(IN WOLOF AND FRENCH) Hello, everyone.

My name is Bilal Seck.

My home town has been affected by rising sea levels.

Houses have been destroyed.

Now, there's not enough work.

When I decided to make the sea crossing with my best friend, we decided to travel secretly.

I went to see a guy who told me about boat crossings.

I was full of confidence when I boarded the boat.

I hoped and believed we would succeed.

BOAT ENGINE WHIRRING THUNDER CRASHING Eventually, the boat sank.

We never saw it again.

(IN ITALIAN) We see what is happening, and the worst thing is that we are becoming used to it.

"Oh, yes, today another boat capsized.

"So many lives were lost."

This "becoming used to" is a terrible illness.

NEWSCASTER 1 (IN ENGLISH): Experts predict millions of people will be displaced by climate change in the next half century.

NEWSCASTER 2 (IN ENGLISH): The UN spokesperson for migration confirming at least 74 people have lost their lives when a ship capsized in the deadliest sea crossing in the world.

SPEAKER: All of these environment-related problems are increasing levels of migration in regions all around the world.

NEWSCASTER 2: This is a defining challenge for our generation.

CLIMATE ACTIVIST: Already being displaced by the rising sea levels.

MAN YELLING POPE FRANCIS (IN ITALIAN): As announced, an encyclical letter will be published.

This encyclical is addressed to everyone.

NEWSCASTER 3: While the Vatican releases the Popes wildly anticipated encyclical on the environment.

NEWSCASTER 4: Late today, the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics arrives for a five-day visit.

NEWSCASTER 3: Never before has a Papal teaching letter been so widely praised and criticised.

NEWSCASTER 5: There are thousands of police officers on duty for Francis' first full day right here in the Big Apple."

NEWSCASTER 3: The Pope agrees that global warming is real and that humans are to blame.

NEWSCASTER 3: There are still skeptics out there that say, that you know, the Pope is not qualified or the Pope is not the authority.

SPEAKER 2: So he's building off of a scientific literature.

He's not attempting to be a scientist.

SPEAKER 3: It's actually a reflection on the planet.

It's a moral document.

NEWSCASTER 6: It seems to me that the Pope is preaching politics from the pulpit, and that's something I'm not too keen on... NEWSCASTER 7: The Pope is not pronouncing authoritatively on climate change.

SPEAKER 4: I think the Pope is terribly misinformed.

He is doing a terrible disservice to the entire Catholic theology.

SPEAKER 5: It's a most remarkable document.

SPEAKER 4: He is way out of line.

WOMAN: Unfortunately I have to cut you off.

SPEAKER 4: It is an essential document for our time.

FOOTSTEPS LORNA: "Laudato Si" is a letter that Pope Francis has written to you.

And that usually gets people.

They're going "Hm, Pope Francis didn't write me a letter."

I say, "Oh, yes, he did.

He wrote you a letter.

He wrote every person on the planet a letter to share his concerns about the state of the world.

It's that simple really.

It's a letter from the Pope.

We're going to be bringing together four of the different voices that Pope Francis has called specifically for in "Laudato Si".

FATHER JOSHSTROM: So we'd like to invite in the name of Pope Francis a few representatives.

LORNA: The voice of the poor, those at the peripheries, the voice of the Indigenous peoples, the voice of the youth, and also the voice of nature, of wildlife.

FATHER JOSHSTROM: Our idea is to invite all these people, bring them to the Vatican, and then have a dialogue together.

UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYS ♪ I'm gonna sit right down and write myself a letter ♪ ♪ And make believe it came from you ♪ ♪ I'm gonna write words So, so sweet ♪ ♪ They're gonna knock me off my feet ♪ ♪ A lot of kisses on the bottom ♪ ♪ I'll be glad I've got 'em ♪ ♪ I'm gonna smile and say ♪ "I hope you're feeling better" ♪ ♪ I'll close "with love" the way you do ♪ ♪ I'm gonna sit right down ♪ ♪ And write myself a letter ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna make believe it came from you ♪ MUSIC CONTINUES ♪ I'm gonna write words Oh, so sweet ♪ ♪ They're gonna knock me Off of my feet ♪ ♪ A lot of kisses On the bottom ♪ ♪ I'll be glad I got em ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ ♪ I'm gonna sit right down And write myself a letter ♪ ♪ And I'm gonna make believe it came ♪ ♪ From you, oh, yeah ♪ ♪ Gonna make believe it came ♪ ♪ From you ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ LAUGHTER (IN PULAAR) He's going to Rome!

