“TerraFutura”: a new book explores Pope Francis’ vision of integral ecology

By Vatican News

The working translation of the title of the Italian book on the shelves from 9 September is “TerraFutura. Conversations with Pope Francis on integral ecology”.

The author, Carlo Petrini, is the founder of the global “Slow Food” movement, which was established in the 1980s to safeguard regional traditions in the face of a spiralling “fast food” consumeristic cultural and economic trend. It has since evolved to embrace a comprehensive approach to food and lifestyle that recognizes the strong connection between behaviour, food production and consumption, economics and the planet.

This latest book by Petrini stems from his desire to uphold and encourage Pope Francis’ invitation to tackle and change a destructive pattern that has led to widespread social and environmental injustice and take action to “Care for our Common Home”, as the Pope writes in his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Sí”.

Based on the concept of “integral ecology”, the book is based on three “frank and friendly” personal conversations between Petrini and the Pope, who discuss their shared commitment to “cultivate and preserve” the goods of the planet, with respect and attention for the lives and livelihoods of all of its inhabitants, in an atmosphere of mutual solidarity.

The three conversations in question all took place in poignant and significant moments of modern history: the first in 2018 in the wake of a disastrous earthquake in central Italy; the second in 2019 just before the opening of the Synod of Bishops on the Amazon; and the third in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The volume is organized according to five different themes: biodiversity, economy, migration, education and community, all seen through a concrete and a spiritual perspective. It is an urgent invitation to “reconnect” with the planet and its peoples in line with the Pope’s teaching.