Before this group of French lay people committed to the environment, the pope revealed what could be called his process of ecological conversion.
It all happened in Aparecida, in 2006. Then-cardinal Bergoglio was participating in the fifth Conference of the Latin American Episcopate.
POPE FRANCIS
“I would say, 'But these Brazilians, how annoying they are with the Amazon stuff. What does the Amazon have to do with evangelization?' That's what I was like in 2006. Then in 2015, the Laudato si' was published. I went through a path of conversion.”
The pope said human beings can benefit from nature, not as its owners, but as administrators.
Pope Francis repeated that the ecology of which he speaks is an integral one. It cares for the environment and for human beings, because when one suffers, so does the other.
That's how the pope chose to underline, once more, the role of grandparents in society.
POPE FRANCIS
“Grandparents have something more to offer. They're like good wine. Good wine, the older it is, the better. You, the French, know this well.”
This group of laypeople collaborates with the French Bishops' Conference to put into practice the principles outlined in the Laudato si' encyclical. Among committee members is the famous French actress, Juliette Binoche.
Javier Romero
Translation: CT
