By Linda Bordoni
Marking the 11th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on Sep 1, Christians around the world are invited to unite in prayer and action for the protection of creation. The Day also marks the beginning of the annual Season of Creation, which runs until Oct 4, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi.
As the world continues to witness the suffering and destruction caused by the climate crisis, which, as Pope Leo XIV has repeatedly highlighted, is closely intertwined and fuels conflict, displacement and injustice, people of goodwill are invited to take part in this ecumenical initiative.
Promoted and supported by various organisations, including the Laudato Sì Movement, the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, and the Anglican Communion, the Day of Prayer for Creation goes back almost three decades.
Key milestones
The observance was first established in 1989 by Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I, who proclaimed Sep 1 as a Day of Prayer for Creation for the Orthodox Church. The date marks the beginning of the Orthodox ecclesiastical year and recalls the biblical account of the world’s creation.
In 2007, the “Third European Ecumenical Assembly” proposed extending the observance into five weeks, and the World Council of Churches subsequently invited Christian communities around the world to continue the celebration through Oct 4.
In 2015, shortly after the publication of his encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis established the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the Catholic Church, aligning it with the Orthodox observance on Sep 1 and formally embracing the Season of Creation.
Pope Leo XIV’s decree establishing the Missa pro custodia creationis, together with a new formulary for the Roman Missal, represents another step in the Catholic Church’s commitment to respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, as it supports local Churches in their efforts to care for our common home and promote new paths to achieve integral human ecology. – Vatican News
