Pope Francis has established 1 September as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, encouraging the Catholic community around the world to pray for our common home.
The theme for 2024 is ‘Hope and Act with Creation’, which is inspired by St Paul’s Letter to the Romans (Romans 8:19-25). In his message for the World Day of Prayer 2024, Pope Francis reminds us how the Holy Spirit ‘keeps the community of believers alert and calls them to conversion in lifestyles in order to resist human degradation of the environment’.
The Holy Father calls us, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, to seek to live ‘a life that becomes a song of love for God, for humanity, with and for creation, and that finds its fullness in holiness.’
The day is inspired by Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical Laudato Si’, which calls on “every person living on this planet” to care for our shared Earth.