Schwarzenegger Backs Vatican 'Raising Hope' Conference

Pope Leo XIV opened the three-day “Raising Hope for Climate Justice” conference in Castel Gandolfo, marking the 10th anniversary of Laudato Si and urging global unity and action. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a keynote speaker, hailing the pope as an “action hero,” praising recent Vatican solar installations and urging the Church’s 1.4 billion members to be “crusaders” to “terminate pollution.” Organizers said bishops, Indigenous leaders, climate and biodiversity experts and civil-society representatives are assessing progress and pressing for urgent steps ahead of COP30 in Brazil, with delegates from vulnerable nations such as Tuvalu warning of immediate sea-level impacts. Both the pope and Schwarzenegger stressed that citizens must pressure governments and that the Church should lead by example through new solar projects and an environmental education center as it pursues carbon neutrality.