Pubblichiamo il saluto che il P. Generale ha diretto al direttivo al corpo docenti ai genitori e alunni presenti nella St. Leonardi Matric. Hr. School di Samayapuram Tamilnadu India, sabato 25 novembre in occasione dell'11 anniversario di istituzione. Nell'indirizzo di saluto P. Piccolo, ha richiamato alcuni temi sulla custodia e protezione del creato cari al magistero di Papa Francesco. Su queste prospettive gli alunni delle classi scolastiche, attraverso alcune rappresentazioni, ne hanno espresso la profonda attualità e urgenza.

Good evening everyone. I am very happy to be here among you. First of all, I thank my brothers, the delegate Father Cyril and the correspondent of this school, Father Donathius for inviting me. I extend a warm greeting to the civil authorities present here. I greet  and wish all the teachers,  parents and relatives, above all my warmest greeting to you my dear children and young people and I thank you in advance.

I am very happy to be here as the successor of San Giovanni Leonardi, the school bears his name (“St.Leonardi”) and I am very pleased with the theme of this School annual day that is “Save the Nature”, which sees us in great communion with the appeal made several times in recent years by Pope Francis for the care for Creation. We must grow more and more in the awareness that we are part of Creation. Indeed, we are the noblest part of Natures Creation, More than that God wanted to make us Guardians of nature, he entrusted us with his house (Nature), the house he prepared for all men so that we have to respect it and love it. Always find that the Nature and life comes to us from God, and collect the fruits of the Earth to nourish ourselves and share them with brothers and sisters.

You, certainly know that San Giovanni Leonardi is the patron saint of pharmacists, because before becoming a priest he was a pharmacist, an apothecary was called in those times, that is, he was a man who knew nature, plants and herbs well and knew how to obtain from these plants medicines to cure illnesses, to cure man's body. Nature is a gift from God so that man could serve God and serve his brothers with all that he received from God. This tells us, that every Christian, is called to respect and to be harmony with creation, to take what the earth offers in a harmonious way, without violating it, to share with others what the earth offers, to provide for the good of all.

Pope Francis is very concerned about the fact of our common home, so much so that he wrote an encyclical in 2015, "Laudato sii" and then in October 4 on the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi, the apostolic exhortation "Laudate Deum"

But before Pope Francis, Pope Benedict XVI and even before Pope Saint John Paul II had said that all of us, men and women, have a debt with our children, he had stated that we have had the  nature on loan from our children. This is to make us understand, how important it is to consider the earth as everyone's home, it is not a personal possession, not an asset to be exploited at all costs without looking at the consequences of this exploitation and violating it. With the consequences that we are seeing: climate change, desertification, the impoverishment in many countries on earth. How many wars have been waged to take possession of land, nature, oil or diamond deposits, to obtain money and power, without asking ourselves who will pay the price today and tomorrow, and if this is right in the eyes of God .

But each of us can do our part, from the children to the oldest, we can use water well without wasting or polluting it, we can pay attention to the use of plastic which ends up in the sea and causes many environmental disasters, we can try not to waste the food. Small, simple things within the reach of all of us.

Thank you dear guys for this beautiful message that you are giving us today, because it reminds us that we are living in the time of creation and we must live it well for humanity to have a future. Thank you, because from now onwards you feel responsible for Creation, for other men and you have desired the happiness of your brothers. Thank you because you open up hope for a better future.

I wish you to grow in culture and wisdom, I wish you to always give your contribution for the protection of creation and respect for the dignity of all men, I wish you all to hand over this land in which we live to our future generation better than what we have now.

Thank you. May God bless you all.