Pope Leo interrupts vacation to appeal for action on climate change

By Joshua McElwee

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (Reuters) -Pope Leo interrupted a two-week vacation on Wednesday to celebrate a special Mass exhorting Catholics to exercise care for creation, in the Vatican's second major appeal in a week for the world to address global climate change.  

"Today … we live in a world that is burning, both because of global warming and armed conflicts," the pontiff said in a small outdoor ceremony in Castel Gandolfo, an Italian hill town about an hour's drive from Rome where he is spending his holiday.

"We have to pray for the conversion of many people … who still do not see the urgency of caring for our common home," said the pontiff.

Leo, who was elected on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis, did not mention specific natural disasters caused by global warming but said the world was experiencing an "ecological crisis".

The new pope said the 1.4-billion-member Church was committed to speaking about the issue, "even when it requires the courage to oppose the destructive power of the princes of this world".

The Mass included a prayer for victims of the flash flooding in Texas, where at least 109 deaths had been reported as of Tuesday.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, celebrated Wednesday's Mass according to a new Catholic rite that exhorts people to care for creation, first published by the Vatican on July 3 in its latest push to address climate issues. 

Cardinal Michael Czerny, a senior Vatican official who helped to organise the Mass, told Reuters that Leo's decision to interrupt his vacation was a sign of the importance the new pope will place on environmental matters.

"By offering this Mass … at the beginning of his holiday, Pope Leo is giving a beautiful example of thanking for God's great gift and praying that the human family learns to care for our common home," said Czerny.

GARDEN MASS

Francis, who died on April 21, was also a firm proponent of care for creation. He was the first pope to embrace the scientific consensus about climate change and urged nations to reduce their carbon emissions in line with the 2015 Paris climate accord.

Leo is reviving a centuries-old tradition of popes taking holidays in Castel Gandolfo with a July 6-20 vacation in the sleepy hill town of about 8,900 residents on the shores of Lake Albano.

Residents told Reuters earlier this month they hope Leo's visit will help boost tourism, with visitors coming to take part in public religious celebrations with the pope on July 13 and 20.

Wednesday's Mass was held in the 55-hectare gardens of the papal villa, which Francis opened to visitors and turned into an ecological institute. 

The ceremony included several senior cardinals and about 50 staff members of the villa, gathered in front of a statue of Mary among tightly trimmed hedges in the garden.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Sharon Singleton)