Pope Leo XIV will celebrate a Mass for the Care of Creation on July 9
The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and
the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments present
at the Holy See Press Office, a new formulary of the Roman Missal dedicated to
the “Care for Creation”.
By Isabella H. de Carvalho
On July 9, 2025, Pope Leo XIV will celebrate the first “Mass
for the Care of Creation”, with a new
formulary of the Roman Missal, produced by the Dicastery for Promoting
Integral Human Development and the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Sacraments, and presented Thursday, July 3, during a press
conference at the Vatican. The Pope will celebrate this private Mass during his
holiday with the staff of the “Borgo Laudato Sì” (“Laudato Sì
Village”), an educational center located in the Papal residence in Castel
Gandolfo.
With this new formulary "the Church is offering
liturgical, spiritual and communal support for the care we all need to exercise
of nature, our common home. Such service is indeed a great act of faith, hope
and charity”, Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting
Integral Human Development said during the press conference. This Mass
dedicated to taking care of creation “calls us to be faithful stewards of what God
has entrusted to us – not only in daily choices and public policies, but also
in our prayer, our worship, and our way of living in the world”.
The press conference
to present the new formulary
A way to promote an integral ecology
In the Roman Missal there are 49 different Masses and
prayers for various needs and occasions. Of these, 17 are dedicated to civil
needs and this new liturgical text will now become a part of this category.
An official
decree by the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments, approved by Pope Leo XIV and dated June 8, was also released,
marking the addition of the formulary to the Roman Missal.
This liturgical text was developed in collaboration with
several Vatican dicasteries and was strongly inspired by Pope Francis’
encyclical Laudato Si’, which this year celebrates the
10th anniversary of its publication. The release of the formulary also falls on
the year of the 35th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s 1990 message for the
World Day of Peace, titled “Peace
with God the Creator, Peace with all of Creation”.
“'The Mass for the Care for Creation' takes up some of the
main positions contained in Laudato Si' and expresses them in
the form of a prayer within the theological framework that the encyclical
revives”, Archbishop Vittorio Francesco Viola, secretary of the Dicastery for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, explained during the press
conference. The texts that make up the formulary for this Mass “are a good
antidote” against reading Laudato Si’ as concerned with a
“false or superficial ecology”, which is “far removed from that 'integral
ecology' amply described and promoted in the encyclical". In fact, he
described Francis’ encyclical as an “eco-social” text, rather than just
“ecological”.
Archbishop Vittorio
Francesco Viola
Remembering those affected by climate change
“Creation is not an added theme but is always already
present in the Catholic liturgy”, as the Eucharist “joins heaven and earth, it
embraces and penetrates all creation” and in it “we bless God for the bread and
wine we receive”, Cardinal Czerny said. This Mass can now “increase our
gratitude” and also “invites us to respond with care and love” to the issues of
today.
Quoting Pope Leo XIV’s message for this year’s World Day of
Prayer for the Care of Creation, released on July 2, the Cardinal additionally
highlighted that “in a world where the most vulnerable of our brothers and
sisters are the first to suffer the devastating effects of climate change,
deforestation and pollution, care for creation becomes an expression of our
faith and humanity”. He insisted, citing Laudato Si’, that
“the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor are one and the danger of a
superficial ecology” is to believe that the only “problems to be solved are
ecological ones” and that this can be done “at the expense of the
people”.
Cardinal Michael
Czerny
The readings and prayers featured in the Mass
Archbishop Viola emphasized that the readings featured in
this Mass are “very rich and offer several insights”. From the Old Testament,
for example, a reading from the Book of Wisdom (13,1-9) is included, which
highlights the importance of seeing God through his creation. For the
Responsorial Psalm, certain verses are listed from Psalm 18, which highlights
how “the heavens declare the glory of God”, and Psalm 103, which states “Bless
the Lord, all his creatures”. For the New Testament, a reading from St. Paul’s
letter to the Colossians (1,15-20) was selected that affirms that Christ “is
the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in him were
created all things in heaven and on earth”. Lastly, two passages from the
Gospel of Matthew are suggested. In the first (6,24-34) Christ invites to “look
at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, yet “your heavenly Father
feeds them”. The second (8,23-27) features the moment when Jesus calms a storm
while on a boat with his disciples. The prayers in the Mass also reflect the
importance of caring for creation, for example by stating “while we wait for
new heavens and a new earth, let us learn to live in harmony with all
creatures”.
Clarifications regarding "Traditionis custodes"
Finally, responding to a question about the publication of
some press articles related to Pope Francis’s 2021 Motu Proprio, Traditionis
custodes, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni,
noted that the published texts contribute to “a very partial and incomplete
reconstruction.” In fact, a consultation is cited to which, however, “further
documentation and other confidential reports — also the result of additional
consultations — were subsequently added and submitted to the Dicastery for the
Doctrine of the Faith.”
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