VATICAN CITY — The Vatican agreed to help the United States in behind-the-scenes lobbying of states to join the Copenhagen Accord on climate change, a US embassy cable published by WikiLeaks showed Thursday.
The cable reported a meeting between diplomats at the US embassy to the Holy See and a Vatican official in charge of climate change talks, who "agreed to encourage other countries discreetly to associate themselves with the Accord."
"'Green' pope supports US path forward from Copenhagen," the cable said.
"Even more important than the Vatican's lobbying assistance... is the influence the Pope's guidance can have on public opinion in countries with large Catholic majorities," read the cable, signed by ambassador Miguel Diaz.
Pope Benedict XVI is seen as a major advocate for environmental issues.
He emphasised the need to protect the environment in a New Year's Day speech this year and has had solar panels installed in the Vatican. The Vatican is even thinking of launching an electric version of his famous "popemobile".
The cable also said the Vatican was "not naive" about the political motives behind criticism of the Copenhagen agreement from Cuba and Venezuela, which were among the nations that helped block approval of the pact.
Representatives from 194 countries are meeting in the Mexican resort city of Cancun for a new bid to strike a deal to curb greenhouse gases following on last December's disappointing Copenhagen meeting.
The leaked cable was the first from the US embassy to the Holy See to be revealed by WikiLeaks -- and many more will come, according to media reports.
The Catholic News Agency (CNA) in the United States said there wore more than 800 Vatican cables on human rights, religious freedom and security.
The Vatican's Osservatore Romano official daily has already said the publication will not affect diplomatic relations with the United States.
Related articles
- Debate: Is L'Osservatore Romano undermining the Church?
Catholic Herald Online (blog)
-
2 hours ago- The City of Vatican Declared The Greenest State In The World
IBTimes
-
5 hours ago- Vatican plans to restore photo archive
UPI.com
-
20 hours ago- More coverage
(1) »
No comments:
Post a Comment