Pope Leo has been praised as an "action hero" by Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger for his environmental leadership, including a directive to install solar panels across Vatican rooftops.
The actor was throwing his weight behind Pope Leo's efforts to encourage world leaders to address global climate change and transition away from fossil fuels.
The three-day event at the Vatican was tied to the 10th anniversary of a major environmental document by the late Pope Francis, which was the first papal text to embrace the scientific consensus about climate change and urged nations to reduce their carbon emissions.
Pope Leo said he hoped upcoming international summits, including COP30, would “listen to the cry of the earth," concluding his remarks by blessing water on stage.
Gesturing towards Pope Leo, the actor said: "I'm next to an action hero. No, you're laughing because he doesn't look maybe like one like you see in the movies with the muscles and with the guns and all that stuff, no. But the reason I call him an action hero is because as soon as he became the Pope, he ordered the Vatican to put solar panels on top of the buildings. Think about that. This will be one of the first states very soon to be carbon neutral. So let's give them a big hand for this great, great action.
"We can go and terminate pollution. We can go and wipe it out. If we all work together, if we all work together, because God put us on this earth. By leaving this earth a better place than we inherited it.''