You're hurting me!

(IN HINDI) Sis, you've got a letter.

[indistinct] INDISTINCT LOW-VOICE READING ROBIN (IN ENGLISH): Wow.

(IN FRENCH) Congratulations!

(IN FRENCH) "Dear Arouna..." (IN PORTUGUESE) "Dear Chief Dadá..." (IN ENGLISH) "Dear Ridhima Pandey..." "Dear Robin Martin and Greg Asner, on behalf of all members "of the Dicastery For Promoting Integral Human Development..." "...we salute you."

(IN PORTUGUESE) "And we thank you "for all that you've been doing until now."

"In his own letter, "Laudato Si", "Pope Francis calls for a new dialogue "about how we are shaping the future of our planet."

"If you are willing, we can include your response "as representative of the voice of the wildlife."

(IN ENGLISH) "...of the voices of the youth.

"You are invited to give your response in person."

-In person?

-(IN HINDI) Yes.

(IN ENGLISH) I think we're going to Rome.

"We are very much looking forward "to working together for a better future."

(IN HINDI) Who is Pope?

LAUGHTER No entendía nada.

Qué cosa extraña esto.

¿Qué tiene que ver la ecología con la evangelización?

WAVES CRASHING Me decía un obispo que iba de una isla a otra, a visitar a sus comunidades.

y se encontró con un árbol que nacía del mar, y se extrañó y le comentó al que llevaba la barca "Vaya, qué extraño esto.

"Allí había una isla y ya no está más".

El cambio climático.

En cierto momento sentí que tenía que decir unas palabra desde acá.

Me reuní con algunos científicos y les pedí que delinearan bien los problemas claros.

Después me reuní con un grupo de á*á*á* y les dije: "¿Qué podemos decir sobre esto?

Esto es grave".

Y así nació Laudato Si'.

El clamor de la Tierra y el clam de los pobres no dan para más.

NEWSCASTER 10 (IN ENGLISH): Burning coal, oil, and gas produces almost 90% of all human produced CO2 emissions and is the main cause of climate change.

CLIMATE ACTIVIST 2: Africa is responsible for just 3% of global emissions, and yet, Africans are suffering some of the most brutal impacts fuelled by the climate crisis.

NEWSCASTER 11: Senegal is extremely vulnerable because of drought in the Sahel region.

(IN PULAAR AND FRENCH) My name is Arouna Kandé.

I am a climate refugee.

I was born in Dinsakou Yero Dinsakou.

SHEEP BLEATING I was working on the farm.

The fields dried up.

All the farmers suffered.

The destruction of nature forces us to leave our homes and go to the big cities, like Saint-Louis or Dakar.

My uncle was a Quranic teacher.

He picked me up to take me to Saint-Louis.

I left when I was six.

I was wondering if I would ever see my family again.

I went to a Quranic school in Saint-Louis.

To survive, I needed to beg.

I grew up in these conditions until I was twelve years old.

I was here when I found out my parents had passed away.

NATIVE MUSIC PLAYS AROUNA: Issa is my tutor.

He's the founder of the NGO Maison de la Gare.

Maison de la Gare is a non-profit organisation that helps struggling Quranic students integrate into society.

Going to university is one of my biggest dreams.

When I return back to my village, I'll be among the leaders.

MAN YELLING AROUNA: Now in Saint-Louis, the sea is advancing closer and closer towards the neighbourhoods.

Today the sea has invaded all the houses in the area.

Now some almost live in the sea.

The sea took their homes.

The people had nowhere else to live after their houses were destroyed.

The government moved them from Guet NDar where they lived and built them a temporary site.

This is the reason why people are taking boats to emigrate to Europe.

Climate change is making our country poor.

Why Barça and Barsak?

What is the meaning behind this design?

Many young people on the boats use the saying, "Barça wala Barsak."

Barça is Barcelona because many ships dock there.

Barsak is death.

-Death?

-Yes.

I think young people should stay in Africa.

