Christian Churches mark Day of Prayer for the Care of
Creation
(Vatican
Radio) Thursday, September 1st marks a worldwide day of prayer for the care of
creation, an initiative started back in 1989 by the Orthodox Churches to
celebrate the beginning of their liturgical year. Last year, after the
publication of his encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis established
the day as an observance for the Catholic Church as well.
Speaking
to pilgrims and visitors gathered in St Peter’s Square on Sunday,Pope Francis looked forward to Thursday’s day of prayer for
the care of creation, describing the event as, “an opportunity to strengthen
our common commitment to safeguard life, respecting the environment and
nature.”
Christians
of all different denominations will be marking the initiative, not just on
September 1st but throughout the following weeks until October 4th, feast day
of St Francis of Assisi for the Western Churches.
In
a message for this year’s event, Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
stressed the importance of education to highlight the links between the
environmental crisis and the spiritual crisis of our world driven by greed,
gluttony and selfish desires. We must be careful to consider the possibilities
of rapid technological progress in terms of the damage it can cause to our
natural environment, he said.
In
a video message, the general secretary of the World Council
of Churches, Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, also warned that in a world obsessed by
economic growth, we must radically rethink our ways of producing, trading and
consuming our natural resources.
“In
[..] a world where almost everything has a price tag, it’s time for us to
affirm once again that creation is not for sale…”
And
in a joint statement the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences and the
Conference of European Churches, together with Europe’s Christian Environmental
Network, called on all people to strengthen ecumenical prayers and practical
action to care for both our neighbours in need and for the ‘common home’ in
which we live.
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