VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 138   
   DATE 22-07-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - In the meeting on climate change and modern slavery, the Pope warns against   
   the idolatry of technocracy   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
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    In the meeting on climate change and modern slavery, the Pope warns against   
   the   
   idolatry of technocracy   
    Vatican City, 22 July 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon Pope Francis greeted   
   the   
   participants in the meeting "Modern slavery and climate change: the commitment   
   of cities" and in the Symposium "Prosperity, people and planet: achieving   
   sustainable development in our cities ", held in the Vatican's Casina Pio IV by   
   the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, whose chancellor is Bishop Marcelo Sanchez   
   Sorondo. The events were attended by the mayors of major cities, local   
   administrators and various representatives of the United Nations.   
    The Holy Father gave an impromptu address in which he reiterated that care for   
   the environment meant, above all, adopting an attitude of human ecology and   
   that   
   "Laudato si'" was not simply a "green" but also a social document. He also   
   considered the theme of the unfettered growth of cities due to the lack of work   
   for rural populations, and invited the mayors to collaborate with international   
   bodies in order to face the issues of exploitation and human trafficking caused   
   by migratory phenomena.   
    "I offer you my sincere and heartfelt thanks for what you have done", said the   
   Pope to the participants in the symposium. "It is true that everything revolves   
   around ... this culture of care for the environment. But this 'green' culture -   
   and I say that in a positive sense - is much more than that. Caring for the   
   environment means an attitude of human ecology. In other words, we cannot say:   
   the person and Creation, the environment, are two separate entities. Ecology is   
   total, it is human. This is what I wanted to express in the Encyclical 'Laudato   
   si'': that you cannot separate humanity from the rest; there is a relationship   
   of mutual impact, and also the rebound effect when the environment is abused.   
   Therefore ... I say, 'no, it is not a green encyclical, it is a social   
   encyclical'. Because we cannot separate care for the environment from the   
   social   
   context, the social life of mankind. Furthermore, care for the environment is a   
   social attitude".   
    "It seemed to me to be a very fruitful idea to invite the mayors cities both   
   large and not so large, because one of the things that is most evident when the   
   environment, Creation, is not cared for, is the unfettered growth of cities. It   
   is a worldwide phenomenon ... cities become larger but with growing bands of   
   poverty and misery, where the people suffer the effects of environmental   
   neglect. In this respect, the phenomenon of migration is involved. Why do   
   people   
   come to large cities, to the outskirts of large cities, to the slums, shanty   
   towns and favelas? ... It is simply because the rural world does not offer them   
   opportunities. And one issue mentioned in the Encyclical ... is the idolatry of   
   technocracy. Technocracy leads to the loss of work, it creates unemployment,   
   which leads to migration and the need to seek new horizons. The great number of   
   unemployed is a warning. I do not have the statistics to hand, but in some   
   countries in Europe, youth unemployment - effecting those aged 25 and younger -   
   surpasses 40 per cent and in some cases even 50 per cent. ... What prospects   
   can   
   the future offer to today's unemployed youth? Addiction, boredom, not knowing   
   what to do with life - a life without meaning, which is very tough - or indeed   
   suicide. The statistics on youth suicide are not fully published. Or indeed the   
   search for other horizons, even in guerrilla projects that present an ideal of   
   life".   
    "Health is also at stake", emphasised the Pope. "The increasing incidence of   
   'rare' diseases, which often come from elements used to fertilise the fields,   
   or   
   ... from an excess of technification. One of the most important problems   
   relates   
   to oxygen and water. That is, the desertification of large areas as a result of   
   deforestation. Here beside me is the cardinal archbishop representing the   
   Brazilian Amazon: he can tell us what deforestation means today in the Amazon,   
   one of the world's great lungs. The Congo and the Amazon are the world's great   
   lungs. ... What happens when all these phenomena of excessive technification,   
   of   
   environmental neglect, as well as natural phenomena, affect migration? It leads   
   to unemployment and human trafficking. Illegal work, without contracts, is   
   increasingly common ... and means that people do not earn enough to live. This   
   can   
   give rise to criminal behaviour and other problems typical of large cities as a   
   result of migration due to technification. I refer in particular to human   
   trafficking in the mining sector; slavery in mining remains a major issue.   
   Mining also involves the use of certain elements in the purifying of minerals,   
   such as arsenic and cyanide, causing diseases in the population. In this we   
   have   
   a great responsibility. ... Everything has a rebound effect ... This can   
   include   
   human trafficking for the purposes of slave labour or prostitution".   
    "Finally, I would say that this requires the involvement of the United   
   Nations.   
   I hope that the Paris Summit in November will lead to a basic agreement. I have   
   high hopes, and believe that the United Nations must take a greater interest in   
   this phenomenon, especially human trafficking caused by environmental issues,   
   and the exploitation of people. A couple of months ago I received in audience a   
   delegation of women from the United Nations, who were occupied with the issue   
   of   
   the sexual exploitation of children in countries at war. ... Wars are another   
   element contributing to environmental imbalance".   
    "I wish to end with a reflection that is not mine, but is instead from the   
   theologian and philosopher Romano Guardini", Francis said. "He speaks about two   
   forms of ignorance: the ignorance that God gives us to be transformed into   
   culture, giving us the mandate to care for, nurture and dominate the earth; and   
   the second form of ignorance, when man does not respect this relationship with   
   the earth, and does not look after it. .. When he does not care for Creation,   
   man falls prey to this second type of ignorance and starts to abuse it. ...   
   Atomic   
   energy is good and can be helpful, but up to a certain point - think of   
   Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Disaster and destruction can be caused. It is the   
   second   
   form of ignorance that destroys humanity. A medieval rabbi, from around the   
   time   
   of St. Thomas Aquinas ... explained the problem of the tower of Babel to his   
   faithful in the synagogue, and said that in order to build the tower a good   
   deal   
   of time and work was needed, especially in making the bricks. ... Each brick   
   was   
   worth a lot. ... When a brick fell it was a very serious matter and the culprit   
   who neglected it and let it fall was punished. However, when a worker who was   
   building the tower fell, nothing happened. This is the problem of the second   
   form of ignorance, of the man as the creator of ignorance and not of culture.   
   Man as the creator of ignorance because he does not care for the environment".   
    "And so, why did the Pontifical Academy of Sciences convoke mayors and city   
   governors? Because are aware of how to carry out this important and profound   
   work, from the centre to the periphery, and from the periphery to the centre.   
   They are aware of the reality of humanity. The Holy See may make a good speech   
   before the United Nations, but if the work does not come from the periphery to   
   the centre, it will have no effect; hence the responsibility of mayors and city   
   governors. I therefore thank you for bringing clarification of the condition of   
   many peripheries gravely affected by these problems, which you have to govern   
   and resolve. I thank you and I ask the Lord to grant us the grace of being   
   aware   
   of the problem of the destruction that we ourselves have wrought by failing to   
   care for human ecology, ... so we might transform ignorance into culture, and   
   not   
   the contrary".   
      
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    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 22 July 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Fr. Joseph   
   Kodakallil as eparchial bishop of Satna of the Syro-Malabars (area 45,188,   
   population 10,459,000, Catholics 220,000, priests 142, religious 276), India.   
   The bishop-elect was born in Upputhode, India in 19656 and ordained a priest in   
   1991. He holds a doctorate in liturgy form the Pontifical Oriental Institute,   
   and has served as parish priest, rector of the St Thomas Minor Seminary, Satna,   
   professor and vice-rector at St. Ephrem's Theological College, Satna, and   
   protosyncellus of the eparchy. He is currently parish priest of St. Vincent's   
   Cathedral.   
      
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)