L’Osservatore defends Pope Benedict XVI’s views on environment

(30 Aug. 2006): Vatican’s semi official newspaper - L'Osservatore Romano, has defended the views of Pope Benedict XVI on the environment in a front-page editorial, saying the Pontiff is not an amateur ecologist. The Pope is a pastor, who feels the obligation to remind believers that they must safeguard Creation which is a gift from God, said the newspaper. In an editorial column Gaetano Vallini responded to Italian journalists, who have criticized the Pontiff for his remarks on the environment. During his Angelus audience on August 27, the Holy Father had spoken with concern about the degradation of the environment, saying that the problem weighs most heavily upon the poor. Vallini wrote that international leaders have failed in their efforts to devise a proper system for protecting natural resources, and consequently our planet is seriously endangered. He argued that the threat of ecological harm is really a global menace, worse than terrorism, worse than the outlaw states that support it. The Church in Italy is celebrating Environment Day on 1^st September.The theme chosen is “A day for safeguarding the environment”