Pope Leo has fed fish, patted horses and visited organic vineyards as he inaugurated the Vatican's ambitious project to turn Pope Francis' preaching about caring for the environment into practice.

The pontiff formally opened Borgo Laudato Si, a 22-hectare utopian experiment in sustainable farming, vocational training and environmental education located on the grounds of the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo.

The Vatican hopes the centre - open to student groups, CEOs and others - will be a model of ecological stewardship, education and spirituality for the Catholic Church and beyond.

Leo travelled by helicopter to Castel Gandolfo and then zoomed around the estate's cypress-lined gardens in an electric golf cart to reach the centre, which is named for Francis' landmark 2015 encycli

See Full Page