What will they do in Europe?

They don't speak the language.

They will do nothing.

It's better to stay here.

This is the message of this boat.

Barça or Death.

I'll take my friends to see it.

-It's interesting.

Thank you.

-It's so beautiful.

AROUNA (IN PULAAR AND FRENCH): When I get to Rome, I will give a message to the Pope.

GROUP SINGING AROUNA: Together we must protect the environment.

Most religions speak on this subject.

Islam recommends protecting the environment, and not to destroy it.

I want to stay in Senegal, and I encourage my entire community not to migrate.

FLAMINGOS HONKING BIRDS CALLING (IN PORTUGUESE) I'm Chief Dadá from the Maró Indigenous Land.

My territory is an area of 42,372 hectares.

My heart is warmed, I feel It's a positive energy coming out of this letter.

We can build this friendship, and maybe together we can fight for the protection of the Maró Indigenous Land.

People believe there's a god called Tupã, the Almighty in the heavens.

HARPY EAGLE CALLING He's taking care of everybody.

Not just the Indigenous, the Pope, black and white people, everyone.

The forest means a lot to me.

For me, the forest is like my home.

A beautiful house, a big house.

In 2002, our peace and quiet ended.

Logging companies started coming to subdivide, occupy land, and manage the territory, and if we didn't organise ourselves to defend our land, we would lose it all.

NEWSCASTER 12 (IN ENGLISH): Four land and environmental defenders are being murdered every week.

Last year was the bloodiest year on record, with 212 people killed for standing up for their land, for standing to protect our environment, "and for standing up for their rights."

(IN PORTUGUESE) So, this happens a lot over here.

And being very honest, everywhere I go, I'm afraid.

Today I came back here to this place which I usually pass by but I never stop, because it brings up very bad memories.

A car suddenly appeared, and two individuals put their guns to my head.

They tied me up to a tree trunk.

Then he kicked me on this side of my ribs, and after that, on this side.

Then I blacked out.

If it wasn't for Tupã, for the forest's spirit, I wouldn't be here, strong.

A part of Brazilian society wants to turn the Amazon into a large financial market.

They only see it as part of the capitalist system that can only develop if its minerals are being extracted and if its wood is being harvested.

They are not worried about planting and preserving it.

But my biggest fear is to lose the forest, to the incoming big agribusiness.

Soy and rice automated farming... ..that's the end for us.

¿Cuántos defensores del ambiente terminaron asesinados?

¿Cuántos?

O terminaron silenciados.

En la historia estudiamos cómo la civilización nos liberó de la esclavitud.

Es una mentira más grande que esta casa.

Y el "progreso" que hoy estamos siguiendo la supremacía de lo económico, nos hace cada vez más esclavos.

Y ahora no solo a nosotros, sino a la casa común, la natural INSECTS CHIRPING FIRE CRACKLING CHANTING CHANTING CONTINUES NEWSCASTER 13 (IN ENGLISH): Ridhima vows to keep the fight on.

(IN HINDI) The main responsibility lies with the government.

PRESENTER (IN ENGLISH): The next person on the stage there, a wonderful young girl.

Ridhima Pandey, come on!

She deserves a very big round of applause.

The youngest speaker that we have with us.

APPLAUSE I never expected to receive a letter from the Pope.

It's, like, never in my life...

I never even, you know, thought that it could be a thing.

It makes me feel like a little special kind of a person.

NEWSCASTER 14: Ridhima Pandey is one among the 16 children who filed a complaint to protest against the lack of government action to tackle the climate crisis.

I'm here because I want all the global leaders to do something to stop climate change, because if it's not going to be stopped, It's going to harm our future.

So if we want to stop global warming, we have to do something now.

I won't let this fight die down, trust me.

Creo que la fuerza más grande la tienen los movimientos populares y los jóvenes Desde ahí tiene que venir lo nue La organización de los jóvenes.

(IN ENGLISH) And now release it... Every single time when I talk to the kids from any part of the world, the one thing that I find common amongst all our stories is that climate change has impacted and is still impacting our lives in one way or the other.

VIDEO CALL RINGING -Hi.

-Hi.

So we just found out that the out of control bushfire is going to come up and reach the ridge that we live on.

The winds just changed.

It was really sudden.

RIDHIMA: Oh, my God.

LUCA: We're just hoping and praying that the wind doesn't pick up so that it doesn't completely destroy our house.

We're going to go, and we have to go get our dogs and chickens from the house and just start preparing.

LUCAS FATHER: It's super smoky.

There's ash falling out of the sky.

All right, let's roll.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ NEWSCASTER 15 (IN ENGLISH): Heavy rains have triggered deadly floods and landslides.

Several people have been killed so far.

RIDHIMA: In 2013, the Kedarnath flash flood happened.

You know, after seeing those things, I started having those nightmares.

When it comes to climate change, my generation is the most vulnerable right now and we are going to be the most affected in the future as well.

RIVULET PURLING La verdadera revolución es constructiva siempre Y cuando uno ya está instalado en la vida, le cuesta imaginar.

Los jóvenes de ahora son los que pueden gritar.

Jóvenes desinstalados.

RIDHIMA (IN ENGLISH): Dear Mother Earth, I am raising my voice against the polluters, the policy makers, and the governments who are responsible for this destruction.

We the youth must bring a positive change to heal you, to save you, and to save your beauty, as well as our future.

THUNDER CRASHING RADIO HOST: Thanks for tuning into the Wavin at 92 FM, Hawaii's number one hit music station.

We've got a special treat for you, husband and wife team who are leading the way in coral protection, Dr. Greg Asner and Dr. Robin Martin.

Guys, how are you doing today?

Thanks for being here.

GREG: Thanks for having us.

ROBIN: Thank you for having us.

GREG: On a global scale, corals are in trouble.

We've had two major marine heat waves.

That's these heat waves in the ocean.

We weren't ready, we didn't have a lot of data, and we mobilised.

RADIO CHATTER So we do a very high-tech style of environmental mapping.

We take off and we're flying over a coral reef, and the computers and the instrumentation on-board the plane are collecting up these images as we fly over.

These instruments are like fancy cameras that are pointing out of the bottom of the plane.

This shows our progression as we fly across the reef.

And each one of these passes is more than a diving team could do in a year.

But really what our mapping is that makes it so unique is our ability to see the biodiversity, see the actual organisms that are making up the ecosystem.

And we've created technology on board my aircraft that allows us to probe these ecosystems and that helps us to create information about the sea floor, including the corals.

That information in the instrumentation on the plane has to be interpreted in some way.

And so Robin comes into the picture by going into the ocean and relating what we see in the plane with the corals on the seafloor itself.

So, Gregs team right now is heading over us, coming up over the boat right now.

GREG: So this is showing our real time display as we're flying over Robin.

ROBIN: My office is one of the coolest places on Earth.

Coral reefs are like the rainforest of the sea.

They provide habitat, they provide food, they provide shoreline protection.

They're a living, growing organism that grows out of the bottom of the ocean.

GREG: As ecologists, we look at nature as species, organisms that are interacting, and that one doesn't exist well without the other.

Problems like climate change disrupt these interactions between species.

These marine heat waves are causing an unknown amount of death among corals.

And these dark bands show the live coral.

The oranges are still live coral but less of it.

And the yellow is very little live coral cover, but it gives you a history of what we lost in the shallower parts of the reef.

We did learn in 2015 that we lost at least 25% of our corals statewide.

By July 2019, we started seeing this heat wave arriving again.

ROBIN: Unlike forest fires, where we know we put water on it to put it out, we have no idea what to do about these heat waves in terms of putting them out.

La teología que hay en Laudato Si' está en diálogo con la ciencia.

Hoy nunca se puede hacer teologí sin diálogo con la ciencia.

Aun, Dios nos dio nuestra capaci de la investigación, la capacidad intelectual de buscar las verdades.

Obviamente que la narración bíbl de la creación es una forma mítica de expresar lo que ha sucedido.

ROBIN (IN ENGLISH): Although I don't practice religion, the experiences that one has underwater in this world, if you take the time to just be quiet and listen and look, make you always wonder who's in charge and how everything got here.

GREG: If you live below the waterline, you have no voice.

And so It's up to us to bring some of that voice above the surface.

It's not easy to do.

