(Reuters. Yara Nardi).
Pope Francis, a vocal campaigner for action against climate change and on environmental protection, on Wednesday ordered the construction of a solar farm to cover the energy needs of the Vatican City State. The mini-state, based in Rome, hosts the headquarters of the global Catholic Church and comprises St Peter’s Basilica. It is the world’s smallest country, measuring just 0.44 square kilometres. Expressing his wishes in a Motu Proprio, a personal papal edict, the 87-year-old pontiff said the solar farm should be built outside Vatican walls, in Santa Maria Galeria in the northwestern outskirts of Rome.