"Protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us […] means respecting each of God's creatures and respecting the environment in which we live… all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God's gifts!" These are the words Pope Francis pronounced in St. Peter's Square on 19 March 2013, the day of the Inaugural Mass of his pontificate. A year later, on 24 March 2014, the Pontifical Council for the Family, inspired by a similar exhortation, promoted the day of study "Famiglia, custodisci il creato!" The interventions have been gathered in the book with the same title, edited by the PCF (in the series Famiglia e Vita) and published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
This 122-page book, available in bookshops for € 11, offers perspectives and contributions of the highest level. It begins with an introductory article by the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia ("Famiglia, custodisci il creato!") and ends with the closing speech of Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops. Among the many contributions in the volume, the following are particularly noteworthy: Jeffrey Sachs, "Etica economica. Ambiente e sviluppo umano;" Luigino Bruni, "La vulnerabilità della famiglia di fronte al consumismo;" Gary Gardner, "Il cambiamento che viene dal basso. Il contributo della famiglia;" Leonardo Becchetti, "Per un’economia responsabile a misura d’uomo;" and Father Guido Innocenzo Gargano, "Sobrietà e rinuncia per una vita più ricca e in armonia con il creato."
"The Creator himself–recalls Archbishop Paglia in his text–has given us the great responsibility of being attentive and intelligent guardians. When the Holy Scriptures say that man was created "in His image and likeness," this means that the Creator has called us to collaborate in this project. Now, in this perspective, man has the responsibility of protecting creation... Today, unfortunately, we must note that modern man has betrayed the mission God that entrusted to us."
