Save the planet before it's too late, Pope urges
Leading the Catholic Church's first 'eco-friendly' youth rally Pope Benedict called on the 'new generation' to 'protect nature's delicate equilibriums'.
Wearing green vestments and speaking to half a million young people on a hillside near the Adriatic city of Loreto he said that world leaders must make courageous decisions to save the planet "before it is too late."
"A decisive 'yes' is needed in decisions to safeguard creation as well as a strong commitment to reverse tendencies that risk leading to irreversible situations of degradation," the 80-year-old Pope said.
"New generations will be entrusted with the future of the planet, which bears clear signs of a type of development that has not always protected nature's delicate equilibriums," the Pope said, speaking from a white stage.