VATICAN - Pope Francis has banned plastic in Vatican City State to stand in solidarity with environmentalists. He made the announcement from aboard the papal plane during a long-haul flight back from his recent trip to Africa. The pope said he had been disturbed by a conversation a couple months ago with sea chaplains and fishermen who recounted how they had gathered six tons of plastic from the ocean over the course of a few months. “In the Vatican we have banned plastic,” Francis told journalists. “We are working on that.” The pope went on to explain that his prayer intention for September is for “the protection of the oceans that give us the oxygen we breathe.” “We need to defend ecology and biodiversity — which is our life — and defend oxygen — which is our life,” he said. “I am comforted by the fact that it is young people who are waging this war. They have a great conscience and are saying: ‘The future is ours. Do what you want with yours but not with ours!’”