In a move that reeks of virtue-signaling and misplaced priorities, the Vatican has announced the opening of a so-called “ecological training centre” in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. Dubbed “Borgo Laudato Si” after the late Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical that swallowed the climate alarmist playbook whole, this 55-hectare playground is being touted as a beacon for world leaders to tackle “global climate change.” Directed by Rev. Manuel Dorantes, a U.S. priest with apparently more enthusiasm for greenwashing than gospel, the centre features gardens, vocational training, and even a greenhouse shaped like St. Peter’s colonnade, because nothing says “environmental stewardship” like mimicking Vatican architecture in a veggie patch. Visitors can learn organic farming, buy Vatican-grown wine, olive oil, and cheese from 60 on-site cows, all while patting themselves on the back for saving the planet. Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, is set to inaugurate this farce on Friday, building on his July approval of a special Mass rite urging Catholics to “care for the Earth.” If this sounds like a boutique farm masquerading as a moral imperative, that’s because it is.

Let’s cut through the sanctimonious smog: this initiative is utterly ridiculous, a prime example of the Catholic Church wandering far from its spiritual lane into the murky swamp of climate cult dogma. The Vatican, the “smallest city-state in the world,” as Dorantes humbly brags, positioning itself as an environmental exemplar? With its paltry 55 hectares, about 55% of its total landholdings, this is less a global model and more a glorified hobby farm. If the pope thinks turning papal vacation grounds into a tourist trap selling artisanal cheese will inspire nations to overhaul their economies, he’s spent to much time with the climate cult. Dorantes asks, “If we… can do this, what is the potential for other states that are bigger than us?” The answer: zero, because this isn’t innovation; it’s indulgence. Bigger states should be busy powering civilisations with reliable energy, not play-acting at sustainability on Renaissance estates.