“Today is the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Let us work and pray.” That was the papal message on Twitter on Tuesday as Pope Francis prepared to lead a special Liturgy of the Word in St Peter’s Basilica marking the Catholic Church’s first Day of Prayer for Creation, Vatican Radio informs.
At his general audience last week the Pope invited local residents and visiting pilgrims to join him for the Liturgy of the Word in the Vatican basilica, beginning at 5pm. He also urged Catholics around the world to contribute to solutions to the environmental crisis facing our planet by organizing their own prayer and practical initiatives to mark this new celebration.
The Pope noted the initiative follows in the footsteps of the Orthodox Church which, for the past 25 years, has dedicated September 1st, the beginning of a new year in the Orthodox liturgical calendar, to care for the environment. Since that time, the World Council of Churches has also marked a month-long‘Time for Creation’ stretching from September 1st to the feast of St Francis of Assisi on October 4th.