This afternoon at 5:00pm local time, the Holy Father met with participants taking part in the Modern Slavery and Climate Change Workshop: the Commitment of the Cities in the Synod Hall at the Vatican. This gathering was organized by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and involves the Mayors from many of the large cities throughout the world in order to address two related emergencies: the climate crisis and new forms of slavery.
During his meeting with the Mayors from various parts of the world, the Pope shared a brief impromptu remarks in Spanish.
Allow me to speak in Spanish.
Good evening, welcome.
I sincerely thank you with all my heart for the work that you have done. It is true that everything revolved around the theme of caring for the environment, around this culture of caring for the environment, but this culture of caring for the environment is not only an attitude - and I mean this in the true sense of the word - green, it is not only about having a green attitude, it's much more than that. Taking care of the environment means having an attitude of human ecology. We cannot say, that is, that a person stands here and the issue of creation, of the environment, is over there. Ecology is all encompassing, it is human. This is what I wanted to express in the Encyclical Laudato si': that we cannot separate man from the rest; there is a reciprocal relationship, between the effect of the environment on the person and the way that a person treats the environment; and even the effects that rebound against man when the environment is mistreated. This is the reason why I answered a question that was asked of me by saying: No, this is not a green encyclical, it is a social encyclical. In society, in man's social life, we cannot neglect caring for the environment. What's more, caring for the environment is a social attitude, one that socializes us, in one sense or another - everyone can give it the value he or she wants - on the other hand, we get what we give - I like the Italian expression, when speaking about the environment, about the Creation, as that which we have been given as a gift, that is to say: the environment.
On the other hand, what was the reason for this invitation, which seems to me was the idea of the Pontifical Academy of Science, it was Bishop Sánchez Sorondo's idea, a great idea, to invite the Mayors of the largest cities, and of some of the not so large cities, to invite them to come here and to speak about this? Because one of the things we notice when creation is not being taken care of is the disproportionate growth of cities. This is a worldwide phenomenon. As though the leaders, the largest cities, became large, but in every case still retain a tie to poverty and to the greatest cases of suffering, where people suffer the effects of environmental neglect. Along the same lines, the phenomenon of migration also gets involved. Why do people come to the large cities, as though they are attracted to large cities - villas of suffering, barracks, favelas? Why do they do this? Simply because the rural world does not provide enough opportunity. This is a point that is raised in the Encyclical - with great respect, however, we should denounce it - the idolatry of technocracy. Technocracy leads to the destruction of work, it creates unemployment. There are many cases of unemployment and people are forced to emigrate, in search of new horizons. There are alarmingly large numbers of those who are unemployed. I don't have the statistics, but in some of the countries in Europe, especially among the youth, youth unemployment - those who are 25 years old and younger - the rate is 40% and in some cases even 50%. Between 40, 47 - I'm thinking of other countries - and 50. I'm thinking of other statistics which were furnished by government leaders, directly from Heads of State. And if we project into the future, we see a ghost. There are so many unemployed youth today who wonder about the possibilities, what future is there? What future is there for our youth: dependency, boredom, not knowing what to do with their lives - lives that have no meaning, very difficult lives, youth suicide - statistics about youth suicide have not been published in their entirety - or should they look to other possibilities, even guerrilla possibilities, for a meaning to their lives?
On the other hand, our health is at stake. The rising number of rare illnesses, as they are called, that are the result of many elements used to fertilize our fields - or who knows, no one is too sure yet about the causes - but nonetheless come from an excess of technology. Among the most serious problems at stake are those of oxygen and water. Many large areas are becoming deserts due to deforestation. Beside me here is the Cardinal Archbishop in charge of the Brazilian Amazon, who can explain the effects of deforestation in the Amazon today, the lungs of the world. Congo and the Amazon are the great lungs of the world. There has been great deforestation in my country in the past number of years ... 8, 9 years ago, I remember that the Federal Government undertook a process in one of the provinces to bring an end to deforestation that was affecting the people.
