World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

The first day of September is celebrated by Christians around the world as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. It also marks the beginning of the Season of Creation, which will conclude on the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, October 4.

During this time, Christians are asked to join in prayer and work for the care of our common home. The theme for 2025, which was chosen by Pope Francis, is “Seeds of Peace and Hope,” drawn from Isaiah 32:14–18.

"Now is the time to follow words with deeds," Pope Leo XIV said in his message for the day. "'Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience'"(Laudato Si’ 217). By working with love and perseverance, we can sow many seeds of justice and thus contribute to the growth of peace and the renewal of hope. It may well take years for this plant to bear its first fruits, years that, for their part, involve an entire ecosystem made up of continuity, fidelity, cooperation and love, especially if that love mirrors the Lord’s own self-sacrificing Love."

Pope Leo said that environmental justice can no longer be regarded as an abstract concept, calling it an urgent need that involves much more than protecting the environment.

"It is a matter of justice – social, economic and human. For believers, it is also a duty born of faith, since the universe reflects the face of Jesus Christ, in whom all things were created and redeemed. 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," Pope Leo said.

The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation was begun by the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in 1989, but it was adopted by the Catholic Church in 2015, the same year that Pope Francis issued his encyclical letter Laudato Sí: Care for Our Common Home. The day highlights the connection between peace and care for our planet.