ALL: ♪ O mi signore "Laudato Si" ♪ ♪ O mi signore "Laudato Si" ♪ LORNA: If you just look at the science, and having been an environmental activist for so many years, like, you look at the science and you can despair.

But we also need the stories, we need the narratives that faith brings, the motivation in order to take action.

Every major faith has taken up the challenge of addressing the environmental crisis, and they do so through their stories and their narratives.

And one of the things that the faiths have always known is you've got to be dealing with the spectrum of human issues, not just with one single issue.

The first big meeting of the faiths with the major environmental groups was in 1986 in Assisi in Italy, the birthplace of St. Francis.

We had all the major conservation and environmental groups there, and we had representatives of the five major religions.

"Laudato Si" and the theology that underpins "Laudato Si" is about calling us into a deeper communion with the natural world.

And the way that Pope Francis starts this encyclical, well, he calls it "Laudato Si".

"Praise Be," from the "Canticle of Creation."

But then the whole first chapter practically is dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi.

St. Francis, as a mystic, had that intuition of the created world.

And that's something, at its very deepest, I think that's where "Laudato Si" offers something so unique.

There has never been an invitation from the Pope to the rest of the religious world and the secular world to become partners side by side in addressing a major issue.

That is unique.

That's the turning point.

TV PRESENTER SPEAKING ITALIAN LORNA: Pope Francis calls in "Laudato Si" for an urgent dialogue with those who are suffering from the effects of climate injustice, those who are not listened to.

Queridos poetas sociales.

Ustedes son poetas sociales porque tienen la capacidad y el coraje de tener esperanza allí donde solo parece descarte y exclucion.

Gracias por hacerme parte del pr histórico que están transitando.

Un diálogo que nace en las periferia un diálogo que llega a Roma y en que todos podemos sentirnos invitados e interpelados.

Son parte fundamental de esa humanidad que lucha por la vida frente a un sistema de muerte.

GREG (IN ENGLISH): Robin and I are ready.

We want to go and do this because it is so important, so much is at stake.

AROUNA (IN FRENCH): I grew up in a society that ignores people like me, so I could never have imagined having this opportunity of receiving an invitation from the Pope.

There are some intellectual and high-ranked people who've never had the chance!

ISSA (IN WOLOF): Just look at this country.

These guys have done such good work.

Look at this.

It lasts for centuries.

The train passes by here in the middle of the road.

AROUNA: And what do the drivers do?

ISSA: Everybody stops when it comes.

AROUNA: If you build this in Senegal, you would kill all the population in just one day!

CHIEF DADÁ, (IN PORTUGUESE): Our arrival is not a visit.

It is a lesson, a job.

It has meaning.

There are a lot of things that will change.

The world will change, because what was hidden is now being discovered.

BIRDS CHIRPING ISSA (IN WOLOF): Somehow this feels like a street in Senegal.

You are selling nice products.

Thank you, and blessings upon you.

Thanks, and blessings back to you.

-How did you get here?

-We took the boats.

This man and I crossed through Libya.

-Barça or death.

-Barça or death.

LAUGHING LORNA (IN ENGLISH): So, first thing to say is a huge welcome to all of you.

I have been a campaigner on environmental issues, social justice, I think since I was your age, around that time.

Our coming together today is partly in response to this.

This little book, "Laudato Si".

Pope Francis wrote this for every person on the planet.

And I know that each of you received a letter of invitation.

So, Pope Francis meets with people from the peripheries all the time.

It's kind of like his bread and butter.

But what we're trying to do here is to bring together the different peripheries into dialogue, and that's quite unique.

We're going to do a rehearsal now, okay?

Now, if we all stand up.

So then, if Pope Francis wants to come in here... Who's the Pope?

(IN ITALIAN) Good morning, Your Holiness.

(IN ITALIAN) Good morning, Holy Father.

I'm Lorna from Ireland, of the "Laudato Si" Movement.

-(IN ENGLISH) The Green.

- The Green Island.

(IN PORTUGUESE) Good morning, I'm Chief Odair.

-Maró Indigenous Land, Amazon.

-Amazon.

Good morning.

(IN ENGLISH) Ridhima, India.

India.

Robin Martin, Hawaii.

Holy Father, Greg Asner from Hawaii.

-Arouna Kandé, Senegal.

-Senegal.

