A new documentary, “The Letter,” premiered at the Vatican this week.
Available on YouTube, Emmy-winner Nicholas Brown’s doco is about the Pope’s 2015 encyclical (letter) Laudato Sì’ and how ordinary people can make his vision a reality.
Francis addressed the encyclical to “all people of good will”, urging an interconnected vision for humanity and the planet.
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 Tuesday – St Francis of Assisi’s feast day. 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 (see image) to discuss the environment.
One activist is Chief Cacique Odair “Dadá” of the Borari people. He was captured and tortured by mercenaries after he used GPS technology to expose the illegal activity of loggers who were destroying his Brazilian Amazon rainforest home.
Under the leadership of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has led Brazil since 2018, the country has been rapidly deforested. Elections in the country are currently deciding who will lead the country in the future.
“I am here in the name of the forest, in the name of the Indigenous population,” said Dadá at the Vatican press conference for the premiere.
He advocated for “a new kind of politics” that protects the environment and those most affected by its destruction.
“Today we suffer the destruction of the forest firsthand,” he said. “I hope that all presidents in all countries will come together to save and protect the forest.”
“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, had grim words to say at the premiere.
Listing the “new normal” of heatwaves, hurricanes, droughts and floods that occur all over the planet, Czerny said the doco 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.
“The time is over for speculation, for scepticism and denial, for irresponsible populism that protects the environment and those most affected by its destruction.”
The documentary’s essence is to bring the Pope’s letter to new audiences, says Laudato Sì’ Movement president Lorna Gold. The Movement includes a network of over 900 Catholic organisations acting and lobbying for the environment.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Chair Hoesung Lee was also at the premiere.
Faith and science must come together to find solutions, as “the stakes have never been higher,” he says.
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