In his Message for the 10th World Day of
Prayer for the Care of Creation, Pope Leo XIV quotes extensively from Pope
Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’, denouncing environmental and social injustice
and noting that God’s creation is not intended to be a battleground for vital
resources.
By Linda Bordoni
As the Church prepares to mark the Tenth World Day of
Prayer for the Care of Creation on 1 September 2025, Pope Leo XIV’s message for
the occasion urges Christians and all people of goodwill to recognize the
urgent need for environmental and social justice in a world increasingly
scarred by climate change, conflict, and inequality.
Entitled Seeds of
Peace and Hope and released
on July 2, the Pope’s message resonates with the spirit of the ongoing
Jubilee Year, calling the faithful to embrace their role as "pilgrims of
hope" and stewards of God's creation.
Justice in a wounded world
Echoing the prophetic words of Isaiah, Pope Leo
invites the global community to envision a transformation of today’s “arid and
parched desert” into “a fruitful field.” This biblical vision, he explains, is
not a poetic metaphor but an urgent call to action in the face of alarming
ecological and human crises.
Quoting extensively from Pope Francis’
encyclical Laudato si' in the year of its
10th anniversary, he writes, “Injustice, violations of international law
and the rights of peoples, grave inequalities, and the greed that fuels them
are spawning deforestation, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity.”
Linking environmental destruction to the exploitation
of the poor and marginalized, he highlights the disproportionate suffering of
indigenous communities and the widening gap between rich and poor as hallmarks
of a system that treats nature as a commodity rather than a common home.
Nature as a battleground
He laments the fact that nature itself has become “a
bargaining chip,” subjected to policies and practices that prioritize profit
over people and the planet. From agricultural lands riddled with landmines to
conflicts over water and raw materials, Pope Leo paints a sobering picture of a
creation “turned into a battleground” for control and domination.
These wounds, he says, are “the effect of sin,” a
betrayal of the biblical command not to dominate creation, but to “till and
keep” it, a call to cultivate and preserve the Earth through a relationship of
care and responsibility.
Environmental justice as a moral imperative
The Pope’s message reaffirms the Church’s commitment
to an “integral ecology,” a concept at the heart of Laudato si’.
Environmental justice, the Holy Father affirms, is not an abstract or secondary
concern but a “duty born of faith.”
“For believers,” he writes, “the universe reflects the
face of Jesus Christ, in whom all things were created and redeemed.” In this
light, caring for the planet becomes not only an ecological necessity but also
a profoundly spiritual and moral vocation.
Seeds that bear fruit
Encouraging concrete action, Pope Leo calls for
perseverance and love in sowing “seeds of justice” that will, in time, bear the
fruits of peace. He cites the Borgo Laudato Si’ project at
Castel Gandolfo as a tangible example of how education and community life
rooted in ecological values can shape a just and hopeful future.
“This may take years,” the Pope acknowledges, “but
years that involve an entire ecosystem made up of continuity, fidelity,
cooperation and love.”
A blessing for the future
Concluding his message with a prayer for the
outpouring of God’s Spirit, Pope Leo XVI invokes the hope of the risen Christ
as the guiding light for a world longing for healing.
“May [Laudato si’] continue to inspire us,” he
writes, “and may integral ecology be increasingly accepted as the right path to
follow.”
Vatican News
