Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew will release a joint statement on care for God’s creation on Friday.
The pope announced this today at the General Audience, in the lead-up to the September 1 World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation
In the message, the pope explained, “we invite all to assume a respectful and responsible attitude towards Creation.” We “also appeal, to all who occupy influential roles, to listen to the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor, who suffer most from ecological imbalances.”
September 1 has been marked as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation since Pope Francis designated the day in 2015.
The Orthodox Church has commemorated the Day since 1989.
In the letter instituting the Day for the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said, “The annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation offers to individual believers and to the community a precious opportunity to renew our personal participation in this vocation as custodians of Creation, raising to God our thanks for the marvellous works that He has entrusted to our care, invoking His help for the protection of creation and his mercy for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”
And today we celebrate...