What happens when all these phenomena of excessive technocracy, without taking care of the environment, in addition to natural phenomena, affect migration? Lack of employment and human trafficking. Every time work becomes more common on the black market, without the existence of a contract, work that is under the table. This is a growing phenomenon! Black market work is widespread, and this means that people can't earn enough to live. This can provoke reactions, things that happen in large cities due to such migrations provoked by excessive reliance on technology. Above all, I am referring to the agricultural environment and to the trafficking of people involved in mining activity. Slavery in the mining sector is widespread and very strong, including the use of certain elements in the treatment of minerals - arsenic, cyanide ... - that make people sick. We have a great responsibility in this respect. Everything bounces back, everything will come back, everything ... The effects bounce back on the same people. It could be human trafficking or slave labour or even prostitution that become sources of work, for some people to survive today.
This is the reason why I am happy that you have reflected on these phenomena - I have only mentioned a few, no more - that affect large cities. In the end, I would say that all of this should be of interest to the United Nations. I really hope that during the Paris summit in November, they will reach a fundamental and basic agreement. I have great hope. However, the United Nations should look at these phenomena with great strength, above all, human trafficking that is motivated by this environmental phenomenon, the exploitation of people.
A few months ago, I received a delegation of women from the United Nations, who are dealing with problems of sexual exploitation of children in countries which are at war. Children are being treated as objects of exploitation. This is another phenomenon. Wars also have their effect on the environment.
Finally, I want to end with a reflection, which is not my own, but that of the theologian and philosopher Romano Guardini, who speaks of two forms of ignorance: ignorance that God has left us, so that we can transform it into culture, and this is the reason why he has given us the mandate to care for, to increase and to have dominion over the earth; and the second ignorance, when man does not respect this relationship with the earth, does not take care of it - it is very clear in the biblical account, which is a type of mystical literature. When we do not take care of it, man tries to dominate that culture and begins to change it. We are ignorant: we try to change it, but we lose control and we give rise to a second form of ignorance: atomic energy is good, it can help. So far, so good but think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There, we created disaster and destruction, to use an old example. Today, in all forms of iignorance, as with those I have spoken of, this second form of ignorance leads to the destruction of man. A rabbi from the Middle Ages, more or less the era of Saint Thomas Aquinas - maybe someone has heard me speaking about him - explained in a midrash, the problem of the Tower of Babel to his parishioners in the Synagogue by saying that to construct the Tower of Babel, much time and much work was required, especially to make the bricks. They had to prepare the mud, look for straw, mix them, cut them, dry them, then place them in the kiln, bake them ... A brick was a gem, worth a lot of money. And they brought the bricks to build the tower. When a brick fell, it was a very serious problem and the culprit, the one who neglected his work and dropped the brick, was punished. When a worker fell, one of those who was working on the building, nothing happened. This is the drama of the second form of ignorance: man as the creator of ignorance and not of culture; man creates ignorance because he does not care for the environment.
This is the reason why this invitation was issued by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences to the Mayors of cities, because, even if this knowledge moves from the centre toward the peripheries, the most serious and most important work begins in the peripheries and moves toward the centre, that is, through you toward the consciences of all of humanity. The Holy See, or one country or another, can have a wonderful discussion with the United Nations, but if the work doesn't begin in the peripheries and move toward the centre, it will have no effect. This is the responsibility of the Mayors of cities.
I want to thank you very much for coming to this meeting from the peripheries and for taking this problem very seriously. Each of you has within your city, things like those which I have spoken of and over which you must govern, resolve and so on. Thank you for your collaboration. Bishop Sánchez Sorondo has told me that many of you have spoken and what you have said is very enriching.
I thank you and ask the Lord to grant you the grace to be more and more aware of this problem of destruction that we are bringing upon ourselves by not taking care of human ecology, by not having an ecological conscience like the one that was given to us in the beginning in order to transform our first ignorance into culture, to stop there and not to turn this culture into ignorance.