CHIEF DADÁ (IN PORTUGUESE): This is a gift for you.

Here on the side is the artwork.

Here, the letter.

(IN ENGLISH) Holy Father, this is a drawing I have made for you.

This is what I imagine, this is mother earth.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

This image of Earth, taken last week.

But also, this importantly shows where the climate is changing.

(IN FRENCH) This expresses the Mediterranean trip taken by young people to get to Europe.

TRANSLATOR (IN FRENCH): At St. Peters Square, there is a sculpture of a migrant boat, and I would like you to see it.

(IN FRENCH) Of course.

Okay.

(IN ITALIAN) Green technology or not?

LAUGHTER (IN PORTUGUESE) Good morning to Your Holiness.

I'm here representing the voices of all Indigenous people in Brazil.

I speak for our mother earth, who today asks for help in the Amazon and all of Brazil.

Thank you very much.

(IN ENGLISH) Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you today about the global biodiversity crisis and for all the unheard voices of wildlife.

ROBIN: We need your help.

As scientists, we realise that science can't solve the biodiversity crisis or the climate crisis alone.

Science is a tool kit, but we need much more than tools.

(IN FRENCH) Today, because of global warming, people from my country are now being displaced from their homes, and they migrate to big cities.

This displacement has forced us to beg as young boys, to walk barefoot in the streets.

So, my presence here is to find a solution to fight against this injustice, to fight the problems that are ruining our planet.

(IN ENGLISH) Today I am here in front of you to represent the voices of the youth because our future is in danger.

We are not getting the life that we deserved.

The older generation inherited this world in a way like, it was beautiful, it was livable.

It was a world that I wanted.

But they've destroyed it for their profit.

Thank you.

Saben que esas imágenes bíblicas son históricas en un significado mítico, es decir, para ayudarnos también a captar los valores.

Se estaba construyendo la torre se decía que la soberbia humana de aquel momento quería llegar hasta donde... No lo sé.

Y los ladrillos los hacían tantos trabajadores.

Si se caía un ladrillo, era castigado brutalmente el obrero que lo dejó caer.

Si caía un obrero, no pasaba nada.

Suplían con otro y seguían con e Y esta es la clave de la interpr de lo que sucede hoy.

Estamos construyendo una torre de soberbia humana con ladrillos de poder, con ladrillos de economía.

Y para construir eso, trabaja ta como esclavos.

Y si se cae un esclavo, no pasa nada.

Pero hemos dado un paso más.

Si cae la naturaleza, no pasa nada.

Es la soberbia económica, la soberbia del poder de unos pocos que usa todo, usa a la gente, usa a la naturaleza, usa todo y destruye.

EXPLOSION Estamos viendo en este verano incendios.

Estamos viendo cómo los ciclones los terremotos, cómo la naturaleza se empieza a La naturaleza grita: "!¡Deténganse!

"Deténganse".

(IN ITALIAN) Sorry, I'm speaking Spanish.

Can the translators work like this?

I didn't realise.

LAUGHTER I've spoken from the heart.

My heart is in Spanish.

Should I continue in Spanish?

Creo que el grito de libertad en este momento tiene que venir por el lado de las nuevas generaciones.

A las cuales hay que hacerles tomar conciencia porque ustedes van a heredar esta tierra.

Tenemos a los movimientos juveni y los movimientos populares.

El pueblo tiene su sabiduría.

Tú eres cacique de un movimiento ¿no es cierto?

Yes.

Y los científicos apoyando siempre eso, ¿no?

O sea diciendo: "Tienen razón en Tienen razón".

Esto es un coro.

Acá tenemos que cantar todos jun Y la unidad en este momento, es la de salvar la madre Tierra.

Y salvar la biodiversidad, y salvarnos a nosotros mismos y salvar a nuestros hijos.

Pero no descarta a nadie, ante una política del descarte.

Nosotros no descartamos.

Cada uno, en su país, en su pueblo, en su cultura, tiene que buscar la manera de poder hacerlo, todos juntos.

Todos juntos.

♪♪ ♪♪ CHANTING MARTIN (IN ENGLISH): Humanity has lived on this planet and watched it and observed it for thousands of years.

We've learned a lot.

We didn't call it ecology.

We didn't call it conservation.

