The light show, titled “Fiat Lux (Let There Be Light): Illuminating Our Common Home”, also coincided with the festive launch on Tuesday of a special Catholic Jubilee Year on the theme of mercy.
Thousands of people thronged St Peter's Square for the hour-long light show featuring the work of some of the world's best photographers including Sebastiao Salgado of Brazil, Joel Sartore of the United States and Frenchman Yann Arthus Bertrand.
Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP
The images were accompanied not by music but by the sounds of nature such as stormy weather, birdsong and long stretches of silence.
Photo:Tiziana Fabi/AFP
The initiative, backed by the World Bank, aims to underscore the Catholic Church's push for environmental protection.
Pope Francis, a fierce defender of the environment, warned leaders at the start of the two-week COP21 talks in Paris on November 30th that it was “now or never” for international leaders to seal a deal to slow global warming.
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