Thank you very much.
During his meeting with the Mayors from various parts of the world, the Pope shared a brief impromptu remarks in Spanish.
Remarks of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the meeting with participants in the
Modern Slavery and Climate Change Workshop
Allow me to speak in Spanish.
Good evening, welcome.
I sincerely thank you with all my heart for the work that you have done. It is true that everything revolved around the theme of caring for the environment, around this culture of caring for the environment, but this culture of caring for the environment is not only an attitude - and I mean this in the true sense of the word - green, it is not only about having a green attitude, it's much more than that. Taking care of the environment means having an attitude of human ecology. We cannot say, that is, that a person stands here and the issue of creation, of the environment, is over there. Ecology is all encompassing, it is human. This is what I wanted to express in the Encyclical Laudato si': that we cannot separate man from the rest; there is a reciprocal relationship, between the effect of the environment on the person and the way that a person treats the environment; and even the effects that rebound against man when the environment is mistreated. This is the reason why I answered a question that was asked of me by saying: No, this is not a green encyclical, it is a social encyclical. In society, in man's social life, we cannot neglect caring for the environment. What's more, caring for the environment is a social attitude, one that socializes us, in one sense or another - everyone can give it the value he or she wants - on the other hand, we get what we give - I like the Italian expression, when speaking about the environment, about the Creation, as that which we have been given as a gift, that is to say: the environment.
On the other hand, what was the reason for this invitation, which seems to me was the idea of the Pontifical Academy of Science, it was Bishop Sánchez Sorondo's idea, a great idea, to invite the Mayors of the largest cities, and of some of the not so large cities, to invite them to come here and to speak about this? Because one of the things we notice when creation is not being taken care of is the disproportionate growth of cities. This is a worldwide phenomenon. As though the leaders, the largest cities, became large, but in every case still retain a tie to poverty and to the greatest cases of suffering, where people suffer the effects of environmental neglect. Along the same lines, the phenomenon of migration also gets involved. Why do people come to the large cities, as though they are attracted to large cities - villas of suffering, barracks, favelas? Why do they do this? Simply because the rural world does not provide enough opportunity. This is a point that is raised in the Encyclical - with great respect, however, we should denounce it - the idolatry of technocracy. Technocracy leads to the destruction of work, it creates unemployment. There are many cases of unemployment and people are forced to emigrate, in search of new horizons. There are alarmingly large numbers of those who are unemployed. I don't have the statistics, but in some of the countries in Europe, especially among the youth, youth unemployment - those who are 25 years old and younger - the rate is 40% and in some cases even 50%. Between 40, 47 - I'm thinking of other countries - and 50. I'm thinking of other statistics which were furnished by government leaders, directly from Heads of State. And if we project into the future, we see a ghost. There are so many unemployed youth today who wonder about the possibilities, what future is there? What future is there for our youth: dependency, boredom, not knowing what to do with their lives - lives that have no meaning, very difficult lives, youth suicide - statistics about youth suicide have not been published in their entirety - or should they look to other possibilities, even guerrilla possibilities, for a meaning to their lives?
On the other hand, our health is at stake. The rising number of rare illnesses, as they are called, that are the result of many elements used to fertilize our fields - or who knows, no one is too sure yet about the causes - but nonetheless come from an excess of technology. Among the most serious problems at stake are those of oxygen and water. Many large areas are becoming deserts due to deforestation. Beside me here is the Cardinal Archbishop in charge of the Brazilian Amazon, who can explain the effects of deforestation in the Amazon today, the lungs of the world. Congo and the Amazon are the great lungs of the world. There has been great deforestation in my country in the past number of years ... 8, 9 years ago, I remember that the Federal Government undertook a process in one of the provinces to bring an end to deforestation that was affecting the people.