We just felt that somehow here there was something more wonderful and mysterious and majestical and powerful at work.

So we called it "Sacred."

And I think we need to bring that sacred back.

Tapping into that deep need to feel that there are some places where the veil between Heaven and Earth... ..is gossamer thin.

(IN ITALIAN) "Praised be You, my Lord, "with all Your creatures... "..especially Sir Brother Sun.

"Praised be You, my Lord, "through Sister Moon and the stars.

"Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, "and through the air, cloudy and serene, "and every kind of weather."

I'm a little taken, moved, because it's the first time I see this relic.

St. Francis had a special attraction to rocky places like this one.

In complete solitude, he needed to renew his contact with the very source of his life.

He needed the contact with the absolute, the transcendent.

It is meaningful for everybody, not just believers or Christians.

So we need to have a transcendent reason to care for the creation.

(IN LATIN) We have a Pope... Francis!

NEWSCASTER 16 (IN ENGLISH): Francis!

NEWSCASTER 17: It's the first Francis in the history of the Catholic Church.

It is fair to say, by the reaction in the square of St. Peters, they are stunned.

This is a stunner.

This is a stunner!

CARDINAL CANTALAMESSA: Nobody dared to take the name Francis, because it's a challenge.

It means that you will follow in the steps of St. Francis.

POPE FRANCIS (IN ITALIAN): During the election, I thought of St. Francis of Assisi, and that's how the name came into my heart, Francis of Assisi.

A man of poverty.

A man of peace.

A man who loves and guards creation.

And right now, we don't have such a good relationship with creation, right?

(IN ITALIAN) Praise be, my Lord.

Brother Sun.

CARDINAL CANTALAMESSA: I can say even in my small way that this is what I have experienced in my life as a Franciscan... the joy of possessing nothing, but enjoying everything.

The creation doesn't belong to us.

We have received it.

We are not owners of nature.

San Francisco es un hombre de la escucha.

Escuchó la voz de Dios.

Escuchó la voz del pobre, escuchó la voz del enfermo, escuchó la voz de la naturaleza.

Y deseo que la semilla de Franci crezca en tantos corazones.

(IN ENGLISH) But you really have to go to Assisi to get a sense of the real Francis, this message of St. Francis of love for nature, a concern for social justice for the poor.

And then it says here.

(IN ITALIAN) "Laudato Si, mi signore, "per la sora Luna e le stelle."

(IN ENGLISH) For the Sister Moon and the stars.

And this one here is St. Francis.

-Looking at the stars... -GREG: Yeah, his eyes are open.

LORNA: ..with his eyes wide open!

(IN PORTUGUESE) I was very happy meeting the Pope and hearing all our stories.

(IN ENGLISH) It went by too fast for me, and I just keep replaying it.

Like, oh, I wish I could have done that -or said that, ask this, right?

-Yep.

Got you.

I was feeling my legs shaking!

And I was not able to figure out what happened the whole day.

GREG: That's the essence of it.

It's perfectly imperfect.

Even with the Pope.

It's human.

(IN PORTUGUESE) Our meeting with the Pope is having big repercussions in our state, our municipality.

It's on national television.

Now, to kill me, they will think twice.

They'll know I'm not fighting alone.

Not anymore.

BELLS RINGING RINGING CONTINUES PHONE CHIMES INDISTINCT CHATTER CHATTER CONTINUES (IN WOLOF AND FRENCH) "Hello, everyone.

"My name is Bilal Seck or Billy.

"I'm here to share my story with you.

"When I decided to make the sea crossing "with my best friend, "I was full of confidence when I boarded the boat.

"I hoped and believed we would succeed.

"I was told that when this type of boat "starts to take on water, "it never stops and rapidly sinks.

"We were in the water for more than 24 hours.

"It was on that night "that my best friend and I lost each other.

"He was screaming my name.

"I was splashing the water for him to see, "but it was too dark.

"Then it was me with two boys left.

"They told me, 'Death is all there is now, Billy.'

"I miss him...

He was a friend and may he rest in peace."

INDISTINCT CHATTER "We were falling asleep and started drowning.

"Then all of a sudden, we saw a boat fishing.

"At that moment, I realised that Allah "was showing us His greatness.

