The earth is ailing, and it needs the prayers of Catholics as well as their personal commitment to caring for creation, Pope Francis says in his latest prayer video message.
‘Let us pray that each of us listen with our hearts to the cry of the earth and of the victims of environmental disasters and climate change, making a personal commitment to care for the world we inhabit,’ the Pope says in the message released on 30 August by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.
The network posts a short video of the Pope offering his specific prayer intention each month, and members of the network pray for that intention each day. Pope Francis’ intention for September is: ‘For the cry of the earth,’ which coincides with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on 1 September and its inauguration of the month-long ‘Season of Creation’.
‘If we took the planet’s temperature, it would tell us that the earth has a fever,’ the Pope says in the video. ‘And it is sick, just like anyone who’s sick. But are we listening to this pain? Do we hear the pain of the millions of victims of environmental catastrophes?’
The first victims and those who suffer most, he said, are ‘the poor, those who are forced to leave their homes because of floods, heat waves or drought.’
To fight poverty and protect nature at the same time, people must change their personal habits, the Pope said; but because climate change, pollution and the loss of biodiversity are ‘caused by humans’, social, economic and political responses also are necessary.
Banner image: Pope Francis is seen in a video message released on 30 August 2024 discussing his prayer intention for the month of September, which is focused on care for the environment and for the poor. (Photo: CNS screen grab/Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.)
