Pope Benedict encourages school children to protect nature

(November 28, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI on Monday called on school children to defend the environment, saying it is natural that young people have a special sensitivity to ‘sister nature’ and commit themselves to defend her. Pope Benedict’s remarks came when he met students of Italian schools participating in an environmental project sponsored by the “Sister Nature” Foundation of Assisi, the home town of Italy’s patron, St. Francis. The group met Pope Benedict on the anniversary of the declaration of St. Francis as the patron of ecology by blessed John Paul II in 1979. Pope Benedict said, “man, in his activities, forgets being a collaborator of God, and inflicts violence on creation, provoking damage that always has negative consequences also on man, as we unfortunately see in various occasions.” “Today it is ever more clear that respect for the environment cannot ignore the value and the inviolability of the human person in every phase of life and in every condition,” the Pope said. Stressing that without respect for creation and change in lifestyle there is no future the Pope said that young people can greatly contribute in building an ecological future.