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Pope leads eco-friendly festival Pope leads eco-friendly festival
(about 7 hours later)
Pope Benedict has joined a quarter of a million young Roman Catholics in Italy, at the shrine of Loreto, for an ecologically friendly youth festival. The Catholic Church has declared Sunday "Save Creation Day" as Pope Benedict joins about 300,000 young Roman Catholics for an eco-friendly festival.
The gathering is a run-up to next summer's Catholic World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney, Australia, which the Pope plans to attend. The youth festival is being held at the shrine of Loreto, in Italy.
The accent is on teaching young people to protect the environment. In his main homily the Pope is expected to concentrate on the Vatican's new emphasis on eco-friendly teaching.
The Pope has deplored the forest fires which have swept southern Europe, many of them due to negligence and arson. The gathering, which began on Saturday, is a run-up to Catholic World Youth Day celebrations in Sydney, Australia, next year, which the Pope plans to attend.
Sunday has been declared by the Catholic Church "Save Creation Day", and in his main homily the Pope is expected to concentrate on the Vatican's new emphasis on eco-friendly teaching. Eco-bag
Each participant in the Loreto festival is getting a free knapsack made out of recycled plastic and containing a hand-cranked battery charger, plates and cutlery made from bio-degradable plastic and bags for tying up their rubbish when they leave. On Saturday, the Pope told the crowds to have faith that they can succeed in marriage and decried what he called a "failure of love" and the decline of family values.
The Pope is also practising what he preaches. "How many families end up in pieces? How many young people, even among you, have seen their parents separate and divorce?" he said.
But the BBC's David Willey in Rome says the emphasis is on teaching young people to protect the environment.
Each participant in the Loreto festival is receiving a free knapsack made out of recycled plastic.
It contains a hand-cranked battery charger, plates and cutlery made from bio-degradable plastic and bags for tying up their rubbish when they leave.
The Pope is also practising what he preaches, our correspondent adds.
He is installing solar panels on the roof of the main audience hall at the Vatican and is paying for a forestry project to offset the Vatican's carbon emissions.He is installing solar panels on the roof of the main audience hall at the Vatican and is paying for a forestry project to offset the Vatican's carbon emissions.