The Letter, a new documentary on climate change based on Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato si’, has premiered at the Vatican.
Available on YouTube, Emmy-winner Nicholas Brown’s doco focuses on how ordinary people can make the Pope’s vision a reality. Pope Francis addressed the encyclical to ‘all people of good will’, urging an interconnected vision for humanity and the planet.
Nicholas Brown, who has directed many environment-focused documentaries, hopes the movie will encourage people. We need to ‘abandon illusions of otherness and come together’ to protect the environment, he says.
The Letter premiered on St Francis of Assisi’s feast day, October 4. The Pope’s namesake was known for his commitment to peace, to the impoverished and to the environment. The premiere also coincided with the day the Paris Climate Agreement accords came into effect at the Vatican.
The 80-minute feature focuses on how people at the grassroots level – rather than governments – can bring about change. In the doco, a diverse group of climate activists, Indigenous people, scientists and faithful meet with Francis to discuss the environment.
‘Voices from the peripheries are usually ignored in global summits and environmental decision-making, typically dominated by powerful corporate interests’, says Cardinal Michael Czerny.
The Cardinal, who heads the Vatican Department for Promoting Integral Human Development, spoke at the premiere of the documentary.
Listing the ‘new normal’ of heatwaves, hurricanes, droughts and floods that occur all over the planet, Czerny said The Letter provides a pathway for encounter and dialogue among people.
‘The film and the personal stories powerfully show that the ecological crisis has arrived and is happening now.
‘This beautiful film – a heart breaking yet hopeful story – is a clarion cry to people everywhere: wake up! get serious! act together! act now!’
The Letter, the story about the Pope’s call to care for our planet, is on YouTube at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rps9bs85BII
Source: Religion News Service