The Letter: A Message for our Earth | |
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Directed by | Nicolas Brown |
Based on | Laudato si' |
Produced by | Off The Fence Productions |
Starring | Pope Francis Raniero Cantalamessa Lorna Gold Ridhima Pandey Arouna Kande Cacique Dadá Greg Asner Robin Martin |
Music by | William Goodchild |
Distributed by | YouTube Originals |
Release date |
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Running time | 80 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
The Letter: A Message for our Earth is a 2022 documentary film presented by YouTube Originals, telling the story of the Laudato Si' encyclical by Pope Francis.
The film was produced by Oscar-winning Off The Fence Productions and directed by Nicolas Brown, in partnership with the Laudato Si' Movement. [1]
Its global premiere happened in Vatican City on 4 October 2022. [2] [3] [4] High-level speakers such as Hoesung Lee, Director of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, spoke in the premiere's press conference. [5]
The film was an instant success amassing over 7 million views in its first two weeks, with the support of celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Arnold Schwarzenegger who promoted it on their social media accounts. [6]
Besides starring Pope Francis, the film features environmental champions from around the world, from different faiths and worldviews. Each represents an unheard voice in conversations on the planetary crisis. These are the voices of the Indigenous, the young, the poor, and wildlife.
The film follows their journeys from the Amazon, India, Senegal, and Hawai’i to the Vatican. They meet Pope Francis, who shares his vision in beautifully human interactions. They find new hope for Earth in one another.
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italian mystic, poet and Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. He was inspired to lead a Christian life of poverty as a beggar and itinerant preacher. One of the most venerated figures in Christianity, Francis was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on 16 July 1228. He is commonly portrayed wearing a brown habit with a rope tied around his waist, featuring three knots that symbolize the three Franciscan vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Pope Benedict XVI was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Benedict chose to be known as "Pope emeritus" upon his resignation, and he retained this title until his death in 2022.
The Letter may refer to:
Catholic social teaching (CST) is an area of Catholic doctrine which is concerned with human dignity and the common good in society. It addresses oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, social justice, and wealth distribution. CST's foundations are considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical, Rerum novarum, which advocated distributism. Its roots can be traced to Catholic theologians such as Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo. CST is also derived from the Bible and cultures of the ancient Near East.
Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic Church, the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), the first one from the Americas, the first one from the Southern Hemisphere, and the first one born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century papacy of the Syrian Pope Gregory III.
The Canticle of the Sun, also known as Canticle of the Creatures and Laudes Creaturarum, is a religious song composed by Saint Francis of Assisi. It was written in an Umbrian dialect of Italian but has since been translated into many languages. It is believed to be the first work of literature written in the Italian language with a known author.
The consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by a reigning pope was requested during a Marian apparition by Our Lady of Fátima on 13 July 1917, according to Lúcia dos Santos, one of the three visionaries who claimed to have seen the apparition. Sister Lucia said that at different times the Blessed Virgin Mary had given her a message of promise that the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary would usher in a period of world peace.
Religion and environmentalism is an emerging interdisciplinary subfield in the academic disciplines of religious studies, religious ethics, the sociology of religion, and theology amongst others, with environmentalism and ecological principles as a primary focus.
Elected on 13 March 2013, Francis is the first member of the Society of Jesus to be appointed pope and the first non-European to hold the office since the 8th century. He described his papal name as pointing to what he wants to emulate in Saint Francis of Assisi: to have a poor church, for the poor, always going out to the margins, and to show concern for the natural environment. His papal motto Miserando atque eligendo contains a central theme of his papacy, God's mercy, which has led to conflict with orthodox Catholics on issues such as reception of Communion by remarried Catholics. In addressing real life situations he often appeals directly to his experience, in continuity with his synodal way, which showed a renewed emphasis on listening and dialogue. He has placed greater emphasis on church synods and on widespread consultation and dialogue, uplifting the roles of laypersons and of women in the Catholic church and criticizing clericalism.
Juan Carlos Scannone, SJ, was an Argentine Roman Catholic Jesuit priest.
Evangelii gaudium is a 2013 apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis "On the proclamation of the Gospel in today's world". In its opening paragraph, Pope Francis urged the entire Church "to embark on a new chapter of evangelism". According to the exhortation, the Church must understand itself as a community of missionary disciples, who are "permanently in a state of mission".
The universal destination of goods is a concept in Catholic theology, by which the Catholic Church professes that the goods of creation are destined for mankind as a whole, but also recognizes the individual right to private property.
Laudato si' is the second encyclical of Pope Francis. The encyclical has the subtitle "on care for our common home". In it, the pope critiques consumerism and irresponsible development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls all people of the world to take "swift and unified global action."
Laudato si' is an oratorio composed in 2016 by Peter Reulein on a libretto by Helmut Schlegel. Subtitled Ein franziskanisches Magnificat, it includes the full Latin text of the Magnificat, expanded by writings of Clare of Assisi, Francis of Assisi and Pope Francis. The composer set it for five soloists, children's choir, Choralschola, mixed choir, symphony orchestra and organ. It was published in 2016 by the Dehm Verlag, and was premiered on 6 November 2016 at the Limburg Cathedral, conducted by the composer.
Fratelli tutti is the third encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on fraternity and social friendship"; it was released in 2020. In the document, Francis states that the way the COVID-19 pandemic was managed by world countries has shown a failure in global cooperation. The encyclical calls for more human fraternity and solidarity, and is a plea to reject wars.
Francesco is a 2020 American documentary film, directed and produced by Evgeny Afineevsky. It describes the life and teaching of Pope Francis.
María Lía Zervino is an Argentinian consecrated virgin and a sociologist. Being a member of the Asociación de Vírgenes Consagradas Servidoras she serves since 2013 as president of the World Union of Catholic Women's Organisations, an Association of the Christian faithful which was erected by the Holy See in 2006.
Laudato Si' Movement (LSM) is a global network of over 900 Catholic organizations and over 10,000 trained grassroots leaders known as Laudato Si' Animators. Inspired by the Laudato Si' encyclical of Pope Francis, LSM's stated mission is to "inspire and mobilize the Catholic community to care for our common home and achieve climate and ecological justice".
2015 in religion.
Laudate Deum is an apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis, published on October 4, 2023. It was released on the 2023 Feast of St Francis Assisi as a follow-up to his 2015 encyclical Laudato si'. The text is about 8,000 words divided into 73 paragraphs.