Pope Francis: media ecology is needed, we can't look the other way

By Vatican News

Nowadays, a real 'media ecology' is "increasingly necessary and urgent”. The destruction of biodiversity, the frightening increase in climate disasters and the impact of the epidemic that falls mainly on the poorest and weakest, are danger signs that must be analysed and deepened. “We can no longer look the other way”, says Pope Francis in a message to the new newspaper "Green and Blue", an editorial initiative of the Gedi group.

This new newspaper is full of information, surveys, interviews, analysis and insights in the field of environmental protection and its economic and industrial applications. In his message, Pope Francis wrote, "I encourage information professionals to explain and highlight the links between human destiny and the natural environment". Journalists, in fact, "can contribute to empowering citizens, leaders of nations, those who lead social activities, entrepreneurs and the protagonists of the economy and finance, with a view to the urgent and decisive ecological conversion for survival", the Pope said.

Pope Francis expresses his desire for "quality journalism” which is “always respectful of the dignity of people, starting with those who suffer the most", and which encourages "new ways of understanding the economy and progress, fighting every marginalisation, proposing models of coexistence based on altruism and reconnection with the natural habitat", towards "a renewed model of human, economic, social and political development". Fair and sustainable lifestyles, environmental protection, sufficient food and water for all, says Pope Francis, are "the basis on which to build a healthy, prosperous and supportive future for the whole of humanity".

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Pope stresses that "the virus does not stop in the face of barriers, frontiers or cultural and political differences"; it "crumbles so many of our certainties and expectations, and highlights and accentuates the serious pre-existing problems". However, we must not give up because "we have a great opportunity to emerge better" from the current crisis, "seeking the true common good along the path of solidarity. On the contrary, Pope Francis warns that "if we continue to pursue solutions with the imprint of selfishness and lust for power everything will get worse". "Only together”, he concludes “can we truly rise from the planetary drama".

Green & Blue is available online as of Saturday, and will appear on newsstands beginning on Sunday. A monthly magazine will also be produced.