Draft of pope's eagerly awaited environment encyclical leaks

An Italian newsweekly has published a draft copy of Pope Francis' eagerly awaited encyclical on the environment.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev Federico Lombardi, said today that the document published by L'Espresso was not the final version and that the official encyclical would still be released as scheduled on Thursday.

Francis has said that climate change is "mostly" man-made and that humankind has a moral imperative to radically change its behaviour to protect the planet for future generations -- as well as to prevent the poor from suffering due to the sins of the rich.