Pope Francis had not had any official meetings for days. But he then revealed the possible reason for these absences.
"I am writing a second part of Laudato si' to update the current issues," Pope Francis said.
He said this very briefly and concisely to a delegation of lawyers from the member countries of the Council of Europe.
They are working on creating legal frameworks to protect the environment, but not only that. They are also promoting the right to professional secrecy.
Pope Francis praised them for this and told them that in the Church there is a secret that must also be defended, that of confession.
At the same time, the pope lamented that today there are ideologies that threaten human dignity.
"It must be remembered that the foundation of the dignity of the human person lies in its transcendent origin, which consequently forbids any violation," he said. "This transcendence demands that, in every human activity, the person be placed at the center and not be at the mercy of trends and powers.
Among the topics discussed at this meeting was also the protection of the rule of law and specifically the independence of the judiciary.