Vatican bids to become solar-powered

The Pope ordered the move at the 424-hectare site, which houses the transmission facilities for Vatican Radio, via a motu proprio with an Apostolic Letter, Fratello Sole. (Pexels photo)

ROME – The Vatican is set to become solar-powered as Pope Francis has ordered the construction of an agrivoltaic plant at its extraterritorial site at Santa Maria di Galeria on the edge of Rome to meet the city state’s energy needs.

The Pope ordered the move at the 424-hectare site, which houses the transmission facilities for Vatican Radio, via a motu proprio with an Apostolic Letter, Fratello Sole.

The letter highlights the need “to make a transition to a sustainable development model that reduces greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, setting the goal of climate neutrality.”

“Mankind has the technological means to deal with this environmental transformation and its pernicious ethical, social, economic and political consequences, and among these, solar energy plays a key role,” it said.

The Pope has repeatedly stressed the need for humanity to tackle the climate crisis to protect creation, including via his 2015 encyclical Laudato sí. (ANSA)