The film includes footage of the meeting with Pope Francis and unreleased footage of the inauguration of Pope Francis on March 19, 2013.
VATICAN – Pope Francis was the star of a documentary on climate change and the environment that was screened at the Vatican on Tuesday.
The Message , available to stream for free on YouTube Originals from October 4, follows a married climate activist, indigenous leader, climate refugee and marine biologist as they travel from around the world to the Vatican to speak with Pope Francis.
The film includes footage of the meeting with Pope Francis and unreleased footage of the inauguration of Pope Francis on March 19, 2013.
The title of this documentary was inspired by the word "papal" which is used for many papal letters and literally means "circular". The title refers to Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical Laudato si .
Cardinal Raniero Cantalamsa, a missionary to the papal family, also appears in the letter to talk about the Franciscan roots of Pope Francis' ecotours.
The film had its world premiere in the New Congregation Hall of the Vatican on October 4, the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi.
October 4 also marks the official accession of the Holy See to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
Cardinal Michael Czerny, Dean of the Office for the Promotion of Integrated Human Development, presented the film at a press conference on Tuesday. The Dicastery of Cardinal Czerny is a partner in the film, along with the Vatican Communications Office.
The film " Message " emphasizes the main idea of the dialogue, in his words, "Dialogue is the essence of the Holy Father's vision of the human world between the Creator and all creation and us as human beings."
Husung Lee, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told a press conference that the film was "a timely reminder of the urgency and importance of Laudato si."
“The scientific and religious communities are clear. The planet is in crisis and its life support systems are in danger. The stakes have never been higher and we must be the source of a solution to this crisis,” he added.
Writer/filmmaker Nicholas Brown said that the practice of documentaries is to "get out of our bubble and meet up on the planet. These moments are the most important, because it is their point of view that influences the most.”
Movie themes: Kasik Oder "Kipala Dada", the leader of the indigenous Novolugar people from the Puares in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest; Redima Pandey, a young environmental activist from India; Aruna Kande, climate refugee from Senegal; and Robin Martin and Greg Asner, marine biologists based in Hawaii.
The film also features Lorna Gold, president of the Laudato Sy movement.
Cardinal Czerny said: "Films and personal stories convincingly show that the ecological crisis has come and is happening now." “The time for speculation, skepticism, denial and irresponsible populism is over. Terrible floods, severe droughts, heat waves, tornadoes and catastrophic hurricanes have become the new normal in recent years; keep going today, tomorrow will be even worse.”
The cardinal said: In his letter " Laudato si ", Pope Francis said: "I want to have a dialogue with everyone about our common home." The film The Message provides a medium for such encounters and dialogues. This beautiful film, a heartbreaking yet hopeful story, resonates with people all over the world. Get up, be serious, pull yourself together, work together and act now.”