VATICAN CITY (RNS) — To mark the the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si’” (Blessed Be), the Vatican has invited more than 1,000 religious leaders, activists and scientists to the papal summer residence for a discussion on climate change, and announced the event on Tuesday (Sept. 30) with the help of a prominent figure associated with existential threats to Earth.
“Hasta la vista, baby! Never give up!” said Arnold Schwarzenegger at the press conference presenting the event, reprising his tagline from the 1990s post-apocalyptic Terminator movies.
Acknowledging the global influence of Catholic faithful, clergy and institutions, the actor, bodybuilder and former governor of California marveled at the potential “power of communication” that the church could unleash to safeguard the environment.
“Every single one of the 1.4 billion Catholics can be a crusader for the environment and terminate pollution!” said Schwarzenegger. He praised the church’s efforts in the climate change movement and emphasized the need for all people to work together on the issue.
As a Catholic, he also urged Catholic priests to inject the principles of Francis’ 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si’,” into their sermons and Masses.
The discussion, which will run from Wednesday through Friday at Castel Gandolfo, the papal retreat an hour from Rome, is being held in anticipation of the COP30 meeting of world leaders next month.
Schwarzenegger stressed that despite the high level of the COP meetings, it is local governments and individuals who make the greatest difference when it comes to protecting the environment. In a reference to Donald Trump’s recent speech at the United Nations, in which the U.S. president described climate change as a “con job,” Schwarzenegger urged people not to wait for the federal government but to instead take matters into their own hands.
He praised the Catholic Church’s strong stance in defense of the environment under Francis and its plans to transform Vatican City into a zero-emission state by 2050. “The Vatican is the real deal. They put solar (panels) on the roof!” Schwarzenegger said. “They showed the whole world to be hands-on, they just did it. That’s what you call the true action heroes.”
Called Rising Hope for Climate Justice, this week’s conference honors Francis’ legacy on the environment with three days of meetings and public events. On Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV will open the event with a “Celebration of Hope”; the next day, attendees will meet in panels and working sessions. The event will end Friday with a closing Mass and the presentation of a joint declaration.
A month later, world leaders will gather in Belém, Brazil, for the COP30 meetings, with a prevailing sense that the goals organizers once set are slipping away. “We know that leaders are not making adequate progress towards safeguarding our climate for future generations,” said the executive director of the Laudato Si’ Movement, Lorna Gold, at the press event.
“Since Pope Francis passed, Pope Leo XIV has demonstrated his commitment to continue this mission,” she said, citing Leo’s celebration in July of the first Mass for Creation and his participation at the Laudato Si’ conference. “The passing of Pope Francis has energized our whole movement,” Gold added. “We now feel a sacred duty to be a living legacy and to bring his leadership and commitment to our work.”
She said members of the Laudato Si’ Movement, which sprang up spontaneously after the encyclical was released, are “dismayed” by the lack of progress in shifting away from fossil fuels. Gold urged countries to submit ambitious national climate pledges, noting that this week the Vatican will launch a Laudato Si’ pledge to show its commitment to combating climate change.
Cardinal Jaime Spengler, archbishop of Porto Alegre, Brazil, and president of the bishops’ conference of Latin America and the Caribbean, voiced his hope that the COP30 meeting will become an “opportunity for brave decisions.” He stressed the importance of acting before it’s too late. “We live in times marked by danger! The danger of reaching a point of no return, a breaking point,” he said, calling on faithful to care for the Earth in opposition to market- and economy-oriented mindsets.
“We must nourish hope!” he added. “The requests emerging from below throughout the world — from the poor, from Indigenous peoples, from the small — remind us of the primacy of the human person, the defense of his or her dignity; they tell us that ethics must prevail over contingent interests.”