What happens when all these phenomena of excessive technocracy, without taking care of the environment, in addition to natural phenomena, affect migration? Lack of employment and human trafficking. Every time work becomes more common on the black market, without the existence of a contract, work that is under the table. This is a growing phenomenon! Black market work is widespread, and this means that people can't earn enough to live. This can provoke reactions, things that happen in large cities due to such migrations provoked by excessive reliance on technology. Above all, I am referring to the agricultural environment and to the trafficking of people involved in mining activity. Slavery in the mining sector is widespread and very strong, including the use of certain elements in the treatment of minerals - arsenic, cyanide ... - that make people sick. We have a great responsibility in this respect. Everything bounces back, everything will come back, everything ... The effects bounce back on the same people. It could be human trafficking or slave labour or even prostitution that become sources of work, for some people to survive today.
This is the reason why I am happy that you have reflected on these phenomena - I have only mentioned a few, no more - that affect large cities. In the end, I would say that all of this should be of interest to the United Nations. I really hope that during the Paris summit in November, they will reach a fundamental and basic agreement. I have great hope. However, the United Nations should look at these phenomena with great strength, above all, human trafficking that is motivated by this environmental phenomenon, the exploitation of people.
A few months ago, I received a delegation of women from the United Nations, who are dealing with problems of sexual exploitation of children in countries which are at war. Children are being treated as objects of exploitation. This is another phenomenon. Wars also have their effect on the environment.
Finally, I want to end with a reflection, which is not my own, but that of the theologian and philosopher Romano Guardini, who speaks of two forms of ignorance: ignorance that God has left us, so that we can transform it into culture, and this is the reason why he has given us the mandate to care for, to increase and to have dominion over the earth; and the second ignorance, when man does not respect this relationship with the earth, does not take care of it - it is very clear in the biblical account, which is a type of mystical literature. When we do not take care of it, man tries to dominate that culture and begins to change it. We are ignorant: we try to change it, but we lose control and we give rise to a second form of ignorance: atomic energy is good, it can help. So far, so good but think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There, we created disaster and destruction, to use an old example. Today, in all forms of iignorance, as with those I have spoken of, this second form of ignorance leads to the destruction of man. A rabbi from the Middle Ages, more or less the era of Saint Thomas Aquinas - maybe someone has heard me speaking about him - explained in a midrash, the problem of the Tower of Babel to his parishioners in the Synagogue by saying that to construct the Tower of Babel, much time and much work was required, especially to make the bricks. They had to prepare the mud, look for straw, mix them, cut them, dry them, then place them in the kiln, bake them ... A brick was a gem, worth a lot of money. And they brought the bricks to build the tower. When a brick fell, it was a very serious problem and the culprit, the one who neglected his work and dropped the brick, was punished. When a worker fell, one of those who was working on the building, nothing happened. This is the drama of the second form of ignorance: man as the creator of ignorance and not of culture; man creates ignorance because he does not care for the environment.
This is the reason why this invitation was issued by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences to the Mayors of cities, because, even if this knowledge moves from the centre toward the peripheries, the most serious and most important work begins in the peripheries and moves toward the centre, that is, through you toward the consciences of all of humanity. The Holy See, or one country or another, can have a wonderful discussion with the United Nations, but if the work doesn't begin in the peripheries and move toward the centre, it will have no effect. This is the responsibility of the Mayors of cities.
I want to thank you very much for coming to this meeting from the peripheries and for taking this problem very seriously. Each of you has within your city, things like those which I have spoken of and over which you must govern, resolve and so on. Thank you for your collaboration. Bishop Sánchez Sorondo has told me that many of you have spoken and what you have said is very enriching.
I thank you and ask the Lord to grant you the grace to be more and more aware of this problem of destruction that we are bringing upon ourselves by not taking care of human ecology, by not having an ecological conscience like the one that was given to us in the beginning in order to transform our first ignorance into culture, to stop there and not to turn this culture into ignorance.
Thank you very much.
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