Pope Leo XIV welcomes the Hera Group during their recent meeting. (Photo from the Vatican News)
Recognizing the value of recycling in this modern day when most people have the tendency of throwing away what they believe are useless or have no value, Pope Leo XIV is urging Christians to live a life of caring as Jesus has taught us in scripture.
The 17-year-old leader of the Catholic Church met with the Italian multiutility group Hera that manages environmental services in the Vatican and to them the pontiff reiterated the importance of creating a “culture of care” to counter the “throwaway” trend that permeates (the) world and its resources.
The Hera Group is an Italian multiutility company that focuses on waste disposal and the distribution of gas, water and energy. Sustainability, a circular economy and protecting the environment are major parts of its mission.
Since December last year, Hera also managed the environmental services in the Vatican, after signing an agreement with the Governorate. It handles the collection, transportation, recovery and disposal of waste using environmentally friendly vehicles, such as an electric vehicle that as of April 2026 is used for waste collection in Saint Peter’s Square.
Leo told the group that “the ecological challenge of our time is indeed more urgent than ever” as he cited the prevalence of destruction and violence that goes against God’s commandment of love andthe protection of His creations.
“Rather than treating every used object as mere waste, we need to change our behavior and commit ourselves to taking a different path. Essentially, this means moving beyond the consumerist model and toward a production system capable of preserving the limited resources of our planet,” he pointed out.
To this advocacy, the Hera Group had launched initiatives during the 2025 Jubilee for plastic recycling, in accordance with the guidelines of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’.
“Throwaway culture can be countered by a culture of care,” Leo reiterated with pleasure in his welcome address to Hera as it gave him “the opportunity to once again emphasize the importance of our responsibility to protect creation.”
The Holy Father thanked them for their work in the field of recycling, “including in the Vatican” and noted that it “bears witness to the fact that the throwaway culture can be successfully countered by a culture of care.”
“This culture is not limited simply to objects and products, but extends from these to human work, and from work to people. Indeed, it is we who inhabit the world and who, through our decisions and our actions, experience it as a gift from God,” he share emphatically.
Christians, he stressed, cannot (simply) resign (. . .) to a culture of waste.
“Today we are, on the one hand, witnessing the uncontrolled consumption of resources; on the other, the management and disposal of enormous quantities of waste are becoming increasingly problematic,” he pointed out.
To counter this, Leo called for changing how (people) act in order to create a system capable of preserving the resources of our planet and insisted that “mindful of God’s commandment, as Christians (people) cannot resign (. . .) to accepting a culture of waste.”
In ending, the Pope enjoined everyone to reject wastage as a normal part of daily life: “Rather, we are called to make wise use of creation.”
“As Pope Francis taught, the model of recycling and circular production represents a good way to ensure a sustainable environment for future generations,” he concluded while calling the Church to “set an example of consistency” and “be the first to put into practice what she herself proclaims.”
