World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation - CathNews New Zealand

Pope Francis: The poor suffer the most from heat waves, drought

Ronan — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 07:51:08 +0000

As Europe faces record high temperatures and summer wildfires, Pope Francis has pointed out that the poor suffer the most from heat waves, drought and other environmental extremes.

In a message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, the Pope said it is "the poorest among us who are crying out."

"Exposed to the climate crisis, the poor feel even more gravely the impact of drought, flooding, hurricanes and heat waves that are becoming ever more intense and frequent," Pope Francis said in the message published on July 21.

"Listening to these anguished cries, we must repent and modify our lifestyles and destructive systems. … The present state of decay of our common home merits the same attention as other global challenges such as grave health crises and wars," he said.

Pope Francis: The poor suffer the most from heat waves, drought

Pope Francis asks Catholics to pray that world makes ‘courageous choices' to protect environment

Ronan — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 07:50:40 +0000

Pope Francis is inviting Catholics around the world to pray this month that the world makes "courageous choices" to protect the environment.

He made the appeal in his prayer intention for September, released on Wednesday.

"We pray that we all will make courageous choices for a simple and environmentally sustainable lifestyle, rejoicing in our young people who are resolutely committed to this," reads the prayer intention, issued by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network on Sep 1, the day the Church marks World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

The network also released an accompanying video, in which Pope Francis explained the rationale for the prayer intention.

Pope Francis asks Catholics to pray that world makes ‘courageous choices' to protect environment

Catholics and Orthodox collaborating on caring for creation

Juliet Palmer — Thu, 31 Aug 2017 08:09:48 +0000

The heads of the Catholic and Orthodox churches will publish a joint message later today about caring for creation.

Pope Francis says he and "our dear brother Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople" prepared the message together to mark the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

Francis says their message invites everyone to take a respectful, responsible attitude towards creation.

He said he and Bartholomew "also appeal to all who occupy influential roles, to listen to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, who suffer most from ecological imbalances."

The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation was started by the Orthodox Church in 1989 by Bartholomew's predecessor, Patriarch Demetrios I.

In 2015, Bartholomew's personal envoy, Metropolitan John Zizioulas, spoke at the presentation of Laudato si', Francis's encyclical on the environment. In the encyclical, Francis praises Bartholomew's work for the environment.

Zizioulas suggested that all the Christian churches start marking the day together, as an ecumenical gesture.

Later that year Francis instituted the world day of prayer for the Catholic Church.

At that time he said the world day of prayer would should be a time for individuals and communities to "reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live."

For Christians to contribute to safeguarding creation, Francis says they must rediscover the spiritual foundations of their approach to what exists on earth.

He says this begins with acknowledging "the life of the spirit is not dissociated from the body or from nature," but lived in communion with all worldly realities.

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Catholics and Orthodox collaborating on caring for creation