Pope Leo XIV has called this Tuesday, September 1, to put at the service of life what is used for destruction, on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which the Church celebrates today and which opens the so-called Time of Creation.
«The care of our ‘common home’ requires a conversion of the heart, so that what has been used to cause destruction may, instead, be oriented toward life,» the Pontiff wrote on his official X account.
Leo XIV also invited people to join «in prayer and in action» to become «channels of the living water of God’s peace, which refreshes our wounded world.»
The Day, instituted by Francis in 2015, has as its theme this year «Living Water» and marks the beginning of an ecumenical period of prayer, contemplation, and care for creation that will continue until October 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi.
Read also: Leo XIV calls for an «authentic ecological conversion» that begins by renewing the heart
From destruction to life
The message released this Tuesday takes up the reflection that Leo XIV published on August 20 for this Day, inspired by the words of the prophet Isaiah: «They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks» (Is 2:4).
In that text, the Pope linked armed conflicts with the degradation of creation and warned that behind both lies an «ethical and cultural crisis» marked by the loss of the sense of limit, the desire for domination, and the pursuit of immediate gain.
Leo XIV then raised the need to reverse the logic of war and redirect the efforts currently employed in conflicts toward human development, the fight against poverty, and reconciliation.
«What has been used for destruction can be redirected toward life: to the care of the poor, to the food sustenance of the hungry, and to the care of creation,» he stated in his message.
The Pontiff referred again to the Day during the Angelus last Sunday, August 30, when he invited the faithful to accompany it with prayer and concrete actions.
Mass this afternoon in Castel Gandolfo
Leo XIV will preside this Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. over the Mass for the Care of Creation in the Garden of the Madonnina of the Borgo Laudato si’, located in the pontifical gardens of Castel Gandolfo, Italy.
The celebration will use the specific form of the Mass for the Care of Creation, prepared through the joint work of the dicasteries for the Service of Integral Human Development, for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, for the Doctrine of the Faith, and for the Promotion of Christian Unity.
The form was used for the first time by Leo XIV on July 9, 2025, also in Castel Gandolfo. In that celebration, the Pope linked the ecological crisis with the rupture of man’s relationship with God, with his neighbor, and with the earth «because of sin,» and maintained that a contemplative gaze upon creation can help restore those relationships.
This afternoon’s celebration is part of the Time of Creation, which begins each September 1 and concludes on October 4. This year, the closing will coincide with the VIII centenary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi.