Pope Francis will call for a “drastic reduction” in carbon emissions and lash out against “economic powers” that are opposing efforts to combat climate change, according to an early draft of his forthcoming encyclical on the environment.
The Vatican was due to publish the document — which counts as the highest form of papal teaching in the Catholic Church — on Thursday, but Italian magazine L’Espresso released a 192-page version on Monday.
Although Vatican officials warned that the text was not final, it nonetheless offered a clear and detailed picture of the 78-year-old Argentine pontiff’s message on the environment, which could emerge as the most enduring legacy of his tenure at the helm of the 1.2bn-strong Catholic Church.