Watch: Environmental light show at the Vatican
There was a stunning light show in St Peter's Square at the Vatican last night. Images of stalking lions, birds, clouds and butterflies, alternating with polluted air and parched farmland, were projected on the facade of St Peter's Basilica and the collonade around the square. Earlier in the day Pope Francis had opened the Holy Door at St Peter's for the beginning of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
The show, entitled Fiat Lux (Let There Be Light): Illuminating Our Common Home, underscores the Catholic Church's concern for the environment, outlined by Pope Francis in his enclycal Laudato Si'.
Thousands of people thronged St Peter's Square for the hour-long spectacle, 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.
The images were accompanied, by the sounds of nature: wind and waves, stormy weather, birdsong and long stretches of silence.
Pope Francis urged leaders at the start of the two-week COP21 talks in Paris on November 30 that it was "now or never" for international leaders to seal a deal to slow global warming.
See a film of the light show here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wrkkyw1D7KA