to care for the planet.
FR. FEDERICO LOMBARDI
President, Ratzinger Foundation
'The Catholic University of Costa Rica has shown a great spirit of commitment. We thought to ourselves, 'Where there is strong motivation, great things can be done.''
FERNANDO SÁNCHEZ CAMPOS
Rector, Catholic University of Costa Rica
'The idea is for collaboration, and constant research with other universities, who not only want to collaborate on this scale, but also want to investigate what is happening. To ask why one country is better than another and what indicators should be investigated and improved.'
The scale, called the Laudato si' Human Index, will be based on 15 indicators, and will be updated every one or two years. It will be the first time it is possible to evaluate how a papal encyclical can be applied with concrete data.
