The first American Pope Leo XIV. (Photo from People.com)
VATICAN CITY, Rome — In his message for the 10th World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in September, Pope Leo XIV quoted extensively from Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’ which basically denounced environmental and social injustice while also noting that God’s creation is not intended to be a battleground for vital resources.
The Catholic Church has been preparing extensively to mark this year’s commemoration that is scheduled on September 1 and Pope Leo is urging Christians and all people of goodwill to recognize the urgent need for environmental and social justice in a world increasingly scarred by climate change, wars and conflict and the prevalence of 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 that calls for the faithful to embrace their role as ‘pilgrims of hope’ and stewards of God’s creation.
In doing so, Leo is inviting the global community to envision a transformation of today’s “arid and parched desert” into “a fruitful field” which is not just a poetic metaphor but an urgent call to action in the face of alarming ecological degradation and alarming human crises.
“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,” he pointed out as he links environmental destruction to the exploitation of the poor and marginalized. “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,” he enthused while lamenting the fact that nature itself has become “a bargaining chip,” subjected to policies and practices that prioritize profit over people and the planet.