"May they get into paradise... "Bass, Petit Diaw, Braya, and Demba.

"We were doing this to earn a better living, "away from suffering.

"It is impossible, but thanks to Allah, "I am here today sharing my story with you."

(IN FRENCH) I was unknown before this journey.

We are already a family.

I no longer look at you as only friends, but as my family members.

So we need to create a strong bond and never break it.

But this experience gives me more confidence to be ready in the future for any fight.

(IN ENGLISH) Can I... just say one thing to Arouna?

He said he was not famous, and, you know, it really is because he has suffered a lot in a way.

It's just like my story, that I used to get nightmares.

But I guess I only had nightmares, but he has lived worse than that.

And one thing I can promise is that you are my hero, so you are so famous for me.

AROUNA (IN FRENCH): Right now, my school has flooded.

The children in the schools don't have a dry place to sleep.

They stand up the whole night because the school is flooded and...

CRYING SOFTLY I just learned yesterday that a boat with over 200 people was migrating to Europe and... LORNA (IN ENGLISH): Arouna, we stood before that boat and you unveiled a picture, and it's a reality.

It makes me so angry because we don't know how to help.

Once you know, you cannot look away.

You cannot look away.

(IN PORTUGUESE) If we have to do something, it's while we're talking, while he's alive, while he's talking, while he has the strength to fight.

We take the pain of the other.

The pain of one is the pain of us all.

GUITAR MUSIC PLAYS ♪ Though half of life is gone for good ♪ ♪ And we haven't acted as we should ♪ ♪ You feel it in your heart of wood ♪ ♪ That this is far from over ♪ ♪ Shorelines gone and maps destroyed ♪ ♪ Livelihoods dissolved and void ♪ ♪ Entire languages unheard ♪ ♪ And still it's far from over ♪ ♪ Be sure you teach your kids to swim ♪ ♪ And navigate by stars above ♪ ♪ The fate of landlocked life is grim ♪ ♪ When you ignore our will to love ♪ ♪ When all that's left is sea and sun ♪ ♪ A lonely voice says, "All's not done" ♪ ♪ It's your child who will be the one ♪ ♪ To sing, "It's far from over" ♪ ♪ The whole world's far from over ♪ LORNA: I feel like we arrived as individuals, individuals with very different stories, very different backgrounds.

Strangers in a way.

But... we all shared a dream.

GROUP SINGING It's like an orchestra.

SINGING GROUP SINGING An orchestra works precisely because it's diverse... SINGING CONTINUES ..each with their own contribution.

SINGING CONTINUES GREG: When I think of Pope Francis' contribution, it's huge, it's enormous, and it needs to go far outside of the Catholic Church, far outside of Christianity, far outside among many belief systems.

And the amplification can't be what I know, or what you know, or what you know, or what you know.

It's what we know.

If we can form alliances that stretch across different movements, we could still make a change.

There is hope.

(IN FRENCH) I can't stop thinking.

It's like my spirit is on a voyage.

My vision is the future of Senegal.

My main focus now, to advocate for reforestation and organise campaigns.

CHIEF DADÁ (IN PORTUGUESE): The Amazon doesn't just depend on me, it depends on each of you.

It depends on you.

And for the Amazon to stay green, we all need to take care of it.

CHEERING GREG (IN ENGLISH): It really has changed my perspective.

I think it's going to define the rest of my career, my life.

ROBIN: Everybody had their story, but everybody's story is the story of today.

NEWSCASTER 18: And the latest report by the United Nations climate science agency has declared that it is now or never.

GROUP PROTESTING NEWSCASTER 19: Marches have been taking place in more than 200 cities around the globe for what's billed as a global day of action for climate justice.

CLIMATE EXPERT 1: We know what to do, we know how to do it, and now it's up to us to take action.

RIDHIMA: Taking action for the climate crisis, try to be the change you want to see in the world.

SPEAKER 6: We are now at the crossroads of humanity having the opportunity to go one way or the other.

POPE FRANCIS (IN ITALIAN): We all need each other.

None of us is an island.

And we can only build the future by everyone standing together.

GUITAR MUSIC PLAYS To order "The Letter: A Message for Our Earth" on DVD, visit ShopPBS.org or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS This video is also available on Amazon Prime